Investors are rushing to sell shares and property ahead of the Budget on March 24, in the apparently misguided belief that Alistair Darling is about to raise capital gains tax rates.
By realising large gains before next Wednesday's Budget, taxpayers are hoping to lock in the current 18 per cent capital gains tax rate and ensure they will not be hit by any rise.
But the chancellor is thought to have rejected raising the tax now, fearing it could provoke a backlash from the business community and undermine his central Budget claim to be supporting jobs.
For the full FT report click here.
But for more analysis on what we could see in the upcoming Budget see my earlier posts:
Budget predictions - part 2 and Top 10 Budget 2010 predictions (part 1)
