The Finance Act 1998 is an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament prescribing changes to Excise Duties; Value Added Tax

Value added tax

A value added tax or value-added tax is a form of consumption tax. From the perspective of the buyer, it is a tax on the purchase price. From that of the seller, it is a tax only on the "value added" to a product, material or service, from an accounting point of view, by this stage of its...

; Income Tax

Income tax

An income tax is a tax levied on the income of individuals or businesses . Various income tax systems exist, with varying degrees of tax incidence. Income taxation can be progressive, proportional, or regressive. When the tax is levied on the income of companies, it is often called a corporate...

; Corporation Tax; and Capital Gains Tax. It enacts the 1998 Budget speech made by Chancellor of the Exchequer

Chancellor of the Exchequer

The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...

 Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown

James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...

 to the Parliament of the United Kingdom

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

.

In the UK, the Chancellor delivers an annual Budget speech outlining changes in spending, tax and duty. The respective year's Finance Act

Finance Act

In the UK, the Chancellor of the Exchequer delivers an annual Budget speech on Budget Day, outlining changes in spending, as well as tax and duty. The changes to tax and duty are passed as law, and each year form the respective Finance Act...

 is the mechanism to enact the changes.

The rules governing the various taxation methods are contained within the various taxation acts. (For instance Capital Gains Tax Legislation is contained within Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992). The Finance Act details amendments to be made to each one of these Acts.

Taper Relief

Notable changes in the 1998 Act included calculation changes to the taxable proportion of a capital gain by the replacement of indexation allowance with taper relief.

TESSAs

The Act announced the phasing out of Tax-Exempt Special Savings Account

Tax-Exempt Special Savings Account

In the UK, the Tax-Exempt Special Savings Account was one of a number of tax-free savings accounts. The TESSA was announced by John Major in his only Budget as Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1990...

s preventing new accounts being opened after 5 April 1999.