After several years of speculation, according to a recent BT Home article, fears are growing that Chancellor George Osborne is finally poised to take away higher-rate tax relief for pension contributions. If this is the case, then the vital cut-off date for investors could well be Wednesday 16th March – the day of his next […]
Think back to the Chancellor’s budget proposals in July last year, and you may remember an announcement about changes to the annual pension allowance. Well, that change is set to come into effect at the start of the new tax year on 6th April 2016. It therefore seems like a good idea for a bit […]
Responding to the HM Treasury consultation on the 3% surcharge on Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) proposals for second properties, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) urges reform of the implementation plans to mitigate potentially negative impacts on the housing market as a whole. The CML view is that even without the new surcharge, the […]
Two books are first and third in the current US Best Sellers list – both by Japanese-American tidying guru, Marie Kondo. Her tidying wisdom has swept the US as a way to feel better about yourself and your home and it’s now heading to the UK. She recently shared her top tips for ‘decluttering’ and […]
Reported recently across the media, David Cameron has promised an ‘all-out assault on poverty’, with a series of social reforms to include better mental health services and mentoring schemes. The PM said new mothers and teenagers with anorexia were among those who would benefit from improved services. He also promised to flatten ‘sink estates’, help […]
Given recent comment from George Osborne, and mentions of the same during the Autumn Statement, it appears as though pension tax is set for a shake-up in 2016. With that in mind, there appears to be a potential opportunity for higher-rate taxpayers to make the most of their savings while the good times last. Though […]
Twelve green bottles, standing on the wall Twelve green bottles, standing on the wall And if one green bottle, should accidentally fall… Yes, yes, we know the song is really ‘ten green bottles,’ but in January 2016 the world’s leading stock markets resembled nothing more than the row of proverbial bottles. As one fell, so […]
Occasionally when we’re compiling these monthly commentaries we look at our notes, realise that not very much has happened in the month and have a minor panic. What are we going to report on? There are no such worries this month. December 2015 seemed to be the month when pretty much everything happened. The only […]
With the deadline for online tax returns fast approaching (31st January 2016 for the tax year April 2014 – April 2015), HMRC have again shared their top ten terrible tax excuses. Ranging from paperwork eating pets to people who were simply out of the country, the list is comprised completely of unsuccessful appeals against penalties […]
As usual, the coming year will see plenty of shifts in the financial planning landscape for all of us. Changes come about largely as a result of new legislation or policy introductions and, whilst there isn’t anything quite as dramatic as 2015’s introduction of pension freedoms on the horizon, there’s still plenty to look out […]