Welcome to the Winter edition of our newsletter
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News
Focus on tax year-end planning
With Christmas and New Year behind us, tax year-end planning should now be on your radar. The 2021/22 tax year will end on Tuesday 5 April. This year there is no Spring Budget and Easter arrives on 15 April, so … Continue reading
Uncertainties removed on two key personal taxes
The future of two important personal taxes – inheritance and capital gains – has finally been clarified, simplifying aspects of year-end planning. The extended wait highlights the difficulty of changing useful revenue-raising measures in uncertain times. Four years ago, in … Continue reading
Escaping the higher minimum pension age
A surprise change of tack on pension ages was revealed when last year’s Finance Bill was published. In February 2021, the government confirmed that it would go ahead with a two-year increase in the normal minimum pension age (NMPA) from … Continue reading
Universal Credit eligibility expands to higher rate taxpayers
Autumn Budget reforms have created a surprising clash of benefits and income tax. The Covid-19 pandemic was the first time many people utilised Universal Credit (UC) for the first time – between February and May 2020, the number of households … Continue reading
England’s social care cost cap
More details have emerged on the £86,000 social care cost cap for England. At the start of September, the Prime Minister announced long-awaited plans for the funding of social care in England (Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland all have their … Continue reading
The pension annual allowance trap
Latest HMRC figures show that the annual allowance continues to help fill its depleted coffers. Source: HMRC. The annual allowance is an important number in the pension world. It sets the maximum tax-efficient amount of total contributions in a tax … Continue reading
Placing a cost on retirement
How much income do you need for a comfortable retirement? New research has put a post-pandemic price on the answer. One traditional way to answer the question of how much income you will need in retirement is to fix the … Continue reading
Triple Lock shifts to Double Lock in 2022
The temporary Triple Lock suspension has cost pensioners up to £9.35 a week. Source: ONS. Call it a good day for burying bad news. Within hours of the Prime Minister announcing his long-awaited plans for social care in England in … Continue reading
Company cars: heading downhill fast?
Recent data suggests the number of company car drivers continues to fall. Source: HMRC. Once upon a time, the aspiration of many an office worker was to climb the ladder to the height at which a company car became part … Continue reading
The Autumn Budget – taxed and spent
After already increasing taxes by £42 billion a year in 2021, the main focus of Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Autumn Budget was on spending. The first Autumn Budget in three years – and Mr Sunak’s third in less than 20 months … Continue reading
The September mini-Budget
Double-digit tax increases to fund the latest social care reforms will have a ripple effect on taxpayers. When the Chancellor announces tax rises that are measured in double-digit billions, normally you can assume he is presenting a Budget. That was … Continue reading
Are you holding too much cash?
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) says many savers may have too much cash and face the risk of wealth erosion. As the regulator for personal financial products, the FCA is rightly concerned about financial scams and savers who are encouraged … Continue reading
Reconsidering your pension contributions
Increases to National Insurance Contributions (NICs) from next April have made employee pension contributions less attractive. That headline is not one you might expect to see from a financial adviser, but there is some solid logic behind it. Consider Jane … Continue reading
