News

A third deadline for topping up State Pension entitlement is now coming into view. “Don’t it always seem to go That you don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone?” The words of Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi, recorded over … Continue reading →

New statistics show that cash ISAs remain a popular investment. Every autumn HMRC publishes a set of annual savings statistics, setting out detailed information about individual savings accounts (ISAs), lifetime individual savings accounts (LISAs), child trust funds (CTFs) and Help … Continue reading →

HMRC is uncharacteristically keen to give money away, reminding young adults again that they may be due unclaimed child trust funds (CTFs). The amount still to be paid out comes to just under £1.4 billion. As the UK settles under … Continue reading →

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has been crunching the numbers on the adequacy of pension contributions. One of the unremarked government successes of the 2010s was the introduction of automatic enrolment of employees into pension schemes. The first automatic … Continue reading →

Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ first Budget was a significant one in all senses. “…this Budget delivers a large, sustained increase in spending, taxation, and borrowing.” So said the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) in the first paragraph of its overview of … Continue reading →

The pension challenges facing western governments are also confronting the world’s second most populous country. At what age should the state start to pay a pension? The question is a challenge to all governments, whether democratic or otherwise. There are … Continue reading →

BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS The main rate of class 1 employer national insurance contributions (NICs) will be increased from 13.8% to 15.0% with effect from 6 April 2025 and the secondary threshold at which employer NICs are payable will be reduced from … Continue reading →

We now have a clear understanding of how much the main State Pension will increase next April. That the State Pension triple lock was not going to change was a consistent commitment in the election manifestos of all major political … Continue reading →

Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) publishes a review of the cash savings market following evidence of some dubious tactics at work. While the use of paper cash is declining as a means of payment, the need to retain a cash reserve … Continue reading →

With a ‘black hole’ of £22 billion to fill, there are plenty of groups giving Rachel Reeves advice. The Fabian Society published a report on taxation on August Bank Holiday Monday. While their main audience is in Scotland, which has … Continue reading →

Many chancellors ago, in November 2016, Philip Hammond announced an end to spring Budgets and their replacement with autumn Budgets. At the time it seemed a sensible idea to allow changes in tax to be legislated before the start of … Continue reading →

August saw the first cut in UK interest rates since March 2020. Source: Bank of England On 1 August, the Bank of England cut its bank rate by 0.25% to 5.00%, the first cut made since the early days of … Continue reading →

Will increased capital gains tax (CGT) mean less tax gets paid? Source HMRC The Labour Party’s 2024 manifesto said, ‘We will not increase National Insurance, the basic, higher, or additional rates of Income Tax, or VAT.’ The absence of any … Continue reading →