News

A recent Upper Tribunal case has raised questions about HMRC’s approach to collecting tax on child benefit. Child benefit tax, or the High-Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) to use its legal name, has a chequered history. The HICBC was introduced … Continue reading →

New HMRC statistics show the lifetime allowance continues to be a useful revenue earner for HM Treasury, but rumoured cuts at the next Budget could be a concern for soon-to-be retirees. Source: HMRC. In the March Budget, the Chancellor announced … Continue reading →

A proposal to address social care funding is apparently imminent. “My job is to protect you or your parents or grandparents from the fear of having to sell your home to pay for the costs of care. And so I … Continue reading →

The first six months of 2021 have been rewarding for investors, but the next six are uncertain. Index 2021 Change FTSE 100 +8.93% FTSE All-Share +9.21% Dow Jones Industrial +12.73% Standard & Poor’s 500 +14.41% Nikkei 225 +4.91% Euro Stoxx … Continue reading →

New statistics from HMRC show over £300bn invested in cash ISAs. Source: HMRC. One of the many knock-on effects of the pandemic has been that HMRC’s annual updating of statistics has suffered delays. As a result, details of ISA subscriptions … Continue reading →

Over £9 billion was invested in Child Trust Funds (CTFs) as of April 2020, according to new HMRC data. If you have a child or grandchild born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011, they were almost certainly the … Continue reading →

A leading pension think tank has examined this question – but the findings aren’t straightforward. Over the years, there has been much focus on the tax treatment of pensions and ways to encourage greater saving for retirement. Arguably, there has … Continue reading →

A global jump in inflation in 2021 is raising the prospect of a broader upward trend beyond a short-term pandemic reaction. Source: Various including fred.stlouisfed.org, www.euro-area-statistics.org and Office for National Statistics The risk of the return of inflation has become a … Continue reading →

Research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) examines how pension contributions fit into life-cycle patterns. Economists often seem to think in a way that is unique to their world. Many of their theories start with the assumption that people behave rationally, weighing up all the pros and cons … Continue reading →

The outcome of a recent High Court case is a warning for anyone challenging a will.   As inheritances become more valuable, the number of disputes about wills have increased. Court cases rose by almost 50% to 188 in 2019 compared to the previous year according to … Continue reading →

If you have been working from home during the pandemic, don’t forget you could be due some tax relief.  Employees, required by their employers to work from home (WFH, as it has become known), have been able to claim tax relief long before … Continue reading →

One of the last decade’s more infamous financial scandals has finally reached a conclusion. The name of London Capital & Finance Plc (LCF) sounds impressive, but the business behind it was anything but. In the late 2010s, LCF issued ‘mini-bonds’, … Continue reading →

The role of Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) has changed since they were launched over 20 years ago, so are they still worth having? Since ISAs were introduced in April 1999 the ISA portfolio has been extended to include: Junior ISAs … Continue reading →