We may just have started 2013, but one aspect of tax year end planning is already well underway. Venture capital trusts (VCTs) have three important tax benefits.  Investment in newly issued shares will normally qualify for income tax relief at … Continue reading →

Under renewed criticism for its inefficiency, HMRC is turning up the heat on users of complex tax avoidance schemes. Shortly before Christmas, HMRC announced that it was offering a ‘settlement opportunity’ to users of some of the more aggressive tax … Continue reading →

2012 was another good year for fixed-interest investors. The prolonged squeeze on interest rates helped 2012 to be another good year if you held corporate bond fixed-interest funds, although government bond funds were virtually flat. The performance for the main … Continue reading →

Never mind the Eurozone crisis, UK double dip recession or the fiscal cliff – equity markets generally did well in 2012. The apparently modest performance of the UK in 2012 stems from several factors. It was not a good year … Continue reading →

The Autumn Statement increase in drawdown limits is not the panacea some press comment has suggested. Last year the personal finance pages of the national press regularly carried stories about how income drawdown reviews had left investors facing large cuts … Continue reading →