Budget 2014
Income tax and personal allowance The income tax personal allowance will increase from £9,440 to £10,000 in 2014/15, and further increase to £10,500 in 2015/16. The higher allowances for those born...
View ArticleHMRC profits from Inheritance Tax
Latest figures show that HMRC received more than £3bn from inheritance tax in 2012/13, an increase from £2.91bn in the previous year. With house prices increasing again and our economy improving...
View ArticleIgnore the hype
You may have seen articles in the press or online that claim “Savers could pay Inheritance Tax while they are still living”! An article in the Telegraph reported that ministers want to stop wealthy...
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How to avoid paying 40% tax on your insurance payout
Benjamin Franklin once made the famous quote that “The only two certainties in life are death and taxes.” Whilst I cannot disagree with his first point at the time of writing this article because...
View ArticleRules start to emerge and may differ from the hype
As we mentioned in last month’s Update the full details of the changes to the pension rules have not yet been released other than as headlines from the Conservative conference. At the moment the new...
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Parties plans for the ‘death tax’– What you need to know
As we approach the general election, the various political parties proposed policies on the dreaded ‘death tax’ (or Inheritance Tax as it is technically known) is one issue many of our clients are...
View ArticleInflation falls … again
It seems that every month we write about falling inflation, and this month is no exception. In the year to February inflation fell to zero. As I’m sure you have seen in the press, this is the first...
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Inheritable ISAs
In the Autumn Statement it was announced that a spouse or civil partner of a deceased saver can inherit their ISA to retain the taxation benefits of an ISA account. Since the original announcement,...
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“Can you ever be too young to write a Will?”
A recent article in the Money section of the Sunday Times was one of many to list Rik Mayall among a long line of wealthy public figures or celebrities to have died intestate, without drawing up a...
View ArticleThe election is over, so what now?
The Conservatives secured an unexpected win on 7th May and, in so doing, the Mansion tax, the 50% rate and the 10% starting rate all disappeared. But after all their manifesto pledges, what will the...
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New IHT rules – Some details released
One of the successes of the election was the Conservatives’ promise to move the family home out of IHT. This policy really helped them to win the election. We now know some of the policy’s detail,...
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Changes to European inheritance rules
If you own a holiday home in France, changes last month now mean you can leave the home to your chosen beneficiaries rather than having to comply with the heirship rules in France. Previously, local...
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Do your executors know your documents from your data?
We live in a world that is now dominated by technology, and with our ever-increasing dependence upon our computers, smartphones and the internet in general we need to make sure, first, that we are...
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WOULD YOU LIKE TO USE YOUR PENSION TO ELIMINATE INHERITANCE TAX ON YOUR DEMISE?
Since the start of this tax year (6th April 2015), a new pensions regime is in place, known as Pension Freedom. The best known benefit is the ability for savers to access 100% of their money...
View ArticleA movie night you may regret
You may have heard recently how more than 100 retired footballers face huge losses of up to £100m after investing in film and property deals. After huge investment, these schemes are now in jeopardy,...
View ArticleMore pension changes
In April, the Government will reduce the lifetime allowance for pensions, which is the amount you can accumulate in pensions before any additional tax charges may apply when amounts over this limit are...
View ArticleDon’t forget the tax relief
We recently spoke with a client who pays £500 into their pension from their bank account. The client is a higher rate tax payer and so is entitled to higher rate tax relief. Basic rate tax relief is...
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