Blog
What May 2025 Hold?
What May 2025 Hold? Firstly, may we wish everyone a Happy New Year. Hopefully, it will be healthy and prosperous too. What may 2025 hold? We start 2025 with ongoing geopolitical uncertainty. The war in Ukraine rumbles on and Israel continues its fight with Hamas and Hezbollah. This is as it was in January 2024,…
Read MoreUncertain Times
Covid, Ukraine, Gaza, and the high price of the basics of food and fuel. Public service strikes and disruption to services, hospital waiting lists, illegal immigration, and the inability to find workers willing to work. A slump in stock market values and unusually a collapse in bonds at the same time. Local government operations becoming…
Read MoreSpring Budget 2024
The Spring Budget is looked forward to with some hope that we may feel better off after it. However, not many could claim that after the latest iteration. It was common knowledge that the Chancellor had little room for manoeuvre owing to the poor state of the public purse. Further, the cut to National Insurance and freeze on Fuel Duty were confirmed before he even stood up at the Despatch Box. Clearly, a cut to a personal tax is welcome, but it does help working pensioners as they do not pay NI anyway. That does not mean that they don’t need some help of course. It could be why they are still working. The freeze on Fuel Duty also is welcome as…
Read MoreDeferring Capital Gains Tax
Deferring Capital Gains Tax If you are an experienced investor who is not afraid of investment risk and has a capital gain, it is possible to role over the gain into an Enterprise Investment Scheme and defer paying the CGT due. There are also two more tax benefits in that such an investment qualifies for Business Relief for Inheritance Tax after two years of ownership, or immediately if the funds invested were from an investment or business that already qualified. The other tax break is for income tax. The investment qualifies for 30% Income Tax relief, up to the level of tax paid. Example: A landlord sells a property for £300,000, of which £50,000 is subject to CGT at the rate of 28% (£14,000), after taking into account their CGT allowance. By investing the £50,000 into the EIS scheme, the CGT is no longer due now. The money is outside of the estate for IHT after two years (potential saving £20,000) and up to £15,000 can be claimed against Income Tax due or paid already. EIS shares are high risk as they are held in early-stage companies and not all of them will succeed. There is loss relief which softens the blow when this happens. Image credit: freepik.com
Read MoreTaper of the Pension Annual Allowance
High earners, and we have number of them, must take care when making pension contributions. Earlier this year, Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor, increased the annual allowance that can be paid into pension to £60,000. Whilst this is a considerable amount of money, and probably only something the better off can afford to consider, this allowance…
Read MoreDemystifying Inheritance Tax: A Brief Guide
Inheritance Tax (IHT) is a subject that often instils fear and confusion in individuals and families. What is Inheritance Tax? Inheritance Tax is a tax levied on the value of an individual’s estate transferred both before and after their death. The estate includes all assets, such as property, investments, cash, and possessions, and is subject…
Read MoreHOW TO OBTAIN 45% TAX RELIEF ON PENSION CONTRIBUTIONS
Business owners tend to try and structure their income tax efficiently, but this can be enhanced further with a little planning. Fundamentally, other than the £3,600 annual contribution available to everyone, you can only place funds into a pension if it is from earned income. This excludes rental or investment income and dividends. For a…
Read MoreTHE INEVITABILITY OF DEATH AND TAXES
Unfortunately, death is inevitable, so I thought it appropriate to just remind everyone of when IHT kicks in. This is not meant to be an exhaustive explanation as there is not enough space for that. Everyone has a Nil Rate Band (NRB) of £325,000 and a spouse or civil partner can inherit this. In addition,…
Read MoreHOW TO PLAN FOR INHERITANCE TAX
Inheritance tax is a tax on the value of everything you gift or leave behind when you die. Not everyone is required to pay inheritance tax. You can leave any amount to your spouse or civil partner. But if the amount you leave to others is valued above £325,000, the excess is taxed at 40%…
Read MoreCommon IHT Questions
We get many questions about IHT tax and how to minimise HMRC’s take from an estate. Below are just a few. How much can I give away? That is very much based upon personal circumstances. It is important that the client takes care of their own future needs rather than being too generous. Can I…
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