Category: Tax

The government has introduced a range of measures aimed at removing barriers that may be stopping people from being able to access their pensions. In January, the Chancellor announced that he would be giving the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) the duty to cap excessive early exit charges. FCA data shows that around 16% of customers … Continued

It should be remembered that sensible inheritance tax planning for future generations can make a massive difference over time enabling the preservation of family wealth. £1m inheritance tax allowance per couple? The recent Budgets finally made good on the long standing promise to increase the inheritance tax allowances to £500,000 for an individual or to … Continued

The impending changes to the taxation of dividends for entrepreneurs and small business owners is likely to result in an increase in solvent liquidations over the next few months. If the proposed changes go ahead on 6 April 2016, it will be more expensive for individual shareholders to accumulate and extract surplus cash funds or … Continued

Millions of people in England and Wales face a large rise in fees payable after death, to raise an extra £250m for the courts service. The Ministry of Justice wants an increase in probate fees to as much as £20,000 for those with the biggest estates. At the moment such fees are fixed at either … Continued

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will be given the power to cap “excessive” early exit fees on pension pots. The new FCA responsibility will be introduced through legislation and the government will be publishing a formal response. The proposals will see the FCA being independently responsible for determining what the level of the cap on … Continued

HMRC has launched a digital accounts system for businesses and individual taxpayers. The new system will allow people to see their tax details and make payments at any time during the year. HMRC plans that by 2020, most taxpayers including individuals, businesses and landlords will track and submit information to HMRC digitally every quarter. Uncertainty … Continued

The Finance Bill 2016 passed through parliament in December 2015. This bill puts into law many of the measures announced by the Chancellor in his Budget and Autumn Statement speeches. Important areas which were clarified: the annual investment allowance is £200,000 from 1 January 2016 tougher rules tackling offshore tax evasion will be introduced large … Continued

The new state pension comes into effect from 6 April 2016 but research has found that many savers don’t understand the changes. A survey by Aviva found that: 24% are unaware of the flat rate pension 42% of 55-64 year olds aren’t sure if they’ll receive it 57% know that the state pension age is … Continued

Two thirds of potential home buyers plan to use the Help to Buy ISA scheme to save a deposit for a home. The research by MoneySuperMarket found that 82% of prospective buyers think the scheme will help them get on the property ladder earlier than planned. Help to Buy ISAs, which were launched on 1 … Continued

From April 2017 new rules will be introduced to determine domicile status for individuals for income tax, capital gains tax and inheritance tax (IHT). These new rules will fundamentally change the way in which some non UK domiciled individuals (non-doms) are taxed in the UK. With such significant changes and the likelihood of a relatively … Continued