The changes to national insurance contributions (NICs) announced in the Spring Statement in March were not straightforward. Let’s set the record straight. In his Spring Statement – or was it a mini-Budget? – the Chancellor announced several changes to NICs aimed at reducing the impact of the 1.25 percentage points increase in the rates that [...]
As inflation hits a 30-year high in the UK, double-digit price increases could be on the horizon. At the start of 2021, inflation measured by the CPI yardstick, was running at a benign 0.7%, having been driven down by the impact of the pandemic. A year later, the rate had jumped to 5.5%, close to [...]
Despite the numerous shocks that occurred in the first quarter of 2022, the world’s share markets held up surprisingly well. Index Q1 2022 Change FTSE 100 +1.78% FTSE 250 -9.88% Dow Jones Industrial -4.57% Standard & Poor’s 500 -4.95% Nikkei 225 -3.37% Euro Stoxx 50 (€) -9.21% Shanghai Composite -10.64% MSCI Emerging Markets (£) -4.66% [...]
With inflation hitting 6.2% in February and outstripping wage growth, make sure you are paying attention to what’s happening to your money. We explore some ways to help keep your money where it belongs. Tip 1: Make sure you have the right tax code Now that the new tax year has started, it is worth [...]
A critical review of how the government taxes child benefits has raised a major question mark over HMRC’s approach to collecting payments. Child benefit tax, or the High-Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) to use its legal name, is a case study in how not to introduce and operate a tax. It was designed as a [...]
New research has highlighted a growing retirement income gap between men and women, which has been exacerbated by the pandemic. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) life expectancy calculator, at age 55: Men have a life expectancy of 84 years, with a 1 in 4 chance of surviving to 92. Women have a [...]
The government has published draft legislation to raise the minimum age for drawing pension benefits from 55 to 57. At present, the normal minimum pension age (NMPA) at which you can draw benefits from a pension scheme is 55. That age ceiling took effect in April 2010 and was subject to a limited range of [...]
The UK’s unusual tax year end date is coming under scrutiny in tandem with potential changes to the tax year basis for the self-employed. The start of the tax year in the UK is 6 April. It is a date steeped in history – think quarter days and the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in [...]
New HMRC data shows that in 2019/20, £9.9 billion of capital gains tax (CGT) liabilities were created. In July last year, the Chancellor unexpectedly asked the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) to review “capital gains tax (CGT) and aspects of the taxation of chargeable gains in relation to individuals and smaller businesses”. The top tax [...]
The Bank of England has suggested that interest rates may rise sooner than expected. After its August meeting, the Bank of England (BoE) was never expected to announce any change in base rate from the 0.1% set in response to the pandemic. The BoE, like its counterparts in the US, Eurozone and Japan, wants to [...]
