HMRC Tag

The prospect of a flat rate of tax relief on pension contributions has resurfaced in the national press. The cost of pension relief has been chipped back in recent years, mainly by reducing the annual allowance. However, a report in The Times in early July...

The latest quarterly review of the FTSE 100 revealed common misunderstandings about how the index is drawn up. Every quarter FTSE Russell, which operates all the FTSE indices, decides which companies are promoted or demoted from the FTSE 100 index. There had been speculation that the...

HMRC is starting the tax year with their annual reminder to submit your tax return. HMRC’s reminder might seem early, but its statistics show that 750,000 people (6.5%) missed the deadline for 2016/17, potentially facing an immediate £100 penalty, even if they had no outstanding...

Important changes for venture capital schemes and enterprise investment have recently come into effect.  New ‘risk-to-capital’ conditions apply to investments in venture capital trusts (VCTs), enterprise investment schemes (EISs) and seed enterprise investment schemes (SEISs). The changes took effect on 15 March 2018, when the...

It is worth looking at what your pension pot could buy for your retirement. The importance of pension contributions has been bolstered by the rollout of auto-enrolment pension schemes. However, it is not as clear what your savings will give you when you come to retire. For...

The start of the new tax year on 6 April marks several changes to tax and related matters that could make you richer… or poorer. The absence of a Spring Budget does not mean that the usual raft of changes at the start of the...

The rules for inheriting ISAs will change from 6 April. It was announced by George Osborne in 2014 that ISAs would become inheritable by surviving spouses and civil partners. At the time, nobody – not even the Treasury – was clear what the then chancellor meant. The...

HMRC has published its annual assessment of the cost of tax reliefs. Every January HMRC publishes a table of ‘Estimated costs of principal tax reliefs’. Any Chancellor facing a budget deficit is bound to run his eyes down the list to see where the money is...

There will be no Spring Budget this March, but that does not mean the Chancellor is staying silent. On 13 March, the Chancellor will present a Spring Statement to the House of Commons, not a Budget. The next Budget should be in the autumn, probably November....

This is the time of year to review your pension contributions. February and March are rightly popular times for reviewing and making pension contributions. By this stage you should have a good idea of what your income for the tax year will be and how much...