Tax and Financial Planning

  • Are You a Sophisticated Investor? In March 2005, the rules relating to approaching people regarding financial promotions were relaxed so that so called ‘sophisticated investors’ and high net worth individuals (HNWIs) could be more easily approached with a view to making...
  • Enterprise Investment Schemes: EIS and SEIS Successive governments have recognised that the spirit of entrepreneurialism, though deeply ingrained in the UK’s culture, is not really very well supported by the financial institutions. In an attempt to provide more ready access to investment capital...
  • Fiscal Help for your Student Children If you have children going away to university there are money saving options worth considering, if you are in a position to take advantage of them. The cost of accommodation is a financial burden for any student. If you can provide funds to buy a home near...
  • Funding Care in Later Life   Under the changes proposed in the Care Act 2014, which received the Royal Assent in May 2014 and which came into effect in April 2016, the funding of elderly care has changed significantly. There is a factsheet available from the Government...
  • HMRC Guidance on Tax Residence Following changes in the tax legislation governing the income tax payable by non-domiciliaries, and some relevant tax cases, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have updated their guidance on tax residence and domicile . This replaces the old guidance, which was...
  • How Drawdown Lifetime Mortgages Work For people who have money tied up in their homes who wish to release capital for expenditure, or possibly to give to family members, the drawdown lifetime mortgage (DLM) is a possible vehicle. A DLM is simply a mortgage, but one which is drawn down over...
  • How Inheritance Tax Works Inheritance Tax (IHT) is paid on your estate when you die and also when money is transferred into some trust funds. Some other transfers during one’s lifetime may also be subject to IHT. The first £325,000 (2017/8 rates) of the estate is exempt...
  • IHT Nil Band for Residential Property Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Relief from IHT is available by way of a 'Residence Nil-Rate Band' for IHT where a person dies leaving their residence to a direct descendant, whcih means children (including...
  • IHT Planning and the AIM In recent years, Inheritance Tax (IHT) has affected more and more families, largely due to rising house prices. IHT is payable at 40 per cent on the net assets of an estate where these exceed £325,000 – the current 2017/8 nil-rate band. Investing...
  • Pension Flexibility - Basics   There has been a great deal of publicity about the forthcoming changes in the law relating to pensions and their uses. The changes are comprehensive and change the tax position significantly and also the uses which can be made of pension funds. With...
  • Putting Cash into a Family Business When younger members of a family start a business, they often ask other family members to provide part of the necessary capital. If you are approached to do this and are willing to provide funding, it is often difficult to know how best to provide the cash....
  • Should I Buy To Let? Property prices have risen substantially for many years in the UK, with the occasional drop in values in times of recession. The long-term reliability of property investment (which, of course is not a guarantee of future price growth) plus the negligible...
  • Stamp Duty Land Tax and Second Homes - The Basics Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) was brought in to replace the old ‘stamp duty’ and has been complex since its inception. Among the transactions subject to SDLT are property sales. Levied at a rate of 2 per cent on purchases between £125,000 and...
  • Unlocking Your Equity - the Choices There is a bewildering variety of equity release schemes on the market and, judging by the letters pages of the financial press, they are not well understood. Releasing equity in a house can be an effective way of supplementing your income or releasing spare...
  • Warning for Holders of US Assets If you hold assets in the USA, you should be aware of an issue that has started to arise in estates in which there are US shareholdings, especially where these are managed by brokers in the US. The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires that any estate...
  • What is Taxable? With the Government seeing fit to make HM Revenue and Customs a payer of benefits (pension credit etc.) as well as a collector of taxes, it is no wonder that people are becoming confused as to which sources of income are taxable and which are not. It is...