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The Government made a surprise tax announcement in late December 2025 when the country’s attention was otherwise engaged. ‘A good day to bury bad news’ is a notorious political phrase that still rings true. More than two decades later, it seems that the UK Government’s communication strategies often cloud rather than clarify awkward news. December […]
While reforms to the pension salary sacrifice rules are not scheduled to take effect until April 2029, it is important to understand the implications of the changes now. Salary sacrifice has become an increasingly common way for employees to make their pension contributions, with most major employers offering schemes. It currently has some important advantages […]
The consequences of successive Governments freezing income tax personal allowance are beginning to emerge. On 6 April 2016, the new State pension was launched at the rate of £155.65 a week (£8,093.80 a year) and the income tax personal allowance increased by £400 to £11,000. If you were about to reach State pension age […]
As the memories of January’s festivities fade behind us, it is time to turn our thoughts to 5 April 2026. The 2024 Budget revised the Chancellor’s fiscal calendar. From now on, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) will make only one full assessment a year of the UK’s finances, alongside the Autumn Budget, leaving the […]
Recent HMRC’s statistics show a jump in unclaimed Child Trust Funds (CTFs) to over £1,500,000,000. CTFs had only a brief existence. They were launched in January 2005 by the previous Labour Government and survived for just six years, before being culled by the Conservative /LibDem coalition Government in 2011, shortly after it came to power. […]
A new report has shown conflicting ideas about retirement. The report included two questions: Question 1: At what age would you like to retire? Question 2: At what age do you think you will be able to retire? If your answers to those two questions are different, then you are not […]