Abolition of pensions lifetime allowance and proposed replacement
In the March 2023 Budget the government announced plans to replace the Lifetime Allowance (‘LTA’) regime with a new set of rules with effect from 6 April 2024. Recently there has been significant speculation about the nature, extent and impact of the proposed replacement regime. This speculation has not been helped by a lack of […]
Don’t miss the new trust requirements and trustee responsibilities
Historically, you only needed to register a trust if it became liable to UK tax, for example, if the trust had made a gain or received income. This regime had been in place for many years, however, this changed in October 2020. Now, most existing and newly established trusts must register on HM Revenue & […]
Further changes to Capital Gains Tax suggested
The Chancellor Rishi Sunak last year commissioned the Office for Tax Simplification (‘OTS’) to produce reports into Capital Gains Tax (‘CGT’). The first report was produced in November 2020 and the second report has just been released. There are two notable proposals in this second report: The first recommendation is that the time limit for […]
HMRC granted greater investigatory powers
Much ink has already been spilled (or in today’s digital world, keystrokes expended) in anticipation of Chancellor Sunak’s Budget Statement. There has in recent weeks, for example, been a lot of ‘sound and fury’ around possible changes to Capital Gains Tax (‘CGT’), ultimately ‘signifying nothing’ (to take Macbeth’s soliloquy completely out of context). The Chancellor […]
Is it time to plan for tax changes?
In July the Chancellor Rishi Sunak requested the Office of Tax Simplification (‘OTS’) to undertake a review of Capital Gains Tax (‘CGT’) with a particular focus on areas where the existing rules can distort taxpayer behaviour. The subsequent report published towards the end of November asks the Government to consider making changes that will have […]
Mitigating the impact of Inheritance Tax
Given the uncertainty of the times in which we find ourselves, sound wealth planning is more important than ever. In this second Wealth Insight, we explore the uses of life insurance particularly in relation to estate planning. Covid-19 has significantly raised awareness among the wealthy about their mortality risk and enquiries for life insurance have […]
Paving the way for a Wealth Tax?
Even opening a piece by saying, ‘Inheritance Tax (‘IHT’) is well overdue a reform’, is likely to elicit a collective groan. We have been here before. Capital Transfer Tax was replaced by IHT in 1984; there were significant reforms regarding Trusts in 2006; and we have seen, in recent years, changes to the domicile rules […]