From 6 April 2015 you won’t have to pay tax on interest received if your total income is less than £15,600. As part of a wider relaxation for savers, the recent Budget pledged to introduce a Personal Savings Allowance (PSA) from 6 April 2016. The main features of the new PSA are: If your taxable […]
Weekly Planning
To get where you want to go, you have to plan the journey. Many business people engage in yearly or even monthly planning, but what about weekly planning? If you want to work more effectively and get more done, you need to plan each day of your week. Monday’s are tricky days; they tend to […]
First time buyers savings plan
If you are a first time buyer a new savings scheme introduced in the Budget last week is well worth considering. Nick named the Help to Buy ISA, the ISA will allow you to save up to £200 a month, and if you fulfil the various conditions set out below, the Government will boost your […]
Stolen mobile charges to be capped
Major mobile networks have confirmed plans to introduce protection for consumers from huge bills run-up on stolen mobiles following Government action. Under the voluntary agreement, five mobile networks – EE, O2, Three, Virgin Media and Vodafone – will protect around 27 million consumers on pay monthly contracts from being hit with shock bills through no […]
The £2,000 Employment Allowance continues for 2015/16
The £2,000 “employment allowance” introduced in 2014/15 continues to be available for 2015/16. Note that this allowance provides relief from paying employers NIC on the first £2,000 of contributions. The £2,000 allowance is set against employers NIC on a cumulative basis during the tax year. The allowance is available to most employers, although those under […]
Corporate Divorce
Going your separate ways is never easy. If your business partner decides he or she wants to leave the company you both started twenty years ago, you must move forward without destroying the business you have worked so hard to build. As the remaining business owner, your first step is to determine whether you are […]
Pension freedoms to be extended to annuitants
The Chancellor has announced that the government will extend its pension freedoms to around 5 million people who have already bought an annuity. From April 2016, the government will remove the restrictions on buying and selling existing annuities to allow pensioners to sell the income they receive from their annuity without unwinding the original annuity […]
Budget Statement 18 March 2015
Personal Tax and miscellaneous matters Personal Tax allowance The personal allowance for those born after 5 April 1948 will be increased to: For 2015-16 – £10,600 For 2016-17 – £10,800 For 2017-18 – £11,000 From 2016-17, there will be one Income Tax personal allowance regardless of an individual’s date of birth. Income Tax rate bands […]
Get ready for the new flexible pension rules
For those aged 55 and over and with a SIPP or other money purchase schemes, the new flexible pension rules commence on 6 April 2015. The new rules allow such pensioners to withdraw as much or as little income as they like from their fund but the income drawn will be taxed at their marginal […]