Category: Blog

We’ve received a few questions from clients on how “scheme pays” works for those that have exceeded contributions above their designated allowances. Scheme pays is a method whereby as the name suggests, the tax charge can be paid by the pension scheme.

If an individual exceeds the annual allowance (AA) and an AA tax charge is due, they can ask their pension scheme to pay the charge on their behalf with a corresponding reduction in benefits. The pension scheme is only obliged to facilitate the payment of the charge if certain conditions apply.

Introduction

The story of the US/China trade dispute was a thread running through much of last year. Some progress was made in resolving the dispute at December’s G20 summit and that appeared to continue in January with China saying it is ‘ready to work’ with the US. Donald Trump confirmed this, describing a telephone conversation with Xi Jinping as leading to ‘big progress’.

Despite a rocky start over fears of a slowdown in China, this helped world stock markets to enjoy a good month, and we started the year with a clean sweep: all the markets on which we report were up in January, although many of them have a way to go to make up the ground they lost last year, with 2018 the worst year in a decade for global markets.

With the end of the tax year on 5th April fast approaching, now is the time to consider a few financial planning steps.

Making the most of your tax allowances for Pensions, ISAs, CGT, IHT and Income Tax, is vital to ensuring your financial affairs are organised as efficiently as possible. 

We have put together a review of 2018 and a look forward into 2019.  We look at all the numbers that made headlines last year and make some predictions for the year ahead.   Please click here to read the report.

We hope you find this of interest and as ever, we will be here to update you as the need arises throughout 2019.

Introduction A quiet wind down to Christmas? Everyone leaving their offices early and not much happening in the second half of the month? Nothing could be further from the truth: December was one of the most eventful months of the year and while there was some good news, it was eclipsed by falling stock markets…

Introduction

It is always difficult writing a report like this, as you are always trying to ‘hit a moving target.’ While you can record the stock market levels at the close of business on, say,  30th November, there is always the risk that the commentary is overtaken by events.

That has never been more true than this month: we wrote these notes on Monday 3rd December and, of course, you have to press ‘publish’ at some stage. However, we are very conscious that the situation regarding Brexit, and perhaps also the civil unrest in France, may have moved on by the time you read this.

Drawdown is a way of achieving greater flexibility with your pension funds. Every time you move your money into drawdown, you’re allowed to take 25% of this as a lump sum, which is exempt from tax. The rest continues as an investment, with taxable income able to be drawn straight from your pension whenever you choose. The tax-free lump sum must be taken at the start, but as you don’t have to move your whole pension at once, multiple lump sums can potentially be taken.

Introduction

October was, to put it mildly, an eventful month. It was a month which saw the majority of markets on which we report down steeply, as fears of higher interest rates in the US combined with worries about the US/China trade war. There was, however, one market that went up sharply: Brazil elected a new president,  a man who, I suspect, will feature prominently in future commentaries.

In the UK, the Prime Minister survived the latest round of calls for her head, and the Chancellor delivered his Budget a month earlier than everyone had expected.

The Chancellor, Philip Hammond delivered his Autumn Budget to Parliament yesterday.

We have produced a summary, looking at the broad areas of the economy and the numbers, personal taxation, pensions and savings, business investment and business taxation, along with other measures. You can download our Autumn Budget Overview by clicking here. 

A national saving and investment survey has shown only 7% of people have spoken to their parents about inheritance. One of the most important parts of planning to leave an inheritance is to talk about it. This is obviously not an easy topic and it may be a good idea to set aside some specific family time to have this discussion. This could help avoid any family disputes before and after you are gone.