FTSE 100 close: Ocado delivers bumper gains while Next zips lower March 29, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 was hoisted higher by the UK’s largest retailers surging today, except high street bellwether Next, which stumbled badly. The capital’s premier index bumped more than one per cent to 7,564.28 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, surged 1.28 per [...]
Pensions, Isas, child benefit limits and inheritance tax: Your ten point end of tax year checklist March 29, 2023 In five year’s time the annual income of another 2.1 million taxpayers will fall into the higher rate tax threshold, a rise of 47 per cent, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). The threshold has been frozen since April 2021 – and is expected to stay frozen until April 2028 while the threshold [...]
FTSE 100 close: Barclays charge runs out of steam as Deutsche Bank swings to losses March 28, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 was pulled higher by banks clawing back losses yet again today, with Barclays and Standard Chartered initially leading the charge before running out of steam heading into the close. The capital’s premier index jumped 0.17 per cent to 7,484.26 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with [...]
Tax year end: Six ways to invest a £100,000 bonus March 28, 2023 Next week marks the end of the 2022/23 tax year, with midnight on 5 April the deadline for using available tax-free savings and investment allowances. Last December saw city workers awarded bumper bonuses and seven in ten City workers still expect their bonus to be as large as – if not ‘larger’ or ‘significantly larger’ [...]
Junior Isas and the £100k children’s savings club: As savings deadline approaches parents reminded to use their tax free allowance March 28, 2023 Around 40 children had Junior Isa pots worth £200,000 or more at the end of the 2020/21 tax year, according to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) figures. And around 500 had savings pots worth £100,000 or above, the figures indicate. The rounded figures were released after a freedom of information request made on behalf of [...]
Tax vote in 2016 saved Sunak £300k: Number 10 insists PM backed it ‘in national, not personal interest’ March 24, 2023 Downing Street has insisted Government decisions are made “in the national interest, rather than personal interest”, after reports that Rishi Sunak saved more than £300,000 due to a cut in capital gains tax he voted for in 2016. The Prime Minister released a summary of his tax affairs on Wednesday, showing that he had paid [...]
Lump sum or regular saving, investing for children and how to go green: Your Isa guide to making the most of this year’s tax-free allowance March 24, 2023 With just under three weeks left until the end of the tax year, savers may still be considering how to use their annual tax-free Isa allowance. You can use your allowance whether you are looking at setting up a regular savings plan, or investing a lump sum, or even considering putting some cash aside for [...]
Keir Starmer follows Rishi Sunak and publishes tax return March 23, 2023 Sir Keir Starmer has published his tax returns, showing he paid £67,000 in tax over the last year. The Labour leader paid £51,547 in 2020/21 and £67,033 in 2021/22, he said, which is a total of £118,607. It came just a day after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak published his own tax returns, which revealed he [...]
Budget: Hunt considering pension changes to encourage over 50s back to work March 14, 2023 The Chancellor is understood to be looking at increasing the pension lifetime allowance (LTA) in a move that is being interpreted as attempting to reverse the trend of early retirements. The PA news agency understands Jeremy Hunt is considering allowing workers to put more money into their pension pot before being taxed as part of [...]
Why does the Bank of England (secretly) want to sack you? To hose down the inflation fire March 14, 2023 Whisper it very, very softly, but the Bank of England (secretly) is trying to force you out of the job. That’s right. Governor Andrew Bailey wants to toss you to the wolves in the name of the fight against inflation. That’s overegging it. No one is directly trying to make someone else unemployed. A kernel [...]