IHT receipts hit record high as Rachel Reeves’ frozen bands raid plague Brits July 21, 2026 Inheritance tax receipts soared to a record high in the three months to June 2026, as frozen thresholds drag more Brits into the net. Receipts hit £2.3bn over the period, according to the latest figures from HMRC, a £96m increase from the same period last year. In June alone inheritance tax (IHT) receipts totalled £871m [...]
Andy Burnham should start by scrapping the £100k tax trap July 21, 2026 Cutting taxes is expensive, but there is a way Andy Burnham could make them simpler and fairer, says Helen Thomas Andy Burnham’s first interview as Labour’s presumptive Prime Minister contained a somewhat unlikely observation. Speaking to the Sunday Times, he said one issue repeatedly raised on the doorstep was the frozen £12,570 personal allowance. It [...]
Ask the expert: Will paying for my daughter’s wedding reduce my IHT bill? July 20, 2026 Fidelity personal financial specialist Marianna Hunt is back on hand to answer your burning questions, and today a reader wants to know if paying for their daughter’s big day could reduce their IHT bill. Q: My daughter is getting married. I understand that if my wife and I transferred her £15,000 for the costs of [...]
Jamie’s Italian is awful but don’t worry, there are some great new Mediterranean restaurants too July 15, 2026 This week I talk about two Italians, one Greek, a talented Cypriot and an irritating Englishman. Prepare to read about two restaurants you should visit (Bancone and Zylia) and one you should reserve for your worst enemies (Jamie’s Italian)… ZYLIA Covent Garden is a part of London that you only go to for a specific [...]
FRC Chair-in-waiting grilled over holding seven other board roles July 15, 2026 MPs have raised concerns over whether the former chief executive of Virgin Money can realistically juggle her role as Chair of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) alongside seven other board and chair positions. Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia was named by the government on Monday as the next Chair of the accounting watchdog, set to take over [...]
Wimbledon: HMRC set to slap Sinner and Noskova with £1.6m tax bill July 13, 2026 Wimbledon winners Jannik Sinner and Linda Noskova have been slapped with whopping multi-million pound tax bills after bagging £3.6m apiece at the All England Club. Sinner defended his title with a four-set win over French Open champion Alexander Zverev on Sunday while Noskova toppled Czech compatriot Karolina Muchova in three sets on Saturday. Both picked [...]
Former Virgin Money chief set to lead Financial Reporting Council July 13, 2026 The former chief executive of Virgin Money has been selected as the government’s preferred candidate to lead the UK’s accountancy regulator following the expected departure of Sir Jan du Plessis. Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia was named by Business and Trade Secretary Peter Kyle to replace du Plessis for a four-year term overseeing the Financial Reporting Council [...]
Fixing the £100,000 tax trap would be a bold first step – let’s not undermine it by taxing investment more July 9, 2026 Lord O’Neill is right to call for reform of the £100,000 tax trap, but taxing capital gains more heavily could end up costing the Treasury £8bn, says Michael Healy This week, a group of leading economists led by Lord O’Neill called for a fundamental overhaul of the UK’s tax system. Their argument that Britain has [...]
Burnham told to launch £100bn tax reform package July 6, 2026 Andy Burnham has been urged to introduce sweeping tax reforms that could generate over £100bn in extra government revenue by a group of influential economists, which includes his own heavyweight adviser Jim O’Neill. A letter signed by O’Neill, who was formerly a Treasury minister and Goldman Sachs executive, urged the next Prime Minister to introduce [...]
Surely Gary Stevenson is smart enough to know a wealth tax won’t work? July 6, 2026 Britain's self-styled greatest inequality economist, surely Gary Stevenson knows his two per cent levy won't work, writes Damian Pudner.