Who has been hit hardest by £21bn of pandemic fraud, and will the taxpayer EVER get it back? March 30, 2023 The UK Government has lost £21bn worth of taxpayers money due to fraud since the start of the pandemic, that is “very unlikely” to be unrecovered, according to the National Audit Office (NAO). The NAO said that many public bodies are unaware of the amount of fraud they face, as it revealed that levels of [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Spring Budget 2023 fails contractors, freelancers, agency workers (and the country as a whole) March 21, 2023 Jeremy Hunt’s first budget met expectations. ‘Dammed by faint praise’ fits the bill when best trying to articulate the frustration felt at yet another in a long list of missed opportunities. For those working in compliance and contingent employment, across the contracting sector, the failure is stark and can be charged on two counts. First [...]
Inheritance tax take beats all records as property price hikes boost HMRC’s coffers by whopping £6.4bn March 21, 2023 The amount of inheritance tax (IHT) paid in February totalled £531m, bringing the total for the 2022/23 tax year to a record £6.4bn. With just one month to go the amount already surpassed the £6.1bn received by the Treasury throughout the entire 2021-22 financial year. The record-breaking inheritance tax take follows last week’s revision by [...]
Pension pain: Savers who bought lifetime allowance ‘protection’ warned they may still find their tax-free lump sum capped March 17, 2023 Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s decision to scrap the pension lifetime allowance (LTA) in Wednesday’s Spring Budget, was heralded as an incentive for wealthier employees over 50 to stay in the workforce. But some pensions experts say for those who took out a form of LTA protection may still have to watch they do not go over [...]
Six ways business leaders think Chancellor can fix female entrepreneurship gap March 14, 2023 A group of senior business leaders have called on the Chancellor to use tomorrow’s budget to boost female entrepreneurship – with the UK economy said to be losing out on £250bn a year thanks to a lack of women starting and scaling businesses. Though women in the UK established over 150,000 new companies in 2022, [...]
Pension explainer: The lifetime allowance and why it’s not just for wealthy savers March 14, 2023 Speculation is growing that the Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt is looking at increasing the pension lifetime allowance (LTA). The move is being interpreted as attempting to reverse the trend of early retirements and get more over 50s to consider re-joining the workforce. Mr Hunt is keen to bolster Britain’s workforce as he looks to deliver [...]
Spring budget: Back to work, childcare and post Brexit customs – what do we know so far? March 13, 2023 This Wednesday, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will stand on the steps of No11 Downing Street – holding the famous Budget 2023 red box. Of his five predecessors, just Rishi Sunak was even in post long enough to reach this point. Political turmoil aside, his spring statement will also follow months of financial chaos, after economic shocks [...]
Start-up tax pain could scupper Rishi Sunak’s science superpower dreams, investors warn March 10, 2023 Further tax pain inflicted on the UK’s start-ups could scupper Rishi Sunak’s tech and science superpower plans, venture capital firms have warned. The warning comes as Jeremy Hunt prepares to announce his first full budget next week. Start-ups have piled pressure on Hunt to reverse changes to research and development tax credits announced in the [...]