Grandparents fund university degrees to avoid inheritance tax net Personal Finance Wealthy grandparents are choosing to fund their grandchildren’s university education over leaving a large inheritance as they look to avoid the shake up to the tax system. The bank of grandma and grandad has played a greater role within UK families in recent years, as parents continue to be squeezed by rising costs. In particular, [...]
Burnham should go on a ‘cost of doing business’ tour Economics An alarming note from one of the City’s top economists warns that October’s Budget could see taxes rise by almost the same amount as they did last year when Rachel Reeves cooked up £26bn worth of fresh hikes. Ruth Gregory, Deputy Chief UK Economist at Capital Economics, suggests that higher taxes “perhaps worth up to [...]
Pensioners hit with £8bn tax bill after government freezes allowances Personal Finance Pensioners paid some £8bn in extra tax last year after a freeze on personal allowances dragged people into higher bands, new figures have revealed. The amount of tax paid by people in retirement climbed from £21.1bn to £29.8bn, an increase of over 40 per cent in just two years, according to the latest pension participation [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
If Burnham wants growth he’ll have to save the City July 9, 2026 Quite the roll call: Beazley, Tate & Lyle, Intertek, Schroders, easyjet. Companies abandon their public listing for their own reasons but the cumulative impact cannot be ignored and, given the dearth of any substantial new entrants, it cannot be dismissed as the healthy churn of dynamic capital markets. Far from it. A typically punchy note [...]
‘One-two punch’ – Families face huge capital gains death tax under Burnham July 9, 2026 Bereaved families could face a huge tax bill under an Andy Burnham premiership if the likely next Prime Minister presses ahead with a policy to hike capital gains tax on assets of the deceased. Supporters of Burnham, including the former health secretary Wes Streeting and ex-transport minister Louise Haigh, have said previously they believe wealth [...]
Top Tory slams ‘ivory tower’ financial regulators as takeover bids blight London Stock Exchange July 8, 2026 The shadow business secretary has hit out at “ivory tower financial regulators”, accusing them of failing to spend enough time dealing with the problems facing London’s capital markets and hampering UK competitiveness. Conservative MP Andrew Griffith blamed watchdogs like the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for the state of the London Stock Exchange, which was blighted [...]
‘Too much tax, too much regulation’: Fintech chief sounds alarm on UK economy and IPO market July 7, 2026 The boss of one of the UK’s fastest-growing fintech unicorns has warned the country risks “putting founders off” with overregulation and heavy taxation as speculation rises that the Labour government could make a major lurch to the left. Paul Taylor, who founded banking software firm Thought Machine in 2014, told City AM he feared UK [...]
Burnham tax plans spark investor rush to bank capital gains July 2, 2026 Entrepreneurs and savers are rushing to bring forward the sale of their businesses or take profit on investments in anticipation of Andy Burnham’s rumoured plans to fund his ambitious devolution agenda by equalising capital gains tax with income tax. Tax and financial advisers reported a sharp uptick in client enquiries on the likely Prime Minister’s [...]