Wealth advisers battle client fears as Budget tax speculation grows Personal Finance Wealth advisers are being hit with an influx of questions over tax changes as speculation over what may be announced in next month’s Autumn Budget continues to grow. Wealth and asset managers across the City are reporting a surge in conversations with affluent clients who are becoming worried about potential tax changes which could affect [...]
UK has ‘low capital gains tax rates’, Healey says Politics The UK enjoys the lowest capital gains tax rate of any major European economy, Chancellor John Healey has said, raising the prospect of another hike at the Budget. Healey has said he wanted to improve the UK’s economic fortunes yet pointed to the UK’s competitiveness on capital taxes when speaking about business confidence. He told [...]
Labour mansion tax raid to hit homes worth £1.5m Politics The government is considering plans to lower the mansion tax threshold to properties worth over £1.5m, a move that would hit nearly 300,000 homes. Labour originally announced the tax on properties worth more than £2m in last year’s Autumn Budget by former chancellor Rachel Reeves. Properties over this valuation are set to pay a £2,500 [...]
John Caudwell: I backed Labour, but they haven’t kept their promises September 4, 2026 We should be making it easier for entrepreneurs to invest, employ and expand. Instead we are giving them more reasons to look elsewhere.
Jim O’Neill: Capital gains tax hike ‘looms’ as top option for Burnham September 2, 2026 Lord Jim O’Neill has warned a hike to capital gains tax “looms out” as one of the easiest revenue-raising options for Andy Burnham and his chancellor, John Healey, as the pair draw up plans for their first Budget in October. “They’ve ruled out the three main taxes, so if they’re going to have to find [...]
Grandparents fund university degrees to avoid inheritance tax net August 13, 2026 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 August 11, 2026 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 July 30, 2026 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 [...]