The government has acted to ensure state pension increases can happen next April. The Basic State Pension (BSP) and the New State Pension (NSP) – for anyone who reached State Pension Age after 5 April 2016 – are both subject to the ‘Triple Lock’ measure. This means that every April these two pensions increase […]
National Savings rate to drop sharply from 24 November. At times, National Savings & Investments (NS&I) looks like a relic. Its role in raising money for the government has seemed an increasing anachronism for three main reasons: The amount NS&I raises each year is but a small part of the government’s total borrowing. For 2020/21, […]
Students starting university this year are being warned by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) that they could be targeted by a fresh wave of tax scams. As new students start the academic year, they can be particularly vulnerable to cybercrime. With universities taking a blended approach to online and face-to-face tuition this year, and an […]
HMRC has published some interesting research into capital gains tax (CGT). Here are three CGT questions for you to ponder: 1. How many individuals made enough capital gains in 2018/19 to face a CGT bill? The answer is just 256,000, according to the latest provisional figures from HMRC – 9,000 fewer than in the previous […]
The main US stock market index hit several new all-time highs in August. So far, the US has had a difficult 2020: Its performance in the battle against Covid-19 has been widely criticised. In the first part of August the country was still experiencing around 50,000 new cases each day. In the second quarter of […]
The Supreme Court has handed down a long-awaited decision on a complex case. Mrs Staveley died in December 2006, but it was only in August 2020 that the Supreme Court settled the question of the extent of any inheritance tax (IHT) liability on her pension. In the intervening 13 years, the rules relating to […]
