Client News

The hourly national living wage rate for over-25s will increase from £8.21 to £8.72 for 2020/21. The Low Pay Commission published recommendations for the new rates, which kick in from 1 April 2020. The national living wage is the Government’s minimum wage for over-25s. The minimum wage for under-25s will also rise. Workers aged between… Continue reading Employers to pick up the bill for 6.2% national living wage increase

Billions of pounds lost in unclaimed funds. Helping you plan for your retirement is one of our core services, ensuring you are prepared when the time comes to call it a day. With medical advances enabling more people to live for longer, the average person who retires at 65 lives for another 20 years. According… Continue reading Tracing lost pensions

High earners could face large tax bills if they fail to declare pension contributions on their 2018/19 tax returns, according to a report. When completing self-assessment, taxpayers are asked if they have put any money into a pension scheme above the annual pensions allowance. For most people, this allowance is £40,000 – but for every… Continue reading High earners need to read this

A quarter of small business owners in the UK believe their company will fold in the next four years, research has claimed. Late payments (54%), tax rates (44%) and cyber-attacks (27%) were the biggest concerns among the 500 owner-managers polled by cloud accounting software provider Xero. Other challenges included Brexit (44%), maintaining or boosting levels… Continue reading Cash flow is king to survival

It’s been an eventful few years in British politics, but 2019 has been something else again with one jolt after another. The 29 March deadline for the UK to leave the EU was extended to 31 October and then again until 31 January 2020. Boris Johnson replaced Theresa May as Prime Minister and Sajid Javid… Continue reading The missing budget 2019

With low interest rates, property remains attractive. As the global financial crisis began to bite in 2008, central banks in several nations took action, attempting to shock the world economy back to life by slashing base interest rates. The idea behind this kind of stimulus is to make saving less attractive, hopefully prompting people to… Continue reading Property investment – good idea?

Are you on track for a comfortable retirement? All of us dream of the day we can retire, saying goodbye to the alarm clock and commute, filling our days with sun-soaked beach holidays, leisurely rounds of golf, or cruising the world. As delightful as that sounds, the days when people can retire at a certain… Continue reading Pensions – have you got enough to retire?

The Government is being urged to stop its crackdown on the buy-to-let market, following evidence showing the negative effects of a string of tax changes. The Intermediary Mortgage Lenders’ Association (IMLA) said recent changes are forcing some landlords out of the private rented sector. It found that landlords with one buy-to-let property made up just… Continue reading The buy-to-let saga

Fewer people should have to pay tax on gifts made to loved ones in the years before their death, according to the Office for Tax Simplification (OTS). Under the current rules, inheritance tax of up to 40% is paid when someone dies within seven years of making a gift. The OTS called on the Treasury… Continue reading Are you using your Gift allowances?

Extending IR35 to the private sector could introduce “a complex web of new rules and liabilities throughout supply chains”. Medium and large companies in the private sector are set to be responsible for determining the tax status of contractors from April 2020. With that date looming, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) has called… Continue reading Calls grow for delay in extending IR35 to the private sector