Chancellor U-turns on Winter Fuel Payment Eligibility In a significant policy shift, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has largely reversed the controversial changes made to the Winter Fuel Payment (WFP) eligibility. In July 2024, one of her initial decisions as Chancellor was...
Parliament's Ongoing Focus on Pension Reform Pension legislation is a constant feature of parliamentary activity in the UK. Whether it's the Chancellor adjusting tax rules or the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) overhauling private or state pension frameworks,...
Understanding Retirement Living Standards Determining the ideal income for a comfortable retirement is a common concern. Every year since 2019, the Pension and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA), in collaboration with Loughborough University, publishes crucial...
The Delayed Report on Salary Sacrifice for Pensions HMRC recently published a report, "Understanding the attitudes and behaviours of employers towards salary sacrifice for pensions," which, rather unusually, was based on data collected in summer 2023 and dated January...
Understanding HMRC's Simple Assessment From June 2025, HMRC will begin issuing "simple assessment" letters, a new form of communication that is expected to catch many recipients by surprise. These letters are part of HMRC's effort to streamline tax collection for...
Your Pension: Who's Really Making the Investment Decisions? The UK Government is increasingly taking an active interest in the investment strategies, or lack thereof, of pension funds across the country. Government's Tightening Financial Stance As highlighted by...
Is Inflation Making a Comeback in the UK? The latest inflation figures for April have once again pushed beyond the Bank of England's designated target range, prompting fresh scrutiny of the UK's economic landscape. So what caused the latest inflation spike? The Bank...
15.3 Million Brits Face Future Poverty Risk Concerning new research has brought to light a significant number of individuals on a trajectory towards a retirement characterized by financial hardship. The State of UK Retirement Savings Several prominent investment...
Looking after your employees Feed employees with free or subsidised food in a staff canteen. Where the food is available to all employees, or all who work at a particular site, there is no taxable benefit for employees when they receive free or subsidised food. A...
Making the rules work for you Choose the most tax-advantageous structure for your new business. Tax changes, such as the recent increase to the rate of employer NICs, have made the decision on how to structure a new business quite difficult. Traditionally, a business...
Handing on your wealth Top-up your state pension entitlement. Everyone has a nil rate band of £325,000 on which no IHT is charged. If you have children, or stepchildren, you can add up to £175,000 (known as the residence nil rate band) to your nil rate band by leaving...
Preparing for the future Maximise tax relief on your pension contributions by using all of your annual allowance. The annual allowance for 2025/26 is £60,000, but you can also use surplus allowance from the previous three tax years (see the following tip). To avoid an...
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