Taxpayers relying on HMRC to sort out the tax due on interest are given a warning. As had often been noted over the last few years, one of the strategies adopted by successive governments to increase tax revenue is the freezing of tax allowances and bands. As inflation increases income, the net result is generally to: bring more people into the tax system; and make existing taxpayers pay more tax, both in absolute terms and as a proportion of their income. One frozen allowanc

In 1975, the Chancellor’s Budget dared to go where no successor has dared since. 1975 was a memorable year in UK politics. In February 1975, Margaret Thatcher won the Conservative leadership election from Ted Heath, who almost a year previously had led his party to defeat. Four months later, in June 1975, the UK voted 67% in favour of remaining part of the EEC (now EU) in its first referendum. Neatly positioned between those two events, in April 1975, the Labour Chancellor, D

Research has shown the lack of awareness about the next change to the State Pension Age (SPA). Changes to SPA have proved fertile grounds for controversy. The move to equalise women’s and men’s SPA at 65, completed in November 2018, is still a source of dispute. In March 2024, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) published a report recommending that the women affected by that change should each receive up to £3,000 compensation. A couple of days before parlia

Retirement has undergone a significant transformation from its origins in the 1880s when Otto von Bismarck introduced the first modern pension system. Back then, retirement age was set at 70, while life expectancy was much lower. Today, many retirees can expect to live 30 or more years in relatively good health, yet society often continues to view retirement as the final chapter of life rather than an opportunity for reinvention. Actress and activist Jane Fonda, in her 2011 T

2025 introduces a technical change to company car tax, which could alter your next choice of car. In recent years, the tax rules for company cars have provided a major incentive to choose a battery electric vehicle (BEV), with zero CO2 emissions, or a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) with CO2 emissions of 1-50g/km. While there is no argument that a pure BEV produces no CO2, the amount of CO2 emitted by PHEVs has been called into question. A PHEV that could cover only

The House of Commons Treasury Committee has been pondering the future of Lifetime ISAs (LISAs). The Lifetime ISA (LISA) is arguably a good example of brand overstretch. When ISAs were first launched in 1999, there were only two varieties, and they replaced two existing tax-favoured savings plans – PEPs (personal equity plans) and TESSAs (tax exempt special savings accounts). As ISAs grew in popularity, Chancellors could not resist expanding their remit. In 2011, the Junior