A third deadline for topping up State Pension entitlement is now coming into view. “Don't it always seem to go, That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone?” The words of Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi, recorded over half a century ago, always come to mind when deadlines loom. Whether it is filing tax returns or a supermarket limited time offer, there is a slice of the UK population that will always wait until the last moment to act. Sometimes, even a deadline is not eno

Not every interest rate moves in the same direction Source: Bank of England, Investing.com If you are approaching the end of your five-year fixed rate mortgage and currently enjoying an interest rate of around 2%, you have probably been watching the fluctuations of interest rates with some trepidation. The November 0.25% cut from the Bank of England has not fed through to your prospective re-mortgage interest rate and some lenders are even going in the opposite direction of t

New statistics show that cash ISAs remain a popular investment. Every autumn HMRC publishes a set of annual savings statistics, setting out detailed information about individual savings accounts (ISAs), lifetime individual savings accounts (LISAs), child trust funds (CTFs) and Help to Save. Unsurprisingly, ISAs dominate, with by far the largest amounts, both in terms of subscriptions and the overall value invested. Unfortunately, the data is usually about 18 months out of da

HMRC is uncharacteristically keen to give money away, reminding young adults again that they may be due unclaimed child trust funds (CTFs). The amount still to be paid out comes to just under £1.4 billion. As the UK settles under its first Labour government in 14 years, there is a certain irony that one of the policies of the last Labour government is still playing out, despite being scrapped by the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition government in 2010. CTFs were launche

Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ first Budget was a significant one in all senses. “…this Budget delivers a large, sustained increase in spending, taxation, and borrowing.” So said the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) in the first paragraph of its overview of the Autumn Budget. The numbers are indeed large: spending is up by almost £70 billion a year over the next five years; taxation will rise by £36 billion a year; and borrowing will still be above £70 billion a year in 2029

Investors in cryptocurrencies like bitcoin should not forget the tax consequences of their digital wallets, says HMRC. HMRC regularly boosts tax receipts by nudging taxpayers who are suspected of filling out their tax returns incorrectly or failing to submit a return when one is due. The warning, sent as a ‘nudge’ letter, often stems from investigations HMRC have undertaken, using their extensive powers to demand information from institutions and companies. Nudge letters are