HMRC has updated its estimates for the cost of pension tax relief. Rachel Reeves will have taken note ahead of her first Budget on 30 October. Source: HMRC It was pure coincidence, but two days after the Chancellor had revealed a £22 billion black hole in government finances for the current financial year, HMRC released its annual update of the cost of pension tax reliefs. The headline figure (for 2022/23) was £48.7bn, more than twice the size of that black hole. That huge m

August saw the first cut in UK interest rates since March 2020. Source: Bank of England On 1 August, the Bank of England cut its bank rate by 0.25% to 5.00%, the first cut made since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020. The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee, which made the decision, voted 5–4 in favour of the reduction. That underlines the division of opinions – the Bank’s Governor, Andrew Bailey backed the cut, but its Chief Economist, Huw Pill, took the opp

August started with sharp gyrations on global stock markets. It was a good time to be on holiday. Source: Investing.com It was once suggested that a wise approach to investment in the stock market is to make your choice and then go away to a remote desert island with no communication links for at least three – or preferably five – years. This drastic prescription, which predates the internet era, was meant to stop the investor from watching markets day-to-day, worrying abou

‘Tick the Gift Aid’ box to boost your donation to charity and save some tax. The number of national and international calls on our goodwill to donate to causes has grown in the last few years. You are probably familiar with the ‘Tick the Gift Aid’ box, or a request to sign a declaration, when you donate to charity. As a rule, it makes sense for you and the charity to do so. This simple step could mean a £100 gift costs you only £40 (or £32.50 in Scotland). When donating with

Are student loans something to avoid? With the 2024/25 academic year on the horizon, student finance is again a hot topic for many parents. How hot differs slightly for the UK’s four nations as each has a subtly different way of funding students and, outside Scotland, their tuition fees. However, the broad principles are the same: 1. Loans carry ‘interest’, usually at a rate linked to RPI inflation in March of each year (4.3% for March 2024). The rate levied can vary based

Autumn won’t leave much time for the new government to settle before important pension policy decisions need to be made. When MPs return to work after the summer recess, many areas of policy will require attention. Some are inheritances from the last government, while others are of the current government’s own creation. The pensions arena provides good examples of both: The lifetime allowance In March 2023, Jeremy Hunt, predecessor of Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves