Autumn 2017 Newsletter

Post by Mearns & Company in News

Plotting a new course?

With the last few weeks’ news dominated by natural disasters across the Atlantic and the Brexit negotiations picking up pace at home, it’s almost hard to remember the UK election of only a few months ago.

We’re still experiencing the fallout, however, with the publication in early September of a new, second Finance Bill just as we were going to press on the Autumn edition of our newsletter. As we discuss there, the new Bill is the anticipated follow-up to the original slimmed down,
pre-election version. Most of Mr Hammond’s culled measures have reappeared.

The two key areas we highlight – the cut to the money purchase annual allowance for 2017/18, and the reduction to the dividend allowance for 2018/19 – may well affect your financial planning. The Autumn Budget on 22 November will herald yet another Finance Bill towards the end of the year. Whether the Chancellor is able to alter course at all remains to be seen.

Budgets now being presented in the Autumn brings in a change of rhythm to the financial year and we’ll be bringing you that news before Christmas.

Additional stories for this edition include:

• Are you covered on personal lending? With the Bank of England expressing concern over a boom in personal lending, reviewing your protection across a range of loans and liabilities may be prudent.

• Inheritance tax receipts hit a new high How much do you want to contribute to HMRC’s increased IHT tax take? There are some options to mitigate the impact on your estate.

• When you’ve used your ISA allowance If you find yourself breaching your £20,000 ISA allowance, you may need to invest excess funds directly.

• Funding a degree in debt? Most students now leave university with debt, as high as £50,000 for students in England according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies. Can you help with pre-funding arrangements?

We hope you find articles useful and informative. As always, let us know if you think you may be affected by any of the topics in this edition. It’s going to be a busy Autumn.

Questions?

If you have any questions or would like advice please use our contact page here.