News and Blog

There is no doubt that domestic markets are prepared for some sort of coalition as no majority outcome is likely.

Pension Freedoms Confirmed

Pension freedom and choice will go ahead as expected on 6 April 2015. The new pension freedoms will allow pensions to be drawn using Flexi-Access Drawdown without any maximum limit each year.

The personal allowance and higher rate threshold for 2015/16 will remain at £10,600 and £42,385 respectively, as announced in December 2014.

Inheritance tax (IHT) threshold unchanged at £325,000. Many commentators had expected an increase in the Nil Rate Band, but this speculation was unfounded.

VCTs and EIS will no longer be able to invest in a company that is more than 12 years old, except where the investment will lead to a substantial change in the company’s activity, or where where the total investment represents more than 50 per cent of turnover averaged over the preceding five years.

New fully Flexible ISAs will allow savers from Autumn 2015 to withdraw from their Cash ISA and reinvest into it in the same year without any loss of tax benefits.

When new pension freedoms are introduced next month in April 2015, many clients are considering the merits of withdrawing cash from pensions to buy residential property to let, as an alternative to the traditional option of buying a pension annuity.

Over the past few months, uncertainty over the future of the Eurozone has mounted following fears of a Greek exit (‘Grexit’).

On Tuesday 24 February, the FTSE 100 reached a record high, closing at 6950.

The major Economic story in January was the announcement of 1 trillion euros of stimulus by the ECB in an attempt to boost economic growth.