Autumn Budget 2018 – Savings and investments

There was little to report on this area as the band of savings income which is subject to a zero percent starting rate will remain at the current level of £5,000 from 6 April 2019.

The annual ISA allowance will also remain unchanged at £20,000 from 6 April next year, but the Junior ISA (JISA) limit will increase in line with the rate of CPI to £4,368.

According to the Budget document, the Government is planning on publishing a consultation next year on draft regulations for maturing Child Trust Fund (CTF) accounts.

Autumn Budget 2018 - Pensions are not being used to fund the NHS!

Following the Chancellor's announcement earlier today, it was a rather long Budget! But, the good news is that the rumours around tax relief being cut have not come into fruition at all this year.

It was also positive to see that the government is taking steps to support the launch of the Pensions dashboard as extra funding appears to have been set aside for the 2019/20 tax year. The Budget documents confirm that individuals will be able to see their pension pots, including their State Pension, in the one place and will be consulting later this year on the detailed design.

Mortgage war intensifies

Lenders are battling to attract mortgage customers by dropping their rates, despite the recent increase in the Bank of England base rate.

The base rate went up from 0.5% to 0.75% in August. This was widely anticipated and fixed rates had already factored in the base rate rise.  As a result fixed rates have been largely stable and some lenders have even been making improvements to their rates in recent weeks.

David Hush Promoted to Director

David Hush has been promoted to the position of Director within Armstrong Watson LLP’s Restructuring Recovery and Insolvency team. David has over 18 years of debt advisory and personal insolvency experience and moved to Armstrong Watson in 2015 from a large national firm of accountants to set up the firm’s national creditor services offering.

Ethical Investing Considerations

Most of us have a greater awareness over how our actions and those of companies impact on the environment.

Television programs such as Blue Planet and news stories regarding plastic waste, deforestation and climate change have raised awareness of the issues facing us. They have influenced people’s thinking and seem to have created an increased demand for ‘ethical’ style of investing.

The sustainable and ethical investment sector has reacted to this increased demand and new funds have been introduced by fund managers.

HMRC changes for farming businesses

HMRC have made changes to how farming businesses submit information to tax autrhorities and how those returns are checked and enquired into.

The sales process when selling your law firm

I was interviewed recently by Law Firm Ambition about my views on the most common questions I see around selling a law firm. Below I answer questions around the sales process and negotiation when selling a law firm. To see my answers to previous questions, follow these links:

Questions 1 - 5 - The basics 

Pre-Brexit Budget Predictions

The Autumn Budget will be delivered soon so Jim provides his predictions for a pre-Brexit Budget including interest rates, pension contributions and tax avoidance 

The Importance of Making Tax Digital Training and a Rigorous Changeover Process

Making Tax Digital (MTD) will, for many businesses, require the implementation of new software and systems.  This can seem daunting and many such endeavours find themselves doomed to failure due to a number of common mistakes.  Avoid these pitfalls though and changing systems can bring efficiencies and revolutionise your business.

Prepare for Making Tax Digital and Cut Your Bookkeeping Time

Making Tax Digital for VAT means that every purchase invoice has to be recorded individually and the VAT Return will also need to be submitted via digital API enabled accounting software, find out how to streamline your bookingkeeping.