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Budget 2025: ISAs, pension salary sacrifice and savings taxes, and the impact on your financial planning

Today’s budget announcement was awaited by many with a degree of trepidation. Once we got past the early release of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) report, the markets stabilised with the FTSE100, bond markets and sterling all being a little positive. As ever, there is more detail to come out in the respective papers, but the overriding feeling is one of complication.

Budget 2025: NMW increases, pension salary sacrifice, and the Fair Work Agency

Employers are once again expected to shoulder a greater share of the cost impact of today's Budget, which arguably contradicts Labour's pledge to support businesses and grow the economy.

VAT policy change on management of pension funds opens door to 4-year reclaims

HMRC has announced a potentially significant policy change on VAT deduction on the management of pension funds.

Effective from 18 June 2025, the update allows employers to fully recover VAT on both invested and administration costs related to pension funds, eliminating the previous requirement to apportion costs between employers and pension funds trustees.

Financial planning in a new era: Navigating UK tax changes to IHT, CGT & pensions

For context, this is my 20th year working as a financial planner, the last 12 and a half of them spent here in the team at Armstrong Watson. In my opinion, the current and planned changes in legislation are the most seismic and impactful of my working life.  

Maximise value from your pension scheme audit

As a pension scheme trustee, the audit of your financial statements should be seen as an opportunity for insight and improvement, not just another tick-box chore.

The annual audit is the only regular complete overview of all the processes encompassing your scheme’s operations. This includes a review of:

Armstrong Watson becomes first UK accounting firm to join Institute of Customer Service

Armstrong Watson is is aiming to be recognised as  “the best financial advisory firm to deal with, delivering the best client experience in the UK" and has become the first accounting firm to join The Institute of Customer Service

Autumn Statement 2023 - Pensions and Savings

The Chancellor’s 2023 Autumn Statement is perhaps more remarkable for what it did not include, rather than what it did. Financial planners had widely been expecting ISAs to benefit from an increase in annual allowance and a simplification.