Capital gains tax: a minority sport? Will increased capital gains tax (CGT) mean less tax gets paid? Source HMRC The Labour Party’s 2024 manifesto said, ‘We will not increase National Insurance, the basic, higher, or additional rates of Income Tax, or VAT.’ The absence of any comment on CGT meant that Rachel Reeves received persistent…

Prepaying/repaying student loans 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…

Opening the books – the government’s spending inheritance… The date of the next Budget has been announced, accompanied by the new Chancellor’s warning about government finances. Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ first announcement on entering 11 Downing Street was the commissioning of a ‘spending inheritance’ review from the Treasury. Her decision to do so was questioned by…

Help your favourite charity and save tax ‘Tick the Gift Aid’ box to boost your donation to charity and save 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…

Pension decisions for the new government 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…

The taxpayer club – have you joined? New data from HMRC show growing numbers of income taxpayers paying above the basic rate. Source: HMRC The club that all members want to leave, the income tax paying club, is gathering ever more members who are paying every greater subscriptions. That, at least, is one way of…

Light my FIRE – could you really retire early? Do you dream of retiring much earlier than your peers? Many ideas which originated in the US have made their way across the Atlantic. The latest financial innovation to join index-tracking investments, budgeting apps and exchange traded funds is the FIRE movement – Financial Independence, Retire…

Flower Power Charity Day During our investment seminar in October 2023, Jonathon Crisp expanded Henson Crisp's charitable work by introducing a new initiative. This initiative allows our team to become more engaged in the community and charities that matter to them by volunteering for a day to support causes close to their hearts.  On the…

Take a deep breath in a year of elections Market responses to elections should be treated with caution. source: investing.com 2024 is a year of elections around the globe – in varying shades of democracy. On some counts, around 60 countries will vote, representing close to half of the world’s population. This includes eight of…

Tax Relief Rumours: Chancellor Considers Move to a Flat Rate The announcement of The Autumn Statement on 30th October sparked speculation about potential tax increases. Chancellor Rachel Reeves suggested that the government has tough decisions to make and hinted at possible tax hikes to address a £22 billion fiscal gap. There are rumours that changes…