Pension Tax Relief

Pensions have always been and still are the most tax-efficient form of investment, but limits on contributions and total savings have been reduced dramatically. A major part of the reason is that higher rate tax relief on pension contributions is costing the Exchequer £38 billion annually and questions remain as to how long the government […]

Encouraging Enterprise

In his Spring statement, Chancellor Philip Hammond announced that consideration was being given to introducing a new higher-risk variant of the Enterprise Investment Scheme (‘EIS’), to encourage investment in new “knowledge intensive” technology companies. EIS was introduced in the 1990s and offers investors in companies that meet the criteria and have assets of less than […]

ISA Investment Options

The annual ISA allowance is a “use it or lose it” investment opportunity. Hence the proliferation of press advertisements exhorting investors to utilise the allowance before the tax year end. The allowance currently stands at a very meaningful £20,000, which compares with £15,240 maximum investment in the tax year 2016/17 and just £7,000 in 2006/7. […]

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Pension Tax Relief

Pensions have always been and still are the most tax-efficient form of investment, but limits on contributions and total savings have been reduced dramatically.

A major part of the reason is that higher rate tax relief on pension contributions is costing the Exchequer £38 billion annually and questions remain as to how long the government can continue to ignore calls for the standardisation of relief at a lower level, perhaps 30%.

It was chancellor George Osborne who initiated research into the issue and insiders report that the Treasury has a large file the conclusions from which would enable it to act at fairly short notice.

For the time being, pre-occupation with the fallout from Brexit is likely to delay reform, but the writing is on the wall and as ever the clear message is to take full advantage of existing reliefs while they are available.