<\/p>\n
The Chancellor, Philip Hammond, delivered his Autumn Budget to Parliament, in which he outlined sluggish growth for the UK economy over the next four years \u2013 according to Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) figures \u2013 with weak productivity named as one factor for weak GDP growth.<\/p>\n
News headlines have largely focussed on the announcement to remove Stamp Duty \u00a0for first time buyers on property up to \u00a3300,000, and reduced costs up to \u00a3500,000 \u2013 news that will be welcomed by those saving hard to get on the housing ladder \u2013 despite concerns that the measure could lead to a spike in property prices in that price band.<\/p>\n
With regard to personal finance, there were no significant tax or pensions changes in the Budget, which means investors can plan\u00a0for the tax year ahead with confidence and clarity \u2013 the key points for investors in the 2018\/19 tax year as a result of the Budget, and from measures already announced, are:<\/p>\n
Pensions<\/b><\/p>\n
\u2022 The pension\u00a0lifetime allowance\u00a0will rise to \u00a31,030,000 and reassuringly there are no changes to the pensions funding limits – i.e. the\u00a0annual allowance\u00a0remains at \u00a340,000 and will not be tapered until adjusted income exceeds \u00a3150,000.<\/p>\n
Income tax<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 The\u00a0personal allowance\u00a0and\u00a0higher rate threshold\u00a0will increase to \u00a311,850 and \u00a346,350. The income tax rates and bands which will apply to Scottish taxpayers will be announced in Scottish Budget on 14 December.<\/p>\n \u2022 The\u00a0dividend allowance\u00a0will be cut to \u00a32,000 as already announced. In particular, this will hit small and medium sized business owners who take their profits as a dividend. Employer pension contributions will become an even more attractive way of extracting profits from a business.<\/p>\n \u2022 There are no changes to any other income tax bands.<\/p>\n Capital gains tax<\/b><\/p>\n \u2022 The\u00a0capital gains tax allowance\u00a0will increase by \u00a3400 to \u00a311,700.<\/p>\n Inheritance tax<\/b><\/p>\n \u2022 As expected, the\u00a0IHT nil rate band\u00a0will remain at \u00a3325,000 until April 2021 and the residence nil rate band will increase from \u00a3100,000 to \u00a3125,000. In total that will mean that, from April, couples can leave assets up to \u00a3900,000 to future generation free of IHT.<\/p>\n Trusts<\/b><\/p>\n \u2022 There will be a consultation published in 2018 to consider the simplification and fairness of\u00a0trust taxation.<\/p>\n ISAs<\/b><\/p>\n \u2022 Annual ISA limits stay at \u00a320,000 per person, with a range of different ISAs to choose from. Each has its own rules and limits and is designed for different purposes, whether that\u2019s medium or long term investing, or saving for a house deposit.<\/p>\n If you would like to discuss how any of these announcements could impact you or your future plans then please call Alan Clifton or Tim Norris on 0800 731 7614 who will be happy to advise you.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Chancellor, Philip Hammond, delivered his Autumn Budget to Parliament, in which he outlined sluggish growth for the UK economy over the next four years \u2013 according to Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) figures \u2013 with weak productivity named as one factor for weak GDP growth. News headlines have largely focussed on the announcement […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n