News and Events - Page 5

The biggest revenue raiser in the Budget was the changes to NICs. The increase in Employers’ NICs (increasing from 13.8% to 15% from April 2025) grabbed many of the headlines. What has been largely overlooked is the reduction in “Secondary Threshold” from £9,100 to £5,000. Allied to the increase in the National Living Wage, the changes will particularly affect those in the care, retail, hospitality and cleaning/maintenance sectors.

It is difficult to recollect a more seismic Budget in recent times. The last major changes to Inheritance Tax were made in 2006, but mainly in relation to Trusts. There was an expectation that Inheritance Tax reliefs would be reformed, most likely for landlords who lease out land which qualifies for Agricultural Property Relief (APR). It was considered much less likely that Business Property Relief (BPR) would be reformed, and there was a distinct lack of speculation in this regard.

Wednesday 5 April 2025 sees the end of the current Tax Year. Following the new Chancellor's plans to continue to freeze
and in some cases reduce tax-free allowances; it is more important than ever to make the most of some timely tax planning.

Shona Robison delivered her second Scottish Budget as Finance Secretary yesterday, 4 December 2024. We round up some of the highlights in our Scottish Budget review.

The re-election of Donald Trump to the US Presidency has caused another large rise in US stocks, which were already doing very well. Indeed, his “America first” ideology is reflected in the way US stocks have outperformed others recently.

Reminder – we would like to prompt all our clients to submit your accounts and personal tax records to…

UPDATE to our recent card payment issues

10 December 2024

We are currently experiencing card payment issues

The cost of borrowing has risen sharply in the past few weeks for the UK and US governments. This has caused stock markets to pause for breath after making strong gains.

Yesterday, Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered her Autumn Statement. We have sifted through the details and hope the following review, which we feel will be the most significant to our clients, will be helpful.

25 November 2024