Pensions

Workplace pensions auto enrolment

Over the next few years all employers will have to auto-enrol all “eligible” workers into a workplace pension scheme.  The biggest employers started doing this in October 2012, when the Pensions Act 2008 came into force. An employer must...

Action for the start of new 2012/2013 tax year commencing 6 April 2012

Mike Cracknell from Birkett Long examines how you can make the most of tax efficient financial planning opportunities before the current tax year ends on 5 April 2012 and the new year commences 6 April 2012. 1. Make the most of Individual Savings Accounts...

EIS and VCT

One of the negatives for pension savers is the new annual £50,000 limit on contributions, and this is already causing high earners to look for alternative forms of tax-efficient investment, such as Enterprise Investment Schemes (‘EIS’),...

Action before tax year end 5 April 2011

For individuals with a "relevant income" of £130,000 or more (i.e. effected by the "anti-forestalling rules") for the 2010/2011 tax year, to make gross pension contributions to the value of £20,000 or £30,000, as...

Annuity rule axed

In another major pensions concession by the coalition Government, the requirement that pension savings must be 'secured' by the purchase of annuities is to be scrapped as from April 2011. Savers will be able to maintain their pension policies in force...

Pensions - How much is enough?

Over the last two decades the pension barometer has swung away from the civil servant “final salary” style of scheme to the now more common “money purchase” scheme. In simple terms (with the aid of various tax relief concessions) a...

Top Tax Tips

The current 2008/09 tax year will be remembered for an unprecedented series of financial and economic events. With Bank solvencies, cash flow and in some instances merely financial survival in the foremost thoughts of many, it is more important than ever to...