Category: Economy & Uncategorized
SUMMARY IMPACT
The key announcements by The Chancellor providing opportunities for financial planning advice are outlined below.
PENSIONS
Summary of all the pension changes to apply from 6 April 2015
• Since the announcement of the 'Freedom and Choice in pensions' reforms in the March Budget, details have emerged piecemeal.
Category: Economy & Uncategorized
Those owning properties worth more than £3million will be hit with tax bills starting from £10,000 under a Labour government, according to research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). Under the party’s mansion tax plans, homes worth between £2m and £3m would attract around £3,000 in liabilities, but properties worth above £3m will take a far greater hit in order to make up the £1.2bn Labour intends to raise for its NHS policy.
Category: Economy & Uncategorized
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) reports that the public-private pay differential is now broadly back to pre-crisis levels with pensions remaining a big difference between the sectors. In the immediate aftermath of the recession, the real level of pay in the private sector fell much faster than that in the public sector. Since 2010, public sector pay has been held back such that the gap that opened up during the crisis has been closed.
Category: Economy & Uncategorized
Greater caution appears to be being exercised across the UK housing market as house price momentum slowed to the same level it was 16 months ago, according to the latest Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Residential Market Survey. Nationally, new buyer demand slipped for the third consecutive month and in London, caution took a particular toll, with prospective new buyer demand seeing its fifth consecutive monthly decline – a trend not seen since April 2012.
Category: Economy & Tax & Uncategorized
Further hostile takeover attempts, similar to that of AstraZeneca attempted by US pharmaceutical Pfizer earlier in the year, are likely to take place as foreign businesses seek to take advantage of the UK’s attractive corporate tax regime. The UK’s headline rate will be 20% from next April, compared with 35% in the US.
Category: Economy & Uncategorized
Demand for new homes fell in July 2014, the first monthly decline since January 2013, while the supply of new properties coming onto the market increased for the second consecutive month, according to the Royal Institute of Chartered surveyors (RICS). As a result of the rebalancing in demand and supply, house price growth across the UK appears to be moderating, with a net balance of 49% more respondents reporting an increase in prices in July (from 52% in June and 56% in May).
