Budget week has started with a bang: a merger between two asset managers to create the largest fund provider in the UK – and who said Brexit would break up the City? It is unlikely to be the only surprise for investors this week either. Chancellor Philip Hammond is currently making the final edits to his Budget speech, due to be read to Parliament on Wednesday and expected to have good news for families, savers and small businesses.
However, it will not all be good news for investors – predictions are filtering through that Hammond may be tempted to do a tax grab on pensions.
“The pensions tax relief system has clearly become a jumbled mess and is overdue a shake-up. Despite what George Osborne did and what the current Chancellor has threatened to do, the Treasury may still want to raise more money by cutting pension tax relief further,” warns Jim Stevenson, pensions technical manager at Ascot Lloyd.
“The loss of higher rate relief has been mooted at various times in the past, with the most recent variation being an introduction of a single rate of relief to encourage saving among basic rate taxpayers, but at the expense of higher rate payers. While socially redistributive, it will be the Treasury, not savers, that benefits most.”
We will bring you all you need to know below – the good news and the bad.
This week also sounds the claxon for fast approaching end of the tax year; ISA and SIPP investors now have less than a month to use it or lose it on their tax-free annual allowance. Short of ideas? We reveal the top rated and top performing stock and fund ideas – as well as revealing where the experts stash their cash and how to reduce your tax bill for the 2016/17 tax year. Happy investing.
Monday: The Basics
What is an ISA and where are the best cash rates?
Best Cash ISA Rates for Last Minute Savers
The Importance of Cash Investing in Retirement
What Do You Want from this Week's Budget?
Tuesday: ISA and Junior ISA Investing Ideas
Top rated and top performing stock and fund ideas
3 Fund Picks for Your Junior ISA
New Lifetime ISA: Beware the Risks
ISA Investors: How to Rebalance Your Portfolio
ISA Ideas: Gold Rated Global Funds
Wednesday: Budget 2017
What Philip Hammond’s first Budget report means for you
Budget 2017: What it Means for You
Budget 2017: FTSE 100 Winners and Losers
Budget 2017: What the Experts Say
Budget 2017: Self-employed Hit with Higher Taxes
Thursday: Where the Experts Invest
Where are the professionals putting their ISA money?
Where Do Morningstar Professionals Invest their ISA Cash?
Where are the Fund of Funds Investing?
Friday: How to Pay Less Tax
Estate planning and tax efficient investing
Back to Basics: Estate Planning