UHY Financial Planning review - Winter 2024

Rachel Reeves’ first Budget was not what she had hoped to deliver from the first Labour government in 14 years. Within a month of taking office, the Chancellor outlined an inherited overspend in public finances to the tune of £22 billion. This provided the backdrop to a later than expected Budget in October which, though pledging to ‘invest, invest, invest’ also outlined an increase in taxes of £40 billion. With growing claims on the Treasury’s resources, the balancing act between shoring up public services and the general tax burden will be difficult to navigate.

Our feature in this edition of our newsletter highlights the key measures from the Autumn Budget – the hike to employer’s national insurance contributions (NICs), capital gains tax increases and changes to inheritance tax. We also draw out the small positives for business owners: increases to the employment allowance doubles the effective annual NIC rebate opportunity, and the increases to employer NICs will mean salary sacrifice options become more attractive due to the savings on NICs for employers. We also explore the effects of the capital gains tax increases, considering their implications for investors.

Our other stories in this edition include:

• Time to review your estate planning? – Future changes to inheritance tax mean pensions will no longer be exempt but will count towards your total estate value as well as being subject to IHT before income tax becomes due.
• Could you afford to live to 100? – The number of people reaching their 100th birthday is expected to treble by 2050, stretching out their retirement years and increasing their likelihood of having to fund assisted living or nursing care.
• CTFs grown up – the importance of children’s savings Every young person between 18 and 22 has a mature child trust fund but over 600,000 are sitting untouched. Each account holds an average of £2,212, so make sure young people you know are aware of theirs.