What IS an ISA?

Daniel Liddicott
Sept 2023 • 12 min read

What is an ISA?

An Individual Savings Account (ISA) is a tax-efficient account available to residents of the United Kingdom. The main perk of an ISA is that any interest, dividends or capital gains you earn within the account are exempt from income tax and capital gains tax (CGT). This means that the money you make from your investments stays ‘in your pocket’, helping it grow faster over time.

Types of ISAs:

There are several types of ISAs, each designed for specific savings goals and risk tolerances:

Cash ISA: This is similar to a regular savings account, where you deposit cash, and it earns interest over time. It’s a low-risk option ideal for short-term savings goals
Stocks and Shares ISA: If you’re willing to invest with a long term mindset, a Stocks and Shares ISA allows you to invest in stocks, bonds, and other financial instruments. Over the long term, this can offer better returns than a Cash ISA
Lifetime ISA (LISA): Aimed at helping you save for your first home or retirement, the Lifetime ISA provides a government bonus on your contributions. You must be between the ages of 18 and 39 to open a Lifetime ISA. There are some restrictions on withdrawals, so it’s essential to understand the terms
Junior ISA (JISA): If you’re under 18, a Junior ISA is designed for you. Parents or guardians can open one on your behalf, and it can be converted into an adult ISA when you turn 18

A simple breakdown of how ISAs work:

Choose your ISA type: Determine your savings goal and risk tolerance. For short-term goals or risk-averse investors, a Cash ISA might be best. If you’re looking to grow your wealth over the long term, consider talking to us about a Stocks and Shares ISA
Open an ISA account: You can open an ISA account through banks, building societies, investment platforms (if you use a financial adviser), or even online. It’s a straightforward process, requiring some personal information
Contribute: You can make deposits into your ISA account of up to £20,000 each tax year. Keep in mind that Junior ISAs have a lower limit of £9,000 each tax year. These are separate allowances, so depositing £9,000 into your child’s JISA does not count towards your own ISA allowance of £20,000.

You can contribute up to £4,000 per tax year into a Lifetime ISA, which will use up some of your ISA annual allowance. This means that you could contribute a further £16,000 to another adult ISA. The 25% bonus that you receive from the Government on your Lifetime ISA contributions do not use up your ISA annual allowance, meaning that you could have £21,000 added to your ISAs in this way each tax year (£4,000 to your Lifetime ISA + £1,000 Government bonus + £16,000 contribution to other adult ISA).

If you have a child who is 16 or 17 years old, they are entitled to both a Junior ISA and an adult ISA, meaning that they are also entitled to BOTH of the annual allowances that come with them. This means that the amount that can be saved into ISAs on behalf of these teenagers can increase from £9,000 per year to £29,000 per year. Note that the adult ISA during this transition period must be a cash ISA. Once they turn 18 years old, however, their annual allowance will revert back to the standard £20,000 per tax year – so there are only two years in which to take advantage.

Invest: If you opt for a Stocks and Shares ISA, you can start investing your money in a diversified portfolio of assets. Remember, investing carries risks, and it’s crucial to do your research or seek advice
Earn Tax-Efficient Returns: Any interest, dividends, or capital gains you earn within your ISA account remain exempt from CGT and income tax. This is a significant advantage that can help your wealth grow faster. You might easily fall into the trap of thinking that ISAs are tax-free, but that isn’t the case. ISAs are subject to inheritance tax (IHT)
Monitor and Manage: Keep an eye on your ISA’s performance and ensure you stay on track with your savings goals (or use a financial adviser to do this for you). As you get older, your priorities may change. People often shift in their approach towards certain things for a variety of reasons. This could manifest itself as a change in attitude to investment risk, for example; or taking a decision which requires capital such as purchasing a property.

General tips

Start Early: The earlier you start saving or investing, the more time your money has to grow due to the historical long-term nature of markets.

Government Bonuses: If you opt for a Lifetime ISA, you can benefit from government contributions. You can deposit up to a maximum of £4,000 into a LISA each tax year and the government will contribute 25% of what you deposit. You can do this each year until you reach the age of 50. The funds within a Lifetime ISA can only be accessed without penalty for the purchase of a first home (maximum value of £450,000) or once the account holder has passed 60 years of age. Should you wish to dip into this ISA for any other reason, you will be charged 25% on the withdrawal – and you don’t just lose the amount of bonus you receive:

Example:

£4,000 contribution + £1,000 bonus = £5,000

£5,000 withdrawal – £1,250 (25% penalty) = £3,750

Result = a loss of £250 (6.25% loss on the original £4,000 contribution)

Conclusion

Understanding ISAs is an important step towards securing your financial future. Whether you’re saving for a car, a house, or your dream holiday, ISAs offer a tax-efficient way to grow your money over time. Remember to research your options, set clear savings goals, and consider seeking financial advice if you’re unsure about your investment choices. With the right approach and discipline, you can use ISAs to build a solid foundation for a prosperous financial future.

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What IS an ISA?Jemima Thomas2023-12-01T12:12:28+00:00

THE SPRING BUDGET 2023

Dominic Thomas
March 2023 • 10 min read

Pension reforms of sorts…

If you are under 75 and have a pension, today is a better day than yesterday. You may breathe a sigh of relief; the Chancellor has done something to directly benefit you. As with all Chancellors, there is of course some politics at play. Whatever your view of the rabble at the House of Commons, we finally have a Chancellor who seems to both understand maths and has an ability for some long-term thinking as well as valuing the concept of financial independence in his Spring Budget 2023.

As a reminder, it was the Blair Government who introduced the Finance Act 2004 which ushered in new pension rules from April 6th 2006 known as A-Day and termed “Pension Simplification”. The basic premise was to simplify pension funding, enabling anyone to make payments and get tax relief, restricted by a maximum annual contribution allowance and a lifetime allowance for the value of your pensions, be they final salary or investment based. It sounded so simple, something akin to the battery level on your mobile phone.

Next month, “pension simplification” turns 18 years old. Simple is certainly not a term that anyone would consider in the same breath as pension rules. A veritable smorgasbord of metrics are needed to monitor if you fall foul of the rules.

A-DAY TURNS ADULT

Today though, Mr Hunt has abolished the Lifetime Allowance, a welcome and grown up but unexpected move (it had been hinted that it would return to the level at which the Conservative Government inherited it at £1.8m. No, it’s abolished, completely! The Lifetime Allowance, which is something everyone had to assess pension benefits against will be gone from 6th April 2023. Do not retire before then – or more accurately do not crystallise any pension until then.

ANNUAL ALLOWANCE – UP BUT STILL TAPERED

He has not however returned the Annual Allowance to the 2010 level of £255,000 but has increased it from £40,000 to £60,000. In addition, the Tapered Annual Allowance has not been scrapped, but increased from £240,000 to £260,000 from 6 April 2023. The threshold test at income of £200,000 has not been altered. In theory therefore the new standard annual allowance of £60,000 will still reduce by £0.50 for each £1 over £260,000 but stopped at £360,000 when you will get the minimum maximum annual allowance of £10,000.

By way of example, someone with income of £300,000 would be £40,000 over the £260,000 threshold and thus see the annual allowance reduce from £60,000 to £40,000.

Those of you that have taken income from a personal pension (not a defined benefit/final salary pension) will be able to continue towards a pension under the Money Purchase Annual Allowance (MPAA) which is being increased from £4,000 back to £10,000. I understand this will double up as the minimum maximum (if you see what I mean) that anyone with income over £360,000 can also contribute (gross).

NEGATIVE TURNS POSITIVE

Medics (and a few others) that on occasion have a negative pension value for the year will now be able to offset this, something that was not possible previously.

25% TAX FREE CASH IS GOING FOR BIG PENSION POTS

There is a slight “fly in the ointment”. Under pension rules tax free cash is capped at 25% of the fund value, buried in page 100 of the Budget is the statement that advisers understand but most investors do not. “The maximum Pension Commencement Lump Sum for those without protections will be retained at its current level of £268,275 and will be frozen thereafter”. In other words, the tax free cash lump sum (PCLS) link is to be broken. 25% of the current lifetime allowance is £268,275 and this is therefore being retained, meaning that whether your pension fund is more than this, you cannot withdraw more than £268,275 as a tax free lump sum. In plain a pension fund of £2m does not produce tax free cash of £500,000 (25%) but £268,275.

One other “minor” point is that those with Primary, Enhanced, Fixed or even Individual Protection from 2006, 2012 (max £450,000), 2014 (max £375,000) and 2016 (max £312,500). Therefore some people will have a higher tax free cash entitlement than the new limit of £268,275).

ISAs, JISAs, VCTs, EIS, SEIS

All as previously.

INCOME TAX, CORPORATION TAX, CAPITAL GAINS TAX, INHERITANCE TAX

As previously announced for 2023/24.

On occasion, Budget plans get revised (remember the glove puppet of a PM?) so there is a possibility that after a little more thought, pressure and checking, some of the points in the Budget might need a tweak, but in general this is a rarity.

If you have questions, that I have the realistic possibility of answering (not “where is Cloddach Bridge?” which gets a sum for refurbishment…. which I imagine is one of those times we may remark, “what, a million pounds?” (actually £1.5m) is either a lot or a little, that old price and value thing… much like the criticism that will inevitably be made of the abolition of the lifetime allowance, which is, from my perspective of working with you, a very good thing indeed.

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THE SPRING BUDGET 2023Dominic2023-12-01T12:12:35+00:00

THE AUTUMN BUDGET 2021

TODAY’S BLOG

THE AUTUMN BUDGET 2021

In terms of your personal finance, not a lot has changed. Indeed, most of the announcements merely confirmed previous announcements, such is the way of our politicians. As a reminder, the next tax year begins on 6th April 2022. The main changes for most are really for those that receive dividends or pay National Insurance

iNCOME TAX RATE ON DIVIDENDS	2022/23	2021/22 (NOW)
Basic rate taxpayer	8.75%	7.50%
Higher rate taxpayer	33.75%	32.50%
Additional rate taxpayer	39.45%	38.10%
Rate for Trusts	39.35%	38.10%

National Insurance for employers increases from 13.8% to 15.05% which basically makes it more expensive to employ people. Employees will also pay rather more at the main rate, rising from 12% to 13.25% and then at the upper or higher rate increased from 2% to 3.25%. Remember the thing about National Insurance is that there is a threshold for the main rate after which you simply pay a flat, reduced rate (currently 2% but increasing to 3.25%). The self-employed main rate increases from 9% to 10.25%. Self-employed people do not fully enjoy the same benefits for their NI payments.

MAIN ALLOWANCES

For those of you using your pensions, the annual allowance remains at £40,000 but if you have begun drawing income from investment-based pensions it is restricted to £4,000 the delightfully named “Money Purchase Annual Allowance” or MPAA. The Lifetime Allowance (the total value of your pensions permitted before excess charges) remains frozen as previously indicated at £1,073,100. This is equivalent to a pension income of £53,655.

ISA and JISA limits remain as they were (£20,000 and £9,000) which are fairly substantial allowances but indicate a “kick the can down the road” policy of Government worrying about tax in the future. Capital Gains Tax (CGT) allowances and rates remain as they are (which is daft).

If you own a second property or inherit one, the capital gains rate and requirement for payment are important to understand. However, one small improvement is that you now have 60 days to pay the liability rather than 30 (with immediate effect). I imagine one of Rishi’s friends was offloading and was worried about an extra charge (surely not!).

As for inheritance, the nil rate remains at £325,000 per person and those with children inheriting the family home the residential nil rate band adds a further £175,000. However, this is tapered when an estate is worth more than £2m.

In short, for all the bluff and thunder and 200 pages, not much is in it for you and I. Remember – death and taxes.

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

You can read more articles about Pensions, Wealth Management, Retirement, Investments, Financial Planning and Estate Planning on my blog which gets updated every week. If you would like to talk to me about your personal wealth planning and how we can make you stay wealthier for longer then please get in touch by calling 08000 736 273 or email info@solomonsifa.co.uk

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THE AUTUMN BUDGET 2021Dominic2023-12-01T12:13:01+00:00

THE BUDGET 3 MARCH 2021

TODAY’S BLOG

THE BUDGET 03 MARCH 2021

The House of Commons was unusually civil during the Chancellors Budget Statement largely because hardly anyone was there due to social distancing and making the task rather easy to identify who is behaving like a spoiled child. Normally the Speaker has a harder job. As for the Budget – well, it’s a good job I am not a betting man.

The Chancellor believes that support over the pandemic will run to £407bn in various forms. This needs to be repaid if future generations are not to be saddled with debt forever, thereby hampering how future Governments can help them.

I did warn that taxes would rise, I thought capital gains tax would be the most obvious tax to increase. It has not. The only actual increased tax rate is Corporation Tax, which impacts business owners running profitable businesses (with profits over £250,000). Corporation tax will rise from 19% to 25% – that’s an increase of 31%. It may surprise you to learn that only 10% of businesses claim to make profits over £250,000.

Almost everything else stayed the same – but staying the same really means changing. Of course, this knock-on effect means reduced profit to share out in the larger businesses (like those you invest in via a fund) so returns may be dampened – but then this is simply a UK issue and most of your equity holdings are not in the UK now (your portfolio is global).

THE SAME DOES NOT MEAN NO CHANGE

Pensions, Capital Gains, Inheritance tax all remain unchanged, which means that as incomes or the values of assets rise, the excess taxes begin to hurt rather more.

Those approaching retirement have the spectre of a 5-year freeze of the Lifetime Allowance at £1,073,100. Anything above this sees the excess taxed at 55% – so more likely. How much and how you can contribute to pensions is also frozen, as it is for ISAs and Junior ISAs. These are probably the “nice to have” problems if you are running a business that is struggling or have an income that has fallen dramatically due to the pandemic.

Your Personal allowance (income you can have at 0% tax rate) rises by £70 on 6th April to £12,570 but then stays at that level for 5 years. Higher rate and Additional Rate tiers also remain frozen. What this really means is that if your income rises due to inflation or promotion etc, you will pay more tax.

The most notable help to younger generations is the Apprentice Scheme and the re-opening of 95% mortgages by lenders, who have been given Government guarantees. There may be some window dressing here, a borrower will still be made to jump through a variety of hoops to prove that they can become an owner (or more accurately, a borrower) rather than a renter, with a 5% deposit. Those that have taken advantage of the reduce Stamp Duty ending in March, have a little longer to complete their purchase.

If you are asking me what I would have done differently, (you aren’t) well there is a very long list and most of it involves simplifying pensions and tax rates. Complexity enables some to thrive and others to become rather entangled. HMRC are due to have a whopping £180m spent on further technology to help ensure you report your taxes correctly with fairly dire consequences for those that do not. I do hope that the track and trace lot are not “awarded” the HMRC technology contract.

DETAIL IS A DEVIL

Politicians rely on our short-term memories, they must do otherwise so few would ever be re-elected. When you cut through the words it is best to look at the numbers. These are some key forecasts that I have pulled from the Budget Statement (which you can see here).

How you view life will likely influence how you select data from the table above (which is all lifted directly from the Budget) I have only shown the year on year changes as a percentage and drawn attention to some of the data (of which there is a lot!). Long story short, we will be paying more income tax. The Chancellor seems to be expecting unemployment to increase by 500,000 over the next 2 years before reducing, but still above current levels. Inheritance tax receipts peak in the coming tax year perhaps reflecting the consequences of the fatalities from the virus.

The property market looks predicted to return to normality shortly, but really picking up next year. Council tax looks likely to increase rather faster than inflation. Fuel duties will begin to rise, and oddly over the next 12 months, once hopefully this is over, duties from alcohol actually fall in 2021/22 (which I think is odd unless you have all been knocking back the booze over the last year or so more than normal with a plan to cut back). Air Passenger duty has rather obviously collapsed and will likely return to pre-pandemic levels in 4-5 years time, that’s quite a slow recovery.

Corporation tax will really bite in 3-4 years time. Business rates also begin to pick up, which when combined with loan repayments and more VAT, I imagine that some business owners may be looking at cost reductions. There may well be “pent up demand” and a good supply of labour, the Chancellor is understandably encouraging investment in growth, through new technology and digital business combined with Apprenticeships. It (business growth and development) is certainly what needs to happen, but whether it will remains to be seen.

Every Budget has lots of assumptions about the future, but you will be paying more tax, so use the allowances you can.

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

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THE BUDGET 3 MARCH 2021Dominic2023-12-01T12:13:09+00:00

TAPERED ANNUAL ALLOWANCE – NHS

TODAY’S BLOG

TAPERED ANNUAL ALLOWANCE – NHS

The Tapered Annual Allowance was introduced from 6 April 2016. It has caused considerable problems for members of the NHS pension scheme in terms of excess tax charges due to the formulas used in the calculations.

Admittedly having a good pension is a nice problem to have, but when faced with an excess of say £60,000 (by calculation) this generates a tax bill of typically £27,000. I have seen some that are much higher.

Therefore, many Consultants and senior NHS staff have really been forced to reduce their sessions (NHS pay) or take a break from or leave the pension scheme entirely – which is nuts. This is essentially a tax charge on money that has not yet been paid (it is paid at retirement).

After much badgering, a compromise has been reached for the current tax year 2019/20. In that a political promise has been made that the excess tax charge will permit the pension scheme to pay the charge and the employing NHS Trust will pay now compensate for this when the pension starts (my short version). This has now been confirmed for the English and Welsh NHS Pension Scheme.

Superficial Fix

There is as yet, nothing NEW stated about the 2020/21 tax year (there are restrospective juggling adjustments that can be made towards the end of the year, but these are daft) – but we do have a Budget coming in March, so we hope the ludicrous Tapered Annual Allowance will be scrapped then. However, this ought to apply to everyone, not simply NHS employees.

The Annual Allowance – Simplified, Quick Overview

In very simple terms the Annual Allowance is a maximum of £40,000. This is the total that can be paid into pensions by you and your employer. It reduces by £1 for every £2 of income over £150,000. The allowance reduces to a minimum of £10,000 once an income of £210,000 is earned. In short, you can invest more into your ISA. However, for those in final salary schemes and the NHS in particular, the calculation is not really about how much is paid in, but how much the pension grows by and then multiplied by 16. So, if your pension increased by £1500 for the year that’s £24,000. Not the 14.5% of salary you must pay to be in the scheme. Its way more complex than this, but to save time, go with my summary.

It Is Political – Government and the NHS always are

In view of the impact that pension rules are having on senior NHS staff and their ability to work their normal hours, and with winter bringing the usual rise in demand for NHS services, NHS England and now NHS Wales and NHS Improvement have decided to take exceptional action. An extract from the announcement is given below:

‘This action will mean that:

· Clinicians who are members of the NHS Pension Scheme and face a tax charge in respect of work undertaken this year (2019/20) as a result of breaching their annual pension allowance will be able to defer this charge (by choosing ‘Scheme Pays’ on their pension form) meaning that they don’t have to worry about paying the charge now out of their own pocket.

and:

· The NHS employer will make a contractually binding commitment to pay them a corresponding amount on retirement, ensuring that they are fully compensated in retirement for the effect of the 2019/20 Scheme Pays deduction on their income from the NHS Pension Scheme in retirement.

Watch Out For…

Clinicians are therefore now immediately able to take on additional shifts or sessions without worrying about an annual allowance charge on their pension for 2019/20.

Local NHS employers are being asked to actively promote this development to affected staff as they plan for extra capacity and staffing over the winter period.’

This measure will only apply to the 2019/20 tax year as new flexibilities are being introduced from 2020/21.

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

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TAPERED ANNUAL ALLOWANCE – NHSDominic2023-12-01T12:17:03+00:00

ANNUAL ALLOWANCE EXCESS

Solomons-financial-advisor-wimbledon-blogger

The Annual Allowance Charge

Arguably the most dreadful bit of recent pension changes is the annual allowance charge. This arises for anyone that contributes more than the annual allowance towards pensions during a tax year. To most people £40,000 a year into pensions is a lot of money so on the surface this is nothing short of yet another raid on higher-earners.

The annual allowance is really £40,000 or 100% of your earned income, whichever is lower. However, if your income is over £150,000 then the allowance reduces gradually down to £10,000 for anyone earning £210,000 or more, this is termed the Tapered Annual Allowance. Just for some context anyone earning over £150,000 has lost their personal allowance (income before any tax is paid) and pays a tax rate of 45% on income above £150,000.

Solomons-Inedependent-financial-advisors-London-700×500-images-2018-6

Excessive Tax? Not Enough Voters

You can exceed the annual allowance in various ways – the amount for those investing money to build a pension is straight-forward. If you and your employer pay more than your annual allowance into pensions, you suffer an income tax charge on the excess at 45%. Easy, maybe not fair, but easy.

However, if you are a member of a good old-fashioned final salary (defined benefit) pension, well it’s a little more complex. The annual allowance is not calculated based upon how much you paid into a scheme, but on how much your pension improved by. So if you had a pay rise… this makes life more complex. If your pension increased by more than £2,500 a year (which admittedly is a very good pension for another year of employment) then you are likely to exceed the annual allowance of £40,000. If you have the minimum annual allowance as a high earner, then your pension only needs to improve by probably £527 – £625 a year.

£561m Extra Tax

This all became the new norm from the 2015/16 tax year. HMRC collected £179m in extra tax revenue as a result. However, this has now jumped massively as the reality sinks home for many high earners, rising to £561m for 2016/17.

Some people can get their employer pension scheme to pay the “fine” (tax) most cannot. In 2016/17 only 2,340 people achieved this which accounted for £44m (8%) of the tax however the clear majority had to pay up themselves – all 16,590 of those that realised!

I might call this a disincentive to save for your retirement, or daylight robbery…. Take your pick, but fair and sensible is most certainly is not.

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

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ANNUAL ALLOWANCE EXCESSDominic2023-12-01T12:17:49+00:00

DOCTOR, DOCTOR… IN THE TELEGRAPH

TODAY’S BLOG

DOCTOR DOCTOR… IN THE TELEGRAPH

You may have come across my details in a piece in The Telegraph on Monday 10 September 2018 by financial journalist La ura Miller. Laura outlines a problem that is being observed in hospitals around the UK, in that some doctors are in the ludicrous position of effectively being forced to reduce their available hours due to the additional taxes that they will suffer for additional income. This has the inevitable potential to create longer waiting lists.

Before we go any further, let me say that Laura asked me to check some sums from a Consultant doctor who was making the point about the annual allowance excess taxes. I have made no secret of the fact that I believe the tapered annual allowance is an utterly stupid Government policy. It isn’t the first and of course will not be the last.

THIS IS GOING TO HURT

My only concern is that some may interpret the information as “greedy doctors worry about tax and so work less”. So I wish to make one point crystal clear. I have advised medics for over 25 years. I have met hundreds of them. I have never, NEVER, not even once met one that was motivated by money as a career choice. The early career of a junior doctor is particularly traumatic and frankly the NHS and Department of Health should be ashamed of the working pressures and timetables that they put them under. If you need any convincing, simply have a look at Adam Kay’s Book – “This is Going To Hurt”. Yet the system continues, because it is always under strain and there are not enough doctors to do the work within “normal” working hours or shifts.

DOCTORS EARNINGS

It is true that some doctors can earn very good incomes. The £10,000 annual allowance only applies to those with income over £210,000 – which is a lot of money by most standards. However, these are people that are highly skilled and at the top of their profession, have given way more than their pound of flesh and are constantly scrutinised for errors and lambasted by politicians and media whenever it suits. For the record, this is not Laura’s intent.

The rather ludicrous rules also impact any doctor whose pension income improves by more than £2,106 in a year. This too would push them over the standard annual allowance and potentially suffer excess tax charges. The tax charge is treated effectively as income tax at the highest rate, despite the fact that the pension has not actually been paid to them, conceivably might never be paid to them if they were to die before retirement. In essence a tax on future, yet to be received income. This sort of rise in pension benefit could come from something as innocuous as moving up the grades, or perhaps for impressive work in the form of Clinical Excellence Awards – or even returning to a full-time post.

HEARING PROBLEM

This is all to do with the way in which the Annual Allowance is calculated for those in final salary schemes. I wrote to the previous Chancellor, twice, without reply on this subject when he presided over the introduced rules. Perhaps Laura will have more success.

Suffice to say this is a complex piece of pension planning, a headache that neither the doctor, nor the NHS really should have to waste time on. Yet my advice is to all doctors is to request a Pension Annual Savings Statement as well as their Total Rewards Statement and ensure all payslips are carefully retained – as well as information about any and every form of income they receive from all possible sources. This is more unpaid work, increased stress and bureaucracy to satisfy some utterly numpty thinking at HM Treasury…. Nothing new in that though is there.

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

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DOCTOR, DOCTOR… IN THE TELEGRAPHDominic2023-12-01T12:17:52+00:00

Public Sector Pay Rise

The Treasury announced yesterday that various people will be getting an increase in their salaries. This is due to come into effect in October 2018. This is heralded as the biggest public sector pay rise in quite some time, which is probably the case, but that is largely due to the fact that most have had their salaries frozen or pegged below inflation as a result of the austerity measures. Remember that austerity was brought in to reduce the amount of overspending (spending exceeds income) each year.

Anyway, whatever your political persuasion, finally around a million people will be taking home a larger salary… or will they? Well most probably will. However some higher earners are more likely to be exposed to the problems of the annual allowance. This is now about pensions, but directly impacts income.

Since the start of the 2016/17 tax year, the annual allowance has become more complex. Those earning over £150,000 in all forms of income (rent, earnings, savings interest etc) have a reduced annual allowance (the amount that they can put into a pension). The standard annual allowance is now £40,000 but this is “tapered” down to just £10,000 at a rate of £1 for every £2 over £150,000. There will be some, perhaps many that say, something to the effect “you have lots of money, so what if you cannot pay more into your pension”.

NHS Pension, Teachers Pension and similar..

These big State pensions were (and still are) brilliant for most people. You get a guaranteed income for life, that rises broadly in-line with inflation. Its based as a proportion of how long you are an employee and member of the pension and your final salary. The original NHS pension was a 1/80th scheme. You work say 36 years (24 to age 60) and suppose you are a top of your game NHS Consultant, earning around £120,000 from work with the NHS, then you would expect 36/80 (45%) of your final salary (hence the term) for life. That’s £54,000 a year in this example.

However, all these schemes became too expensive, successive Governments mucked up the calculations, getting members to contribute more to the pension and also changing the terms. Moving the goalpost further to 65 and then later to the State Pension Age (SPA). They also changed the rate at which the pension builds up from 1/80 and removed the lump sum as standard.

So what?

Well, if you are a high earner or have other sources of income that push you over £150,000 you start to have a reduced annual allowance. As no Government in recent history has been truly keen on simplicity or transparency, matters get complicated. So despite the term “annual allowance” this only applies to investment based pensions, not Final Salary (sometimes called Defined Benefit) pensions. No. These have a different sum. I won’t go into great detail, but in essence, the calculation looks at how much your pension has increased by over the course of the tax year. So just suppose you are in the old NHS scheme still (if over 50 that is entirely possible). You earn say £110,000 from the NHS and have Private Practice which adds considerably more. Your pension increased by 1/80th or £1,375. The way you work out your annual allowance “value” is this figure x16 and then add the increase in the lump sum value. So that makes £26,125.

OK, it isn’t quite this simple – you actually calculate the opening and closing values of your total pension, make an allowance for the Government approved rate of inflation, subtract one from the other and hey presto, there is your “pension growth”. So now that you have a pay rise half way through the tax year (October)… your final salary will be higher on 5th April, so will the sums.

Exceeding the Annual Allowance?

Well, if you do, you can use up any unused allowances from the 3 prior tax years. If not, any amount above your tapered annual allowance, or even standard one, will be taxed at your highest rate of tax. So you pay tax on money you have not had… quite a lot. This has got more financially engaged Consultants wondering if they should stay in the scheme at all. Kerboom…

Oh and just for good measure, you are responsible for reporting your excess to HMRC under self assessment rules. Naturally this really requires lots of advice and this is one area where data is needed. So all those payslips you’ve been keeping are needed. All the Total Rewards Statements (NHS) are needed and to keep the theme going, if you are in the NHS, you really ought to request a Pension Annual Savings Statement (PASS)… which you will need every year going forwards, or until the rules change.

So yes, you have a pay rise….

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

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Public Sector Pay RiseDominic2023-12-01T12:17:56+00:00

Conference Season

It is conference season and I my diary is suitably full of my selection of those that I believe merit attention. I’m not attending any of the political conferences and have recently returned from what might be best described as the Premier League of Financial Planners Conference – the annual CISI conference at Celtic Manor.

Yes Minister

Whilst being a non-political conference, clearly insight from the occasional politician or a former one can be valuable. Step forward Steve Webb, who was a LibDem MP and the Minister for Pensions in the Coalition Government, back in the day when politics offered some semblance of common sense.

The Autumn Budget – 22 November 2017

Whilst understandably providing various caveats to his talk, Mr Webb made clear that given the Queen’s Speech, the current Government have essentially given themselves a 2-year timeframe.

Not Enough Hours in the Day

He explained that due to the workings of Parliament, this means about 40 weeks in the year that is given over to Parliamentary work. However, 1 day a week is set aside for the Opposition to make their case and another is for MPs to actually work with their own constituents. Given the amount of time that Brexit will consume, there is precious little likelihood that anything significant will change, unless it is populist, garnering all-party support within the available 120 days a year.

Why Tax Rules Are Daft

Aas tax legislation does not have to go via the House of Lords, unlike other acts (for approval or sense check) much can be altered quickly, even with a tiny majority. He made the point that it is precisely because tax legislation bypasses the House of Lords, that so much of it is so complex and poorly thought through. So that in mind, what could the Government possibly muck around with?

What you can pay in

The Annual Allowance – could be reduced further from the current £40,000, despite acknowledging the complexity of the Tapered Annual Allowance, he thought it more likely that this would be extended rather than abolished, perhaps bringing it in for those earning £100,000 rather than £150,000.

What you can get out

Whilst the Lifetime Allowance has already been thrashed to £1m and is meant to now be linked to inflationary increases, he said that cutting it further is an option as “it passes the Daily Mail test – where people think a £1m pension fund is a lot”. He made the point that the Treasury appears to hate pensions (see all recent changes over the last 15 years) but love ISAs, for which they attempt to invent a new one almost each year now.

Employer’s beware

Whilst he thought it unlikely, he also proposed that the Government could apply employers National Insurance contributions to their pension contributions, which would effectively end salary sacrifice arrangements. He also felt it improbable that the tax-free cash lump sum from pensions would end or be reduced, due to the complexity it would create for those that have had, are having or due to have it and rules are difficult to apply retrospectively.

No F-Bombs

Without a single interruption from anyone handing in a P45 or the stage falling apart, the room of delegates was impressed with his delivery and rationale, but sanguine about the prospect of further pension meddling. Everyone I spoke with conceded that ISAs certainly seem to be the favoured investment vehicle for the Treasury as they only give up future tax revenue, rather than current tax revenues. However, reliance on any future Government to maintain promises about ISAs seems probably unwise.

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

Email me to get in touch

Conference SeasonDominic2023-12-01T12:18:23+00:00

2017 Budget

The 2017 Budget from the Chancellor Philip Hammond will take place this Wednesday. In practice, few are expecting him to deliver anything significant. He has already publicly stated that there will be no “spending sprees” which is a rather unhelpful relative term, but would imply that there is unlikely to be a considerable amount of money for sectors that probably need it.

There are lots of things that I wish he would change, but I am sounding rather like a broken or at least well-worn record, that the rules around pensions are more than a little bit daft, but utterly insane – but hey, this is Government policy not common sense.

Pension Insanity

As a brief reminder of the pensions insanity. You are restricted to how much you can pay into a pension each tax year (called the annual allowance). This is currently £40,000 or 100% of your actual earned income, whichever is the lower figure.

The UK has a system where you are penalised if your pension pot exceeds a certain value (now £1million) this is called the Lifetime Allowance. You are also penalised if you earn more than £150,000 and begin to see the reduction of your annual allowance from £40,000 to £10,000. This is called pension taper relief, catchy sounding term isn’t it! Tax penalties are ready and waiting should you mess up, many will – through nothing deliberate, other than earning and income and being a member of a pension scheme, something that one would normally think were good things to do. Just for good measure your pension is valued at the point you “retire” (though in their infinite wisdom this is now called a crystallisation event) and then again at 75 with assessment against the Lifetime Allowance, which may well result in a significant tax payment – or rather it will if you exceed the Lifetime Allowance of the day.

Doctors, Teachers and Measure for Measure

Those that are members of final salary pensions like the NHS, Civil Service or Teachers Pension Schemes – basically anyone that works for a State service, which is likely to benefit us all. You possibly know someone who works within in the NHS or a Teacher, who has had increasingly pressurised workloads, with extended hours and utterly pointless assessments, form filling (for which read, Government department bureaucrats need to measure something, so let’s try this) all simply to justify their non-inflated salaries, which on occasion they have to reapply for… all because a Government can. Anyway, as these people are clearly coping too well and not leaving in the numbers that Government hoped, they are asked to calculate their annual allowance rather differently and constantly guess if they will overpay for the year, which results in a tax fine that on money that they might not receive when then retire. I am not kidding – this is not fake news.

Hollow Words, Smoke and Mirrors

When Chancellors and Prime Ministers or indeed any politician talks about serving people, one is always left suspicious as the words are invariably bereft of any action plan or follow through. There are few like the Duke, in Measure for Measure, who survey the detail of the way their citizens are governed. We all plod on regardless because the problems are apparently “just too big to fix” and “we must all have a grown-up debate”… hmm..

If Government was a business it would be in an even worse shape, for failing its customers so frequently and so outrageously. Yet whichever one is elected, they make the same empty promises and simply meddle along, tinkering at the edges hoping that everyone will quickly forget, which they will…

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

Email me to get in touch

2017 BudgetDominic2023-12-01T12:18:40+00:00

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