Financial Focus: Winter 2024

In this issue…

Rachel Reeves’s Autumn Budget, the first of the new Labour government, pointedly avoided direct tax increases on individuals. However increased employer NICs for 2025/25 are likely to test already stretched profit margins for many businesses.

Additional hikes to capital gains tax, and the extension of the reach of inheritance tax, will affect business owners and others who do not consider themselves particularly wealthy.

If the latest legislation has left you concerned about your estate and legacy, transferring assets to your spouse or civil partner may be enough to mitigate potential liabilities.

With the prospect of reaching 100 years old forecast to treble within the next 25 years, funding care in later years will become an issue for more and more people. One thing everyone can do to prepare for retirement is ensure you have topped up any gaps in your national insurance record as much as you are  able. The extended opportunity to top up missed payments will close at the end of this tax year.