Summer 2017 Newsletter

Post by Mearns & Company in News

Not such a snappy result

It’s been a rollercoaster year so far both politically and for financial planning with a snap election called, a subsequent snap Finance Act and now a less than snappy result for the government. The uncertainty of the last few months has not yet cleared. One of the stories we cover in the summer newsletter just out is how to plan your investments to cope with future uncertainty, but the questions apply to more than just your portfolio.

The original post-Budget Finance Bill ran to 762-pages, but ended up cut down to 148 pages in order to speed up its progress through Parliament prior to dissolution. Many of the Chancellor’s key announcements had to be dropped. With Philip Hammond now confirmed as staying in post, it’s expected that most of those proposals will reappear in further legislation. There is still speculation of a further general election later in the year, so watch this space.

Our lead stories for this summer edition of our newsletter are:

• Budget tax changes: set for a comeback? The few surprises contained in the spring Budget largely became casualties of the bigger surprise of the snap election. But we are likely now to see them return.
• The ISA family grows again The Lifetime ISA was launched on 6 April and is an important addition to the ISA family.
• The residence nil rate band – not all it seems The inheritance tax residence nil rate band is now available and will potentially cut the inheritance tax bill on your estate by £40,000.
• Diversifying your investments How can you arrange your investments to cope with future uncertainty?

We hope you find articles useful and informative. As always, let us know if you think you may be affected by any of the topics in this edition. It seems likely that this year’s bumpy ride will continue.

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