Head of Private Client Stuart Crippin gives his opinion on the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement in IFA Magazine.
“This Autumn Statement is likely to be seen as firm but fair with a focus on taxing the wealthy more. There is a noticeable more populist shift from the brief Liz Truss era. The Statement did not contain any big surprises and, arguably, could have been more swingeing. For instance, there was no attack on the tax treatment of non-UK domiciled individuals who had been seen as a quite likely target.
That said, there will have been a rollercoaster of emotions for additional rate Income Tax payers who, just a couple of weeks ago, thought they were being handed a tax cut and now face a tax hike!
It is interesting that the Chancellor resisted the temptation to increase CGT rates which, coupled with the Income Tax rises, would have made quite gloomy headlines. Certainly, the forthcoming reduction in the CGT annual allowance does allow for imminent planning opportunities for those
sitting on assets which have increased in value.
The freezing of the IHT nil rate band for a further two years, whilst not hugely significant in itself, just highlights the importance of timely IHT and estate planning generally.”
Read the full article online here.