Investing a small amount of your portfolio in gold can make sense from a diversification perspective, but try not to let your gains get taxed away…
tax
Thanks to ISAs, SIPPS, and full relief on your own home, most of us can avoid paying capital gains tax. But you should still understand how it works.
Tax is a persistent pain when investing, slicing away at your hard-gotten gains. Here’s how to defuse future headaches when it comes to CGT.
Rather like B&Bs themselves, bed and breakfasting is an old-fashioned way to defuse CGT that is no longer possible without taking some extra steps.
Think only little people worry about a few quid of income tax on dividends or paying capital gains tax on a winning stock picks? Think again!
Bonds and bond funds are taxed differently from equities and from each other. Make sure you don’t incur the wrath of the taxman with our quick guide to the ins and outs.
The tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April the next year. This means the most crucial UK tax deadline occurs in April. That’s because there are various annual allowances and tax reliefs you need to make the best of to legally mitigate your income tax bill and to stop excessive taxes sapping your [...]
Do you know how much you’re allowed to keep of what you earn? The answer might surprise you.
You will pay dividend tax on all dividends you receive in excess of your annual tax-free dividend allowance.
You know about tax on dividends, interest and capital gains, but are you paying your dues on excess reportable income?
The annual ISA allowance is £20,000 – across both cash and stocks and shares ISAs. But the details can be confusing…
UK government bonds are down, which is terrible news. Except that it means future returns are up!
We tackle the thorny old problem of SIPPs vs ISAs, and as usual there’s no clear winner…
These are the investments you should put into your ISAs and SIPPs first in order to maximise your tax breaks.
Rising interest rates mean you need to think about paying tax on your bank account earnings…
If you’re investing outside of tax shelters, you need to make sure you’re using your CGT breaks and offsetting with losses to defuse your taxable gains…
Unmarried couples are treated like second-class citizens and the law is full of tripwires. Here’s how to protect your finances
Enterprise Investment Schemes offer ways to reduce your tax bill, but they’re not simple or risk-free investments…
The last instalment of our epic ISA / SIPP FI series looks at when you should use cash to bridge the gap to your pension.
A complete walkthrough of the calculation for maximising your UK tax shelters to achieve FI in the fastest timeframe.
Standard financial independence plans don’t take into account how to best use your ISAs and SIPPs to retire early. We right that wrong. Part three.
Standard financial independence plans don’t take into account how to best use your ISAs and SIPPs to retire early. We right that wrong. Part two.
Most financial independence plans don’t take into account how to best use your ISAs and SIPPs to retire early…
The Tory win is great for those of us with wealth, but it does raise question marks about the future and Brexit still looms large…
Taxes are going up on those of us who work out of limited companies. Time to take Friday’s off?
The government is mulling over the future of pensions. Find out what’s on their mind and how you can influence them.
Reduce tax in retirement with this Monevator assortment of legal moves to stay one step ahead of the taxman.
Child benefit is a huge slug of tax-free income that’s set to get taken away from higher earning families, but there are steps you can take to keep hold of it.
One way of reducing your capital gains tax bill is to defer gains for decades. (It could save you a lot of share trading fees, too!)
How do you find yourself falling into the CGT bracket, given all the various ways you can avoid it? Here are some pitfalls to be aware of.
While facing a CGT bill isn’t all bad news (it means you made a profit!) few people actively enjoying paying taxes. Here’s a neat way to use equally unpleasant losses to reduce your liability.
Tax is not payable on capital gains with spread bets. While it’s certainly a risky form of pseudo-investing, it might be useful in some circumstances.
A shock tax bill is liable to ruin anyone’s year and that’s exactly what you’ll get if you don’t understand the difference between reporting and non-reporting funds.
Invest overseas? Then withholding tax could be skimming money off your dividends. Take action now to stop it.
If you’re upset that the Liberals and the Conservatives are sharing power in the UK, just be grateful I didn’t get elected.
Venture Capital Trusts are specialised investments, where the small print about risks really does come true.
Want to avoid a big capital gains tax bill? Lucky you. Here’s some tips to help you get your tax bill down.
Companies can’t get dividends out the door quickly enough, for major private shareholders, who face a 10% tax rise on dividend income in April.
Borrowing to invest is unlikely to be very profitable once you take into account tax on your returns.
Tax, schmax. Nobody likes paying taxes: from the richest to the poorest, we all think we’re getting a poor return, even if we believe in theory, as me and Warren Buffet do, that taxes are a necessary evil for the good of society. Given that I’d rather write a dinner invitation to my mistress’s mother-in-law [...]
This post is one of a series on the changes to the UK personal tax regime introduced in the 2008/09 financial year. All Capital Gains Tax charged at 18% We all have a personal allowance, currently £9,600 (and distinct from your personal income tax allowance) before Capital Gains Tax is due. You are also allowed [...]
This is the third article in a series on the key UK personal tax changes from April 2008. For the others, please see the introduction. Basic rate of income tax has been cut to 20% At last, something to cheer about! The world economy is in turmoil, banks are going belly up, and stock markets [...]
This is my second article in a week long series on the key personal tax changes that came into affect in April 2008. For the others, please see the introduction to 2008 tax changes. 10% tax rate abolished Sunday saw the scrapping of the 10 per cent starter rate (also called the 10p rate) for [...]
This is the first in my special five-part series entitled Five big boring tax changes that will make you richer or poorer in 2008/09. For the others, please see the introduction to the series. From April 6th 2008, ISA rules for UK residents change as follows: Your annual total ISA allowance rises to £7,200, and [...]
Today is the last day of the UK tax year. Hurrah! Fair enough, the end of the tax year can’t really compete with this afternoon’s Grand National, the 172-year old steeplechase that will be watched by 600million viewers worldwide. But paying closer attention to your taxes will almost certainly leave you richer than betting on [...]