General News

One of the most common things holding people back from achieving their full potential in business is the fear of failure.

It is human nature to fear the unknown. When we push ourselves outside of our comfort zones, whether in business or in our personal lives, it is pretty normal to feel some degree of stress and anxiety. 

Telephone and email scams are always a threat, but as we approach the Tax Return deadline of 31 January each year we always see an increase in the number of calls and emails pretending to be HMRC. The most recent scams seem to involve phone calls threatening the listener with arrest and/or deportation if they don't pay their overdue tax immediately.

These scams have become more sophisticated as they are able to make it look as if they are calling from HMRC's official phone number, making it harder to tell if it is real or not.

New inheritance tax rules for passing on the family home started on 6 April 2017. This additional relief should be taken into consideration when drafting your Will and we can work with your solicitor to make sure your Will is tax efficient.

From 6 April 2017 an additional nil rate band of up to £175,000 is available on death where your residence is left to direct descendants. This is in addition to the normal £325,000 nil rate band. 

What do you need to consider? Sadly the answer to this question is “It Depends!!”

However, there are some general principles that we can consider when looking at this situation.

There are a couple of questions which depend on your tax position and a few that relate to your preferences.