FEATURE


ACCOUNTANCY SERVICES


Make saving tax your resolution this year


By Paul Gayton, Tax Director at Wren Accountancy Services


As we enter the second month of a new year, it’s a good time to start planning your tax affairs before the end of the tax year on 5 April. An obvious tax planning point would be to maximise


your ISA allowances for the 2017/18 tax year (currently £20,000 each). You might also want to consider increasing your pension


savings before 5 April 2018 as the unused annual pension allowance is lost after three years. For those looking to do some inheritance tax planning, it


would be a good time to review – or make - your will in light of the recent change in the IHT nil rate band.


PENSION PLANNING For most taxpayers, the maximum pension contribution is £40,000 each tax year, although this depends on their earnings. This limit covers both contributions by the individual and their employer. Note that the unused allowance for a particular tax year


may be carried forward for three years and can be added to the relief for the current, but then lapses if unused. It is also important to remember that for higher rate taxpayers, the net cost of saving £10,000 in a pension is only £6,000 – but this higher rate relief may not last forever.


PASSING ON THE FAMILY HOME New inheritance tax rules for passing on the family home were implemented from 6 April 2017. This new relief should be taken into consideration when drafting your will to make sure it is tax efficient. From this date, an additional nil rate band of £100,000


became available on death where your residence is left to direct descendants. This is in addition to the normal £325,000 nil rate band and will increase over the next four years to £175,000 in 2020. This additional relief is, however, restricted if your assets exceed £2m.


WHAT ABOUT DOWNSIZING TO A SMALLER PROPERTY? The new inheritance tax relief for passing on the family home is protected, even when you downsize to a smaller property. For example, if a married couple are currently living in a


large house worth £500,000 and downsize to a flat worth £250,000 they could give away some of the proceeds during their lifetime and yet still benefit from inheritance tax relief based on the higher valued property. They could even sell up completely and move into a rental property and still get the inheritance tax relief.


Event Safety Planning are a specialist event safety, fire safety and emergency­planning consultancy founded in 2004. Our senior consultants are Chartered & Chartered Fellow members of the Institute of Occupational Safety & Health (IOSH).


Our consultants are diligent and pragmatic; working closely with you to find the best solutions to your safety needs.


Through training and mentoring we empower you to take control of safety at your events.


For more details visit our website or drop us a line: www.eventsafetyplanning.co.uk E­Mail: Info@esplanning.co.uk


50 business network February 2018


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