It was announced in this year's Budget that people who bought a with-profits annuity from the Equitable Life Assurance Society before September 1992 - and were aged 60 or older on 20 March 2013 - would receive an ex-gratia payment of £5,000. Payments were planned for the 2014/15 tax year but have now been brought forward to this tax year Continue Reading
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The new Single-Tier State Pension
It has been announced that the new Single-Tier State Pension will start, subject to Parliamentary approval, April 2016. The original proposals for the new system were outlined in a White Paper published January 2013. At present the changes are speculative and will need to be agreed by Parliament. However, readers may be interested to read the following notes that summary Continue Reading
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Pension liberation fraudsters targeted
Government ministers, regulators and figures from the pensions industry met last month to discuss how to tackle 'pension liberation' fraudsters. The Financial Conduct Authority and the Serious Fraud Office were also at the meeting on 12 September. Pension liberation scams convince people to hand over their pension pot in exchange for early access to the cash, without any explanation of Continue Reading
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Micro-business accounting rules relaxed
The UK's 1.5 million micro businesses will now be able to prepare and publish much-reduced financial statements, as the Government's drive to reduce the red-tape burden on businesses continues. A micro business has: a balance sheet total of no more than £316,000 a net turnover of no more than £632,000 10 (or fewer) employees. Despite their smaller size, micro businesses Continue Reading
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