Autumn Statement closes pension tax relief loophole for over-55s
The amount you can save into a pension – once you have already taken some money out – has been slashed by the Government in a bid to clamp down on those seeking “double tax relief”. The move will hit hundreds of thousands of people, aged 55 and over, who have used the new “pension freedoms” available since April 2015 [...]
Pension cold callers who prey on the elderly will be banned, Philip Hammond to announce
Pension cold callers who prey on the elderly and trick them into giving up their life savings will be banned, the Chancellor will announce next week. More than 11 million pensioners are being targeted annually by cold callers with fraudsters making 250 million calls a year – equivalent to eight every second. Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, will use his Autumn [...]
Brexit 2016: A FinSec Comment
This is not the update we expected to be sending. We have now had a few days to digest the fallout from a remarkable referendum result. The world is looking at Britain and asking: What on earth has happened? Those tasked with running Britain are asking the same question. Trillions have been wiped off the sharemarkets and on Friday the [...]
Federal Budget 2016/17: A FinSec Verdict
The Less is More Budget Scott Morrison’s maiden budget speech was the first since Peter Costello’s debut 20 years ago that did not include the word ‘surplus’ an unreported, but perhaps telling, fact. It is no secret that the 2016 Federal Budget made negligible progress on improving Australia’s bottom line. Projecting a small surplus way out in 2020/21 it has [...]
The 2016/17 Australian Federal Budget
For us, the big story out of Budget 2016 is of course Morrison’s crackdown on high-end super tax concessions. Ten years on from Costello’s tax-free super savings and now, on the other side of the resources boom, Morrison has redefined the purpose of super as a substitute or supplement to the welfare safety net of the aged pension, not a [...]
Her Majesty’s revenue and customs, a timeline of change
Far-reaching changes were made by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC – the UK tax office) in April 2015 disallowing thousands of migrants from transferring their UK pension funds to Australia. Representation continues with HMRC and full detail is available from Scott. Key points are: April 2015 – The Pension Age test was introduced by HMRC requiring all QROPS to [...]
2016 The Year of Volatility
Given the relentless media coverage of the issue, it will come as no surprise that markets have been in a state of volatility since the start of the year. This volatility comes off the back of the second half of 2015, seeing a 10% reduction in the value of the Australian market. So all in all, not a market that [...]
