Here at Cedar House, as financial planners, we only tend to wade into politics when we feel strongly that our clients might be affected by important policy changes.
With the imminent arrival of the 2019 General Election on 12th December, and with many significant manifesto pledges entering public discourse about tax, business relief and pensions, we feel that it would be helpful to highlight how these might affect clients’ financial plans.
In particular, the Labour Party has made it clear that there would be a more radical redistribution of wealth which would necessitate a radical change in taxation, and these and other topics deserve attention from a financial planning perspective, before the General Election, as these have the potential to affect clients’ wealth, income and investments.
As the nationwide campaign builds up speed, here are ten important areas of current (and possible) future Labour policies which we believe require consideration for some pre-election financial planning:
- Probable increase in income tax rates for higher earners
- Possible withdrawal of Entrepreneur’s Relief on the sale of businesses
- Probable introduction of mansion tax
- Probable increase in SDLT on property purchases
- VAT on private school fees
- VAT on private medical insurance premiums and private medical bills
- Reduction in tax relief on pension contributions
- Possible withdrawal of tax free cash from pensions
- Withdrawal of tax efficient investments such as ISAs, EISs, VCTs and BPR schemes
- Possible introduction of exchange controls
It is quite possible that other areas of policy might emerge in the coming days and weeks, which will deserve attention for your financial planning. We obviously do not have any idea about the outcome of the election, but we are in unpredictable political times, so it helps to be aware of how you may be affected by a new government and the effect that this would have on your financial planning.
To discuss any of these or other important areas of your financial plan, get in touch with your financial adviser here at Cedar House. Contact us via:
admin@cedarhfs.co.uk ; 020 8366 4400