8 August 2017 - In This Issue:
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BlackStar Wealth News
Welcome to the August issue of BlackStar Wealth News. 

 

The FCA has been busy in recent months looking at the effect of pension flexibility publishing a report of its findings last month while the government announced a further rise in the state pension age to 68 just one day before the summer recess. Then top that off with HMRC reminding us of their interest in offshore investments, it's been quite a summer already!

 

As always though do not hesitate to contact us if you have any queries on subjects raised in this issue of Wealth News.
 

 

 

T: 0121 270 7342

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W: www.blackstarwm.co.uk  
Finance Acts 2017: the sequel?
The long running saga of the final spring budget and subsequent Finance Bills is one step nearer to the end.
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The Chancellor's spring Budget was thrown into disarray by the snap election.  It was billed as the last spring Budget, since from now on all Budgets will be autumn events.
 
However, only about a fifth of the Budget's proposals made it onto the statute book before ...
 
Pension flexibility two years on - the report card
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has examined the impact of pension flexibility and is worried about the lack of advice.
Pension flexibility came into effect in April 2015.
 
In theory, since then it has been possible from age 55 onwards to withdraw your entire money purchase pension fund as a lump sum, albeit generally 75% would be taxable as income.
Dividends keep growing for 2017
UK companies paid out a record amount in dividends in the second quarter of this year.
golden_egg.jpg At a time when there is much heated debate about whether the Bank of England should double its base rate to 0.5%, it can be easy to forget the much higher income yield available from UK shares.

While most interest rates remain at sub-inflation levels, the UK ...

When I'm 68...: state pension age rising again
The government has announced plans for a further increase in state pension age.
elderly-laptop-couple.jpg On the day before parliament shut up shop for its summer holidays, David Gauke, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, announced that the government had decided state pension age (SPA) should be increased to 68 between April 2037 and April 2039.  The timing is seven years earlier than ...

More tax transparency with offshore letters
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) wants to remind you of its interest in your offshore investments
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Globalisation is not just about trade and investment flows.
 
One of the significant changes to tax in recent years has been a move towards globalisation of tax. A prime example is the development of Common Report Standards (CRS) by ...
  
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