The Chancellor delivered his Autumn Statement today, the last before the May 2015 General Election.
Given the surprise “Freedom and Choice” pension reforms announced in March, there was little expected in the way of new announcements. The Taxation of Pensions Bill is making its way through the process of becoming an Act, and was due to have its report stage and final reading in the House of Commons today.
The Autumn Statement did include confirmation that from April 2015, beneficiaries of individuals who die under the age of 75 with remaining uncrystallised or drawdown defined contribution pension funds, or with a joint life or guaranteed term annuity, will be able to receive any future payments from such policies tax free where no payments have been made to the beneficiary before 6 April 2015. The tax rules will also be changed to allow joint life annuities to be paid to any beneficiary.
There was no mention of alterations to either the Annual or Lifetime Allowance, and many commentators have speculated that there could be changes to them in the future, possibly in a pre-election Budget.
ISA investors will be pleased to learn that they will effectively be IHT free on transfer between spouses / civil partners, on death. This makes ISAs and Pensions more equal in the post April 2015 regime, and some have suggested that there may be further harmonisation of these tax advantaged savings vehicles in the future.
The widely covered reforms to Stamp Duty on sales of residential property are to be welcomed, benefitting around 98% of transactions involving purchase of homes. There was no change to the rates or treatment of Stamp Duty on commercial properties.
A small increase to the Personal Allowance from 6th April 2015 (now £10,600 rather than the previously announced figure of £10,500) and a corresponding increase in the level of income that will trigger higher rate (40%) tax means that more will benefit from that change (the first time there has been an inflation linked increase in the threshold which has swept more people into the 40% tax band over the last few years).
The proposals for changes to the tax treatment of trusts (to be backdated to June of this year) are now not going to go ahead. This will be a relief for those considering how best to deal with the complex proposals for dealing with the proposed, but now defunct, Settlement Nil Rate Band (SNRB).
Overall this was a positive sounding Autumn Statement, particularly for those involved in retirement planning.
December 3rd, 2014
The Minerva SIPP can invest in a wider range of assets including commercial property and land, on an individual or group basis. Any combination of permitted investments may be made within a Minerva SIPP including deposit accounts, DFM, open market platform/wrap accounts, stockbroker accounts and trustee investment plans, all held together within the same SIPP.
SIPP Lite is a lower cost option, for those that do not require multiple investment accounts, or access to commercial property and land at outset. SIPP Lite members are restricted to a maximum of one investment account, to run alongside the default SIPP bank account. This investment account could be another bank account or ONE of the following: stockbroker account, DFM, open market platform/wrap account or a trustee investment plan. For individuals that require additional investments at a later date, including commercial property and land, they can upgrade their SIPP Lite plan to a Minerva SIPP.
A Small Self-Administered Scheme (SSAS) is a type of UK registered pension scheme. Each SSAS is governed by its own trust deed and rules and is a separate legal entity to the sponsoring employer. The sponsoring employer establishes the SSAS and invites members to join. Any individual employed by the sponsoring employer (or a participating employer) may join the scheme and all members are appointed as trustees alongside the professional trustee. SSAS trustees have a very wide range of investment options, including the ability to make secured loans to the sponsoring employer of up to 50% of the net asset value of the scheme, subject to certain conditions.
We have been operating in these markets for over 20 years. The SSAS business was formed in 1997, and in 2003 we launched our flagship product, the Minerva SIPP. The range is completed by SIPP Lite, which has been available since July 2012.
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