Of all the iniquitous taxes we have to pay in Britain, I do think that stamp duty on the purchase of houses is the very worst. First, it is not charged marginally as income tax …
Brown’s boring Budget
Category: Personal Finance
What should you do with your Child Trust Fund?
The Government’s Child Trust Fund (CTF) is finally up and running. This means that parents with children born on or after September 2002 can expect an information pack and a CTF voucher worth £250 to …
British debt bulge threatens banks
We have written time and time again in MoneyWeek about the dangers inherent inthe record levels of personal debt held by the British. And it seems that we have been worrying for good reason. Last …
How to avoid inheritance tax
Death and taxes may be life’s only certainties, but there’s no reason why you should just sit back and hand the taxman your inheritance. Inheritance tax (IHT) was originally conceived as a levy on the …
What to do with your child trust fund vouchers
Parents who want to put their child trust fund (CTF) vouchers to work as soon as possible need to make up their minds how to do so by the 6 April launch. When deciding where …
It’s time to cut taxes
When I did my first editor’s letter for MoneyWeek in the very first edition of the magazine (dated 4 November 2000), I wrote about public spending and taxes. At the time, Gordon Brown had announced …
A-Day for Pensions
When the rules governing self-invested personal pensions (Sipps) change next year, the world of pensions will alter dramatically. As of ‘A-Day’, 6 April 2006, you will be allowed to hold all manner of alternative investments …
What’s really driving inflation
The Government’s preferred measure of inflation, the Consumer Price Index,or CPI, recorded a 1.9% rise in March from 12 months before – just 0.1% below the Bank of England¹s inflation target. This means the Old …
The misery of Gordon Brown
There’s a real sign-of the-times posting on online auction site Ebay this week. Someone (simonsteve1981 is his log-in name, but we’ll just call him Simon) is selling everything he owns. “I wish I didn’t have …
Are we seeing the return of inflation?
Why does inflation matterIt matters to investors and savers because when inflation is high, it quickly erodes the true value of investments and savings, and it matters to borrowers because it reduces the real value …