Rishi Sunak has selected 3rd March for his next Budget. There has been plenty of speculation around tax increases to try and cover some of the huge deficit that has been accrued during the current pandemic. Changes to corporation tax, capital gains tax, pension tax relief, a new wealth tax and many more have been mentioned in the press.

I remember in past years the mad rush to try and get last minute planning in place before a Budget or the end of the tax year. We are in the fortunate position this year to be ahead of the curve and are actually planning for future tax years rather than the current one. However, I am sure there will, as there always is, a surprise or two to come yet and some last-minute paperwork required to crystallise a gain or make a pension contribution. Being a new business and investing heavily in our technology will certainly make this easier and take out the uncertainty of the post!

I was speaking to a client a week or so ago who is looking to sell his business and was hoping to get this through pre-Budget in the fear that Entrepreneurs relief will be reduced or taken away entirely. Trying to make plans with uncertainty over your head is never a good position to be in especially when it is not of his making. Fortunately for this individual we have been working together for a good number of years and paying some more tax will hurt but wont be catastrophic.

So, what am I trying to say in this blog? Well it is quite simple really, things change. You can be sure the rules today will be different to the rules next year or the year after that. You can only deal with the situation as it is now and make the best possible choices, control the controllables I like to say.

I always try and ask clients to look much further ahead, what are we trying to achieve and what does perfection look like? If we have the big picture in mind and regularly meet to kick the tyres on any plans, then we will be able to deal with whatever bumps in the road we come across.

That being said, it does feel like this year there will be a lot of support for tax increases and therefore if you do need to do some last-minute planning please crack on and don’t leave it until the last possible minute.

For something a bit different this week, and in support of our Pledge 1% cause, a little pop quiz for those who have read this far. Please message me on LinkedIn and tell me the author of the book in which my blog title is famous from? I will pick one person at random from those who send in the correct answer and make a donation to the charity of their choice. Please message me on LinkedIn with the answer and I will confirm the winner on Monday and be in touch to get details of the chosen charity.

If you’d like to talk about your financial planning, we’d love to hear from you -> click here

Thanks for reading.