Protecting your finances now Labour are in charge

I have always made my political leanings very clear, so everyone knows where I’m coming from when commenting.

My bias is towards a fairer society where we address everyone’s basic needs before anything else. If that means taxing those who are well off a little more so be it. I’m not wealthy but comfortable and would be happy to pay more tax for better public services.

What RosiesMaw said and to karmalady. That was why, in the Spring Budget 2024, the previous government had proposed to end the tax break for people offering short-term holiday lets. See my post upthread.

There has been a substantial rise in people switching from long-term letting to short-term letting, particulary Airbnb - making it even harder for local people to find a home.

The proposal did not make it into the Finance Act and we can only speculate why. Perhaps a deliberate pre-election move to leave the matter in the hands of the next government. If Rachel Reeves decides to include such a measure in the Autumn Budget, Labour will take the flack for introducing a tax rise that the Tories were going to do anyway.

This is the kind of juvenile, manipulative journalism that gets on my nerves. Have a box of tissues handy.

www.telegraph.co.uk/money/tax/moving-10000-miles-away-70s-escape-labour/

You may need to use www.removepaywall.com/ to read it.

Couple buy a barn for £300,000, borrow £300,000 on an interest only mortgage and convert it into a luxury home from which they have run two businesses. Ten years later, they want to downsize and intended to repay the mortgage from the sale proceeds.

The property is said to be worth £1,600,000 but has been on the market for three years and hasn’t sold so they have taken equity release to repay the mortgage.

They are talking about “downsizing” to something costing (say) £950,000 and complaining (amongst other things) about stamp duty. But this tax already exists.

In just ten years, they have made a capital gain of a million pounds from one property and are complaining???

They claim they have made no private pension provision. When you dig a little deeper you find that the husband is a chartered accountant, has an MBA and ran a successful corporate strategy business …

Here’s his LinkedIn profile:

www.linkedin.com/in/ianmcdonaldwood/?originalSubdomain=uk

.. but didn’t (apparently) apply his strategic thinking to income in older age.

Two sons in Australia working as doctors and grandchildren they would like to see more of so they are off to Australia -

but it all Labour’s fault.

Utter tosh.

Cossy

Germanshepherdsmum

Unfortunately, Merion, we now know that you are not unbiased.

To be fair GSM neither are you

To be fair, Germanshepherdsmum has not let us think otherwise and has always told us that she is partisan politically and has never tried to post political rhetoric as facts, only ever as opinion

Floradora et al

IHT can be “passed over” between couples, my late mothers estate was just a tad over £500,000 incl her modest home, no IHT was paid as my late father’s allowance was also used, and, I may be wrong here, but my understanding is that property has some small additional allowance too in some cases.

Merion, you are quoting one quite unusual case.

Unbiased? 🤔

Callistemon That’s a very fair point re GSM she has always been very upfront and clear in her political and other views.

I was merely pointing out that probably very few of us are totally unbiased.

I’d like to see the personal allowance “unfrozen” and increased (not to the daft levels of Reform UK though!)

I’d like to see some protection if the triple lock for pensioners, is like to see salaries and conditions improved for some public sector workers and no more strikes.

Very optimistic and some will say naive, but those are my wishes!

Sorry for typos!

What do you expect people should do with surplus money.
Exactly, Sago.
Mr. J'S list includes paying DGCs' education fees now to the school for the next 10 years or so at the current non VAT rate. And buying more property in France where at least the UK government can't get their hands on it, though who knows what Macron will decide?

Undecided what to do with my £25 premium bond win this month but I'd better spend it quickly, I think.

In one of the charities I worked for, they gave away money from time to time.

A stupid idea I thought, because, as I had predicted, eventually they did not have enough money of their own.

Callistemon213

*Merion*, you are quoting one quite unusual case.

Unbiased? 🤔

My point is that this isn't an isolated incident in the Telegraph's campaign that people are facing some fiscal Armageddon under Labour. The taxes that people are allegedly frightened of already exist. Stamp duty, which seems to be this couple's main gripe already exists.

It's irresponsible, politically-biased journalism aimed at frightening people.

It isn't the Labour Party's fault if a chartered accountant and strategy expert hasn't planned for his retirement.

Furthermore, going public with this, their terrible plight of having only a million pound capital gain to downsize with is also going to alert HMRC to the fact that they have a property with three acres of land - see post upthread about S222 CGTA 1992.

The level of "I'm alright Jack"ery on these threads would be amusing if they weren't so depressing. The default to any criticism is "oh, well you've got no money so you're just a jealous povvo with no clue". Then come the wailings about mean personal attacks when challenged.

I've been rich and I've been poor but I've never made suppositions about people's mindsets based on their income.

Stamp duty, which seems to be this couple's main gripe already exists.

How can anyone not know that?

I think they might be fictional, Merion, a figment of imagination of the DT, surely?
No-one, particularly business people, can be that dumb?

Or can they? 🤔

nanna8

There would be riots here if they taxed pensions where you have already paid taxes during your working life. Double dipping. Also, to have to pay a tv licence for the state tv is ridiculous. Horrible system.

In the UK, people don't pay tax on personal pension contributions at the time they pay them. That's why they're taxed when they're paid out.

I think you made a very important point there Merion when you said
‘It isn't the Labour Party's fault if a chartered accountant and strategy expert hasn't planned for his retirement.’
The point is that we all know that the government changes from one party to another on a regular basis, we all know that policies are different, we all know some changes will affect us. Contingency planning for our finances is part of life, and if we don’t do it, more fool us. It’s time to quit the whingeing I think - this was always going to happen.

I doubt if the current government will give £320 million to a country for nothing, like the Tories gave the Rwandans.
Or the £500 million given to France to curb small boat crossings. That worked!
Just think how that money could have been spent.

Callistemon213

I think they might be fictional, Merion, a figment of imagination of the DT, surely?
No-one, particularly business people, can be that dumb?

Or can they? 🤔

He's real. He's on LinkedIn. I posted the link to his profile. here it is again:

www.linkedin.com/in/ianmcdonaldwood/?originalSubdomain=uk

He says:

On a personal note, I am married with two adult sons of whom I am very proud and five golden retrievers ... which ties to what it says in the article.

He published a book in 2000 titled The Bucks $tart Here about digital entrepreneurship.

Merion

Callistemon213

Merion, you are quoting one quite unusual case.

Unbiased? 🤔

My point is that this isn't an isolated incident in the Telegraph's campaign that people are facing some fiscal Armageddon under Labour. The taxes that people are allegedly frightened of already exist. Stamp duty, which seems to be this couple's main gripe already exists.

It's irresponsible, politically-biased journalism aimed at frightening people.

It isn't the Labour Party's fault if a chartered accountant and strategy expert hasn't planned for his retirement.

Furthermore, going public with this, their terrible plight of having only a million pound capital gain to downsize with is also going to alert HMRC to the fact that they have a property with three acres of land - see post upthread about S222 CGTA 1992.

I haven’t been able to read the article you posted but you say their gripe is with stamp duty. That’s very likely to rise under Labour. At present 12% stamp duty is payable on the purchase of a property for over £1.5m. Between £925,001 and £1.5m it’s 10%. If buyers are balking at paying 12% they could reduce the price by £100k, which is probably entirely reasonable if the place remains unsold after three years. I have noticed a good many reductions of that order recently.

If they have been using part of the property for business purposes they will probably have to pay some CGT.

What you have said twice now about the amount of land belonging to a private home is scare mongering. My last house was fairly large - over 5000 sq ft plus triple garage and other outbuildings - and sat in three acres. Subsequently we added a further one and a half acres. No problem whatsoever. The grounds were of an entirely reasonable size for the house, and this barn is probably no different in that respect.

fancythat

I had forgotten that Labour try and get so much money from wealthier people.

My DH had a relative in the 1970s, who left England because of it, and never returned.

With respect, what a relative did over 50 years ago is of no relevance.

I wouldn’t say it was irrelevant. It would have been a response to the very high taxation of the day. I doubt we’ll ever see a repeat of 19/6 in the £ income tax, but taxes in general are likely to rise significantly imho, and the response of some people to that will be to move abroad.

HousePlantQueen

fancythat

I had forgotten that Labour try and get so much money from wealthier people.

My DH had a relative in the 1970s, who left England because of it, and never returned.

With respect, what a relative did over 50 years ago is of no relevance.

You dont think Labour will do the same now?

Germanshepherdsmum

I wouldn’t say it was irrelevant. It would have been a response to the very high taxation of the day. I doubt we’ll ever see a repeat of 19/6 in the £ income tax, but taxes in general are likely to rise significantly imho, and the response of some people to that will be to move abroad.

I think tax got to 90%?
I would have to look that up.

And was it the 90s where there was a brain drain? In Labour times??

What I have said is NOT scaremongering.

It is enshrined in tax legislation that was enacted in 1992 under the Tory government of John Major.

I repeat what I said upthread:

Section 222 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act (TCGA) 1992 has been in force for 32 years.

It has always contained provisions to tax gardens which are larger than 0.5 of a hectare (around 1.25 acres) including the site of the dwelling house, unless it can be shown that grounds in excess of that amount are necessary for the enjoyment of the property and not part of a business. The District Valuer decides.

More here for anyone interested.

www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1992/12/section/222

www.taxinsider.co.uk/principal-private-residence-garden-and-grounds