This one was rumoured, I didn’t think it would happen and in the end it only half-happened. Investments in ‘unquoted’, for which read the shares of companies too small to be part of the main FTSE index and traded on the stock exchange, would not be liable to Inheritance Tax after two years. This tax break was a big source of funding for smaller companies, and pulling it altogether could have led to a crash in their value and affected many of our and other advisers’ clients. The amount of the break has been halved, so that shares in AIM companies, the type held in the portfolios we recommend for the purpose, will be taxed at 20% rather than 40% on death. So, if you already have them, worth hanging on to them, particularly as the IHT allowance, the nil-rate band, has been frozen until 2030 now, so more tax will be payable as house prices and investments (hopefully) will not be in the deepfreeze of the next six years. The still-riskier small company investments, EISs and VCTs will still get full relief. For many, if not most, except those at the very top-end, these are a risk too far, with a big chance of either being worth nothing or being unsaleable, which is the same thing. Other opinions are available.
“Majority of IFAs have no plans to use AI in their practices”
I remember sometime in the 90’s, attending a presentation by a successful adviser providing helpful hints to an audience of wannabes, young and old.
