Until now, you only had to tell the taxman you had money in a trust if there was tax to pay; in the same way you have a duty to tell him if you have any other income for which you might owe tax. Someone at HMRC had the bright idea that they should know about every trust, everywhere, just in case you might have got it wrong. And they want it all to be done online, by 1st September. This is a huge and very fiddly exercise, which many won’t realise they have to undertake. There’s supposedly a £250 fine for those that don’t make the deadline. In the words of the Kaiser Chiefs, I predict a riot. Or at least, many a disgruntled trustee, who may not have even realised they were one!
“Reeves backs down on plans to cut ISA limit”
So it looks as though Cash ISAs are safe for the moment (FTM – is that a thing?) Rachel has apparently ‘bowed to pressure’ from the banks and building societies and decided not to reduce the allowance to £4,000 for cash and to keep the £20,000 parity with Stocks and Shares ISAs. Bowed also to common sense, I’d say.
