“Will the £22bn black hole suck the UK back into recession?”

Oct 15, 2024 | Economy, Inflation

An independent (financial adviser’s) view

At various motivational how-to-be-successful seminars over the years, I’ve heard the line that recession is no more than a state of mind. I remember one story of a (probably American) guy buying a van and starting a street food business in the depths of an economic catastrophe, who had no idea that there was a recession and went on to found a chain, make $zillions etc. And so the opposite, I guess, can be the case, that if you’re told enough times that times are hard, you start to believe it and the prophesy self-fulfills as the herd-instinct spreads the gloom. It’s the same with the stock markets which control your investments and worldly wealth. News can be taken as good or bad, and shares bought or sold accordingly, one man’s inflation is another’s economic growth. Looking back, my timing in becoming an adviser, then an IFA then starting my own business could not have been worse. But, for better or worse, here we still are!

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“HMRC: ‘digitalising tax process could close gap’”

“HMRC: ‘digitalising tax process could close gap’”

You, like a majority of both taxpayers and accountants, may have been sweating and cursing over a keyboard last week to submit a last-minute tax return. Many by the end of that accursed process will have been shouting ‘bring back paper!’, a vain and pointless hope, I’m afraid.