It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

Written By Andy Eaton

The US market has felt like a gold rush for several years now with high consumer spending and high employment fueled by low interest rates.

However the current chaos brought about by the Trump administration and their tariffs has caused a massive shift to what Bill Ackman described as a "self induced economic nuclear winter". https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2lzjnj79rdo

What can you do?   Very little, except focus on the short term, focus on the detail and stick to what you do best.

 SPRING STATEMENT

Despite the pressure and temptation to change the economic plans the Chancellor used the Spring Statement to reiterate the Autumn budget position. Therefore, we have done the same and focused on what benefits have remained, starting with pension contributions.

PENSION CONTRIBUTIONS

Saving for the future still makes sense tax wise:

  • Company pension contributions allowance of up to £60k per person - don’t forget any unused allowances from the previous 3 years (with conditions)

  • Company pension contributions - employer pension contributions reduce corporation tax with no further personal tax implications

  • Higher & additional rate tax payers can claim relief on personal pension contributions - a further 20% for higher rate tax payers and 25% for additional rate tax players

  • Lifetime allowance no upper limit - There’s no longer a cap on how much you can save in a pension, but tax-free lump sums are still limited to a maximum of £268,275

TAX EFFICIENT SCHEMES

There remain other tax efficient schemes that you, your business or employees can take advantage of:

  • ISA limit still at £20k per year, though restrictions are coming to cash ISAs

  • Schemes such as EIS, SEIS, and VCT offer significant income tax relief, CGT exemptions, and tax-free growth for investors Electric cars, including charging points, via your company still a very good deal

  • Cycle to work scheme – employees can save 28%-47% on a bike through salary sacrifice, and businesses save 15% on Employers National Insurance contributions

HMRC PAYMENTS VIA DIRECT DEBIT

HMRC is implementing more compliance checks and increasing penalty charges. It is possible to set up your PAYE, NIC & VAT payments by direct debit to ensure you don’t miss these payments. You need to do this from your government gateway

MAKING TAX DIGITAL

Anyone acting as a soletrader or a landlord with trading income above£50,000 must operate under "making tax digital" (MTD) from 6 April 2026. This will require all records to be kept digitally; quarterly updates to be provided to HMRC and the year end self-assessment to be submitted to HMRC through compatible software. We can provide this service using xero as our key accounting partner.

 

XERO INVOICING
The classic style of xero invoicing is being turned off at the end of February 2025 so worth familiarising yourself with the new invoicing format before the switch. Dan is available to assist you with the transition.

Andy Eaton
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