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Offering "No Tie" Independent Financial Advice. We regard ourselves as the GP's of financial services offering advice on all aspects of your finances.

Financial Planning for Business Owners, Business Leaders and Horse Racing Professionals
These are the areas we specialise in but we will sit down and create a plan with anyone who sees the value in planning for their future. As it is most peoples common goal to retire, it is this area where we specialise
providing bespoke individual retirement strategies that include pension, investment, business strategy planning, protection and savings advice.

02/11/2026

Village Magazine November Edition

29/10/2026

PPM's 6️⃣0️⃣ Second Read!

Gilty secrets

Gilts have been on the news of late, but how much do you know about them?

Gilts, or UK government bonds as they are sometimes called, are loans made to the UK government by a variety of investors from individuals to overseas central banks. Those investors buy gilts to receive a regular half-yearly income for a fixed term, plus a capital sum at the end of the term. The total value of the gilts market is over £2,900 billion – 93.5% higher than it was ten years ago.

There are two main types of gilt:

• Conventional gilts: These pay a fixed level of interest every six months and a fixed lump sum at maturity. For example, a £100 nominal holding of 4.5% Treasury Gilt 2035 pays £2.25 on 31 January and 31 July each year and £100 at maturity on 31 July 2035. About three-quarters of the gilt market by value is this type of gilt.

• Index-linked gilts: The interest and maturity values of these gilts move in line with the retail prices index, the forerunner of the familiar consumer prices index. These days the government issues mostly conventional gilts rather than their index-linked counterparts.

Gilts are the main way that the government raises the cash to bridge the gap between what it spends and what it raises in taxation. In 2026/27, HM Treasury aims to sell nearly £250 billion to investors, although £140 billion of that is simply to pay the amounts due on existing gilts that reach the end of their fixed term – ‘refinancing’ in the jargon.

The interest on the near-£3 trillion of gilts is itself a major item of annual government expenditure. The Office for Budget Responsibility estimates the 2026/27 net interest bill will be almost £110 billion, about 8% of all government expenditure and nearly a third of the day-to-day welfare bill. Numbers like that help explain why rising interest rates on gilts worry Chancellors.

When the Treasury is forced to pay a higher interest rate to sell gilts, the ramifications go beyond just government finances. For example, the increased rates can feed through to fixed-term mortgage rates. On the other hand, higher rates can make gilt and other bond funds more attractive for income-seeking investors.

The value of investments and the income from them can fall as well as rise and investors may not get back what they originally invested.

Tax treatment varies according to individual circumstances and is subject to change.

The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate tax advice.

27/10/2026

PPM's 6️⃣0️⃣ Second Read!

Tax relief from HMRC – a genuine offer

HMRC is writing to over a million people offering them tax relief.

‘Make a pension contribution and you get tax relief’ – it sounds straightforward, but it’s not quite so simple.

There are two methods by which tax relief on pension contributions is given:

• Pension relief at source (PRAS): This applies to personal pensions and some occupational pension schemes (including the National Employment Savings Trust). Contributions are made from after-tax pay, and then HMRC pays basic rate relief to the pension provider. For example, if you make an £80 contribution under PRAS, HMRC adds £20, bringing the total contribution to £100. The £20 top-up applies even if you are a non-taxpayer. However, if you pay tax at more than the basic rate, you must claim the extra relief from HMRC – something that can be forgotten.

• Net pay arrangement (NPA): Most occupational schemes use the NPA under which contributions are deducted from pre-tax pay. Thus, the same £100 total contribution would save the basic rate taxpayer £20. For higher and additional rate taxpayers (and the assorted Scottish rates), the appropriate relief is automatically given, with no need to claim. However, non-taxpayers miss out on the 20% relief they would receive under PRAS.

The missing basic rate relief for non-taxpayers under NPA was long seen as an anomaly. Successive governments ignored the point until automatic enrolment in workplace pensions significantly increased the numbers – mostly part-timers – who were losing out.

Since 2014/15, automatic enrolment has applied with an earnings threshold for enrolment that has been frozen at £10,000 a year. That figure initially matched the income tax personal allowance, but a threshold freeze meant a gap subsequently opened. Since 2021/22, the threshold has been £2,570 less than the (now frozen) personal allowance.

In the Autumn Budget 2021, the then Chancellor announced that legislation would be introduced to ensure that all pension contributions effectively received basic rate tax relief. The eventual solution was to make HMRC responsible for paying the relief to eligible non-taxpayers, starting with contributions made in the 2024/25 tax year.

HMRC has now started writing to about one million people, asking them to claim their 2024/25 relief, which, on average, is estimated to be £53. Communications from HMRC offering to pay you money are often scams. In this instance, the giveaway is genuine.

Tax treatment varies according to individual circumstances and is subject to change.

The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate tax advice.

26/10/2026

PPM's 6️⃣0️⃣ Second Read!

Pension triple lock reform breaks out

The state pension triple lock is set to be adjusted under new proposals.

The triple lock was introduced by the coalition government in 2010 with the goal of raising the value of the basic state pension as a proportion of average earnings. It currently requires the old and new state pension (but not any other state pension components) to increase each April by the greater of:

• Yearly consumer price index (CPI) inflation to the previous September;
• The annual growth in average earnings (including bonuses) for the previous May to July period; or
• 2.5%.

At the time of writing, it looks almost certain that for April 2027, the triple lock increase will be determined by the earnings growth number, which was 3.9%. August 2026 yearly inflation was 3.1%.

What might change?

In his late September speech to the Labour Party conference, Andy Burnham proposed to “adjust” the triple lock so that from 2030 onwards – after the next election – increases would be the greater of:

• CPI inflation;
• 2.5%; and
• the amount required to ensure the state pension grows in line with average earnings growth from 2030.

The difference from the current version may sound like the proverbial splitting of hairs, but it will have long-term impact. The present best-of-three system has a ratcheting effect, which means that in the long run the state pension rises faster than earnings. This would not be the case for Burnham’s adjusted triple lock.

According to the Resolution Foundation, if the new mechanism had been in place since 2012, it would have meant the State Pension was:

• 4.5% higher than if increases were linked to earnings, but
• 5.9% lower than the existing triple lock.

The impact would then probably come through only slowly. From 2030 there will be no effective change from the current version of the triple lock, while yearly earnings growth outpaces both price inflation and 2.5%. Nevertheless, in the long term, the savings on pension expenditure could be significant. The government estimates that by the end of the 2030s, savings could amount to £15 billion a year, rising to £50 billion a year by 2050.

Those savings are earmarked for funding adult social care, but they also mean a less generous state pension than the current triple lock would provide. A reminder that personal pension planning is a key component of future financial well-being.

23/10/2026

PPM's 6️⃣0️⃣ Second Read!

CGT pot of gold at the end of the Treasury rainbow?

New data on capital gains tax (CGT) arrives in time for the hunt for extra revenue ahead of the Autumn Budget.

CGT is one of the taxes which regularly appears on the list of possible tax increases as a Budget nears. In recent years, the possibility has twice become a reality:

• The annual exemption, which is the amount of net gains that can be realised in a tax year free of CGT, was cut from £12,300 in 2022/23 to £6,000 for 2023/24 and then £3,000 for 2024/25, where it is now frozen.

• The main rates of tax were increased from 10% (basic rate taxpayers) and 20% (higher and additional rate taxpayers) to 18% and 24% respectively in the Autumn Budget 2024.

The result of the changes has been a sharp rise in CGT liabilities for individual taxpayers, as the graph above demonstrates. New figures released by HMRC in August 2026 showed that individuals generated £22.5bn of CGT revenue in 2024/25, 86% more than in 2023/24.

Such a leap in tax receipts is not quite what it appears to be and demonstrates one of the features of CGT. While it seems distant now, in July 2024, Keir Starmer won the last general election. By the end of that month Rachel Reeves had revealed a £22 billion ‘black hole’, prompting investors to fear tax rises in the Autumn Budget 2024. In what economists label a ‘behavioural response’, some investors chose to take profits and trigger a tax liability before the feared rate increase, boosting the CGT figure for 2024/25.

That behavioural response comes from a relatively small group. In 2024/25, just over 550,000 people had a CGT bill – roughly one in 70 income taxpayers. Even the 550,000 CGT-paying population is something of a misleading number, because nearly 33,000 people accounted for over three-quarters of that £22.5bn of CGT. Among them, 3,000 realised gains of at least £5 million, paying an average of £3.3 million in tax.

If you have always thought of CGT as somebody else’s tax problem, in the future you could discover that the lowly £3,000 annual exemption proves you wrong – yet another reason to maximise your contributions to CGT-free individual savings accounts.

Investing in shares should be regarded as a long-term investment and should fit in with your overall attitude to risk and financial circumstances.

The value of investments and the income from them can fall as well as rise and investors may not get back what they originally invested, even taking into account the tax benefits.

Investors do not pay any personal tax on income or gains, but ISAs may pay unrecoverable tax on income from stocks and shares received by the ISA managers.

Stocks and Shares ISAs invest in corporate bonds, stocks and shares and other assets that fluctuate in value.

Tax treatment varies according to individual circumstances and is subject to change.

The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate tax advice.

22/10/2026

PPM's 6️⃣0️⃣ Second Read!

A fresh bloom on company cars

Updated figures from HMRC reveal greener company cars are surging in popularity.

This summer’s slew of statistics on income tax issued by HMRC revealed an interesting picture of how company car ownership has changed since 2020. The total company car population (the red line in the graph above) slumped to a low of 720,000 in 2019/20 and in 2020/21 but then rose by over a quarter in the next four years to 920,000.

As the graph illustrates, the recovery is thanks to zero emission (virtually all electric) cars. In 2019/20, only 1% of company cars were zero emission, but by 2024/25, the proportion had risen to 51%. That compares to an overall share of about 5% for zero emission vehicles in the UK at the end of 2025, according to government data.

One other major trend, also related to the spread of zero emission cars, is that the proportion of drivers receiving ‘free’ fuel has fallen to a low of just 4%. Indeed, these changes have been driven by restructuring of the tax regime for company cars:

• Nine years ago, the rules for taxing company cars that were provided under salary sacrifice or similar arrangements were reformed. Often the consequence was to make salary sacrifice a much less attractive option because of an increased tax bill. However, there was a concession made for low emission cars (those with CO2 emissions of up to 75g/km). In 2017, there were few vehicles that qualified (and even fewer that appealed to company car drivers).

• Six years ago, for zero emission cars, the benefit-in-kind percentage charge (based on original value) was slashed from 16% to 0%. It has since crept up, reaching 4% for 2026/27. That compares, for example, with a scale percentage of 25% for a petrol BMW 320i.

Before you rush to choose an electric car, you need to know that the government’s future plans are less generous to zero emission. The scale percentage will rise in coming years and be 9% by 2029/30. As ever, what HMRC gives, HMRC can take away.

Tax treatment varies according to individual circumstances and is subject to change.

The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate tax advice.

20/10/2026

PPM's 6️⃣0️⃣ Second Read!

Personal allowance freeze or stealth tax hiding in plain sight?

How much would it cost to increase the income tax personal allowance?

The personal allowance is the amount of income that you can receive free of income tax. Since 2010, the personal allowance has not been a universal figure because of the introduction of a taper if ‘adjusted net income’ exceeds £100,000. The taper gradually reduces the personal allowance to nil at £125,140.

If you escape the taper, your personal allowance is £12,570, a figure that has been unchanged since April 2021, when then Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, froze it for five years. Before Sunak’s fix, the personal allowance had usually been increased by at least the rise in consumer price index (CPI) inflation. Two of Sunak’s five successors have extended the freeze, which is now due to end in April 2031.

As stealth taxes go, freezing the personal allowance was seen as an easy option:

• A Chancellor can state that they are not increasing taxes because they are not cutting the allowance.
• The reality is that taxes are being increased by inflation eroding the buying power of the allowance.

The stealth effect is beginning to wear thin as the rising slice of their earnings lost to tax becomes obvious to many, acknowledged by the Prime Minister as a doorstep topic during his by-election.

Perhaps more than coincidentally, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has been looking at how much it would cost to unfreeze the personal allowance. As it would be far too costly to make good the losses since 2021, the IFS considers the option of reinstating indexation from 2027/28. This is not quite as simple as it seems because the personal allowance currently also fixes national insurance and higher rate tax thresholds, raising the question of whether they should also increase. If they are unchanged, then the long-term cost of restoring indexation is £6.7 billion a year, not much less than the cutting of basic rate tax to 19%.

The tightness of the government’s finances implies the £6.7 billion would have to be replaced by higher taxes elsewhere (or, possibly, higher borrowing). All of which means that tax planning, rather than the Chancellor, is the more likely route to cutting your tax bill.

Tax treatment varies according to individual circumstances and is subject to change.

The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate tax advice.

16/10/2026

Happy Birthday to our Senior Paraplanner Louise Wheeler.

15/10/2026

PPM's 6️⃣0️⃣ Second Read!

Another chapter begins for long-term care in England

Andy Burnham has plans to deal with long-term care in England.

In March 2010, during the dying days of Gordon’s Brown’s Labour government, Andy Burnham was the Health Secretary. In that role, he published a White Paper on social care reform in England, proposing the establishment of a national care service. The new service was to be funded by state and individual contributions, but decisions on who would pay for what were deferred until after the impending election. In a surprise statement that contradicted what the then Chancellor had previously said, Burnham suggested that a compulsory levy on people’s estates after they have died had not been ruled out. That levy was instantly branded by the opposition as a ‘death tax’, a term that echoed around the subsequent election.

Fast forward 16 years and now Prime Minister Andy Burnham is once again talking about a national care service. On this occasion, the next general election is up to three years away, but the older and wiser Burnham is now more careful in what he says about his plans for dealing with social care. His speech on the topic, given in a North London care home, contained three announcements:

• Speeding up an existing review: In 2025, the Starmer government initiated a review into social care under Baroness Casey. It was due to issue a final report, including funding recommendations, in 2028. Burnham has brought that target forward to 2027. Casey’s report is the 23rd such review into social care.
• Focus on social care workforce: The Starmer government established a fair pay agreement for social care staff, due to start in 2028/29. Burnham wants to go further by lifting the social care workforce “closer to NHS standards”. He acknowledged that the lift would apply in terms of pay, but also in terms of training, wider support and job security.
• Cross-party approach: Perhaps it was the memory of 2010 that prompted Burnham to say he would aim for a cross-party approach. In practice, the goal looks likely to be unmet, as the Conservatives have offered their support conditional on no extra taxes or borrowing.

Realistically, it remains unlikely any change will start to operate until the 2030s – if it survives the next election. So factoring in your potential long term care should be part of your overall financial planning.

13/10/2026

PPM's 6️⃣0️⃣ Second Read!

Healey sets a pre-Halloween Autumn Budget

The Autumn Budget date has now been set for 28 October, with the new Chancellor facing some familiar challenges.

At the end of a fortnight heavily laden with announcements from Prime Minister Andy Burnham and his revised cabinet, what may prove to be the most significant statement made its appearance late on a Friday afternoon: the date of the Autumn Budget. The new Chancellor, John Healey, posted a video message revealing the Budget would be on Wednesday 28 October. That is about four weeks earlier in the year than the 2025 Budget but still leaves plenty of time for speculation to build.

So, what can we expect in late October from the second former defence minister named Healey to occupy 11 Downing Street? Among a long list to watch for are:

• Income tax: At the end of his first week, Burnham told The Times that the “frustration about the personal allowance” he experienced during his Makerfield by-election campaign had “lodged in my mind”. Shortly afterwards, he was more cautious: “There is no commitment at this point to change, but we will look at that at the Budget”. Any move away from the freeze that lasts until April 2031 would be costly.

• The VAT cut to electricity bills: This was Burnham’s first “breathing space” announcement, which the government said was “expected to take around £45 off the yearly Ofgem price cap in October”. However, it subsequently emerged the cut is only for six months, so it will be interesting to see whether Mr Healey makes any mention of its extension beyond March 2027.

• State pensions and tax: In her last Budget, Rachel Reeves said that “we are ensuring that people only in receipt of the basic or new State Pension do not have to pay small amounts of tax through Simple Assessment from April 2027”. F No more detail has emerged since; in the meantime, many tax experts have highlighted a variety of complex issues raised by the seemingly simple goal.

• The fiscal rules: When announcing the date of his Budget, John Healey was careful to say that “It will meet our fiscal rules’’. At present, this could mean tax rises as the latest estimates suggest more than half of the all-important fiscal headroom has disappeared since March, due to the fallout from the Iran war.

As ever, if you wish to undertake any pre-Budget planning, do not delay.

Tax treatment varies according to individual circumstances and is subject to change.

The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate tax advice.

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