Monday 14 December 2015

WHEN LET-TO-BUY MAY BE BETTER THAN BUY-TO-LET!

If you live in a property and then sell it, generally you will pay no tax on any profit you make. And normally, when you buy a property and let it out, you will pay tax on all the profit you make on the sale. (Note: there are some exceptions in both case) However, if you let out a property you have lived in, there are tax reliefs that could save you a great deal of tax on your profits when you come to sell it. When you sell a property you have lived in, even if you are not living in it currently, you can claim tax relief for the time you did live in it and for the last 18 months before you sell it. Additionally you can claim “Letting Relief” of up to £40,000 for the period of time it was let. So if you are planning to invest in additional properties, it is worth knowing how these tax advantages could make Let-to-Buy an attractive option.


Monday 7 December 2015

Improving your State Pension!

If you don’t qualify for any basic State Pension or you qualify for less than the full amount based on

your own contributions, you may be able to make a payment to top it up by 6 years and/or you might

be able to qualify for more through your spouse or civil partner’s National Insurance contributions.

Contact the Department of Work and Pensions for help on this – 0345 3000168.


Note: The above information is extracted from the Department for Work and Pensions pamphlet DWPO23


Wednesday 2 December 2015

Extra State Pension!

You can choose to get extra State Pension if you put off claiming your State Pension for 5 weeks or more.

When you do claim, you will get a higher weekly State Pension for the rest of your life. The amount of extra State Pension you get works out at 1% for every 5 weeks you have put off your claim (about 10.4% for a full year). If you intend to work past State Pension age, this is worth considering.