News - Isis Financial Planners becomes Chartered Financial Planner, independent financial advisers (IFA)

Press Release - Isis Financial Planners awarded prestigious "Chartered Financial Planner Status - September 2010

The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) has awarded the prestigious ‘Chartered Financial Planners' title to Isis Financial Planners who work out of Oxford, the Cotswolds and Brighton.

Chartered status is an exclusive title only awarded to firms which meet rigorous criteria relating to professionalism and capability. All Chartered Financial Planners commit to the CII's Code of Ethics, reinforcing the highest standards of professional practice in their business dealings.

Isis Financial Planners, initially formed by partners Louis Letourneau, Jane Mudge and Maggie Fleming, specialises in providing personal wealth management advice particularly on investments, pensions and tax. In addition to Isis being Chartered two of the directors, Louis and Maggie (from the Brighton office) are both fully qualified members of STEP - The Society Of Trust And Estate Practitioners. These, plus other qualifications make the team at Isis Financial Planners some of the most experienced financial planners in the country.

Louis says that securing Chartered Financial Planners status is a landmark for him and his colleagues, "We have always prided ourselves on the way that we use our knowledge, skills and experience to the benefit of our customers. As Chartered Financial Planners, we can signal our commitment to the highest levels of service to our customers. To date, there are fewer than 300 firms who have achieved Chartered status, indicating that this is a highly exclusive award reserved for the leading firms within the financial advice market. We are very pleased to be the first corporate Chartered Financial Planner in Oxford, 1 of 3 in Oxfordshire and 1 of only 4 in Brighton."

To take advantage of Isis Financial Planners' experience, contact us and see how we can assist with your financial planning needs.

News - Isis Financial Planner's Comments On The June 2010 Budget - Isis Financial Planners, independent financial advisers (IFA)

Isis Financial Planner's Comments OnThe June 2010 Budget

By Maggie Fleming - read Maggie Fleming's profile, Isis Financial Planners expert tax adviser.

It was bad. But not as bad as it could have been - and not as bad as the build-up led us to expect. Basic rate taxpayers will benefit from an extra £1,000 personal allowance from April 2011, so that the first £7,475 of their income will not be taxed. Higher rate taxpayers will NOT benefit from the increased allowance, however, as the threshold at which higher rate tax becomes payable is being reduced. At present, you only pay 40% tax on that part of your income that exceeds £43,875 - from next year, you'll start paying the higher rate once your income goes over £42,375. What's more, that threshold is being frozen until 2013/14, so that more people will be pulled into the higher rate band each year - this is known as ‘fiscal drag'.

One way to reverse the effect of fiscal drag is to make pension contributions [ Isis' Jane Mudge, is a highly experienced pensions expert and would be very pleased to assist you with your pension planning ]. Because pensions attract tax relief at your marginal rate, someone who would otherwise pay 40% tax on, say, £5,000 of their income, can neutralise this by making a payment into a pension plan of £5,000 (gross). As basic rate tax relief is given at source, they would only pay £4,000 upfront and HMRC would give them an additional £1,000 back. £5,000 invested in a pension fund for a net outlay of £3,000 - not a bad deal!

And higher rate taxpayers need all the help they can get, as the increase in National Insurance contributions announced by the previous government is still scheduled to come in next April and will hit them hard.

The Labour government also brought in new rules which mean that anyone with taxable income above £100,000 will have their personal allowance gradually withdrawn until, where taxable income is around £115,000, the allowance is withdrawn altogether. Now, with the reduction in the higher rate threshold, they will begin to pay 40% on all income above £34,900 - rather than £37,400 as at present. People with taxable income in the region of £100,000 - £120,000 have an additional incentive to make pension contributions. Not only will they receive tax relief at the higher rate but they will also be able to have their personal allowance reinstated by contributing to their pensions. This is because the pension contribution reduces a person's taxable income for the purposes of this calculation. So, someone earning £118,000 will receive no personal allowance but, if they pay a gross pension contribution of £18,000, they will have a personal allowance of £7,475. So, tax relief of 40% PLUS reinstated allowances - even better!

The last government also introduced a new tax rate of 50% for those with taxable income over £150,000. Under pension rules introduced at the same time, which limited the amount that high earners can pay into their pensions, it is unlikely (at least in the current year) that many such individuals will be able to make a large enough pension contribution to have their personal allowance reinstated. But pension contributions will attract tax relief at 50% on that part of their income that falls into the 50% band.

Turning to pensions themselves, there is both good and bad news. The good news is that the coalition government is planning to scrap the rule that means people are forced to use their pension pots to provide an annuity at age 75. While they look at ways and means of implementing this proposal, they have, as an interim measure, increased the age at which an annuity must be purchased to age 77.

There is more good news in the fact that the new government is going to consult with the pensions industry regarding complicated rules which the previous government had planned to introduce next April to restrict pension tax relief for those on incomes of more than £150,000. It is likely that the new government will introduce restrictions of their own but it is generally felt that these will be both less draconian and less complicated.

The bad pensions news is that the complex anti-forestalling rules introduced by Alastair Darling last year have been left in place.

One of the measures we knew about weeks before the Budget was the proposed hike in capital gains tax rates - the coalition agreement had stated that the flat rate of 18% would be replaced by rates more closely aligned to the income tax rates. In fact, it was nowhere near as bad as that. For basic rate taxpayers, the rate stays at 18% while, for higher rate taxpayers, it increases to 28% - still well below the 40% and 50% higher and additional rates of income tax. The rate changes took effect from midnight on Budget Day.

The way it works is that a person's gains are added to their income and, if the total amount is below the higher rate threshold, the gains (after deduction of the annual CGT exemption) will be taxed at 18%. If the gain takes them across the threshold, the amount over the limit (again after deduction of the annual exemption) will be taxed at 28%. So basic rate taxpayers (or non-taxpayers) with very large gains will have to pay some tax at 28%. In many circumstances it is likely to be better for married couples or civil partners to put assets in joint names shortly before sale in order to use any balance of their basic rate bands and to benefit from two annual exemptions. The annual exemption is to stay at £10,100 for the current year.

One thing stands out from this budget. Taxpayers - and higher and additional rate taxpayers in particular - will benefit from careful financial planning. There are many ways in which tax and NIC can be reduced. Here are just some of them:

• Making pension contributions to reduce your higher rate tax liability and, in some cases, reinstate a lost personal allowance.
• Reducing NIC for both employee and employer by arranging for pension contributions to be paid using ‘salary sacrifice'. What's more, many employers will share their NIC saving with the employee.
• Within a couple, considering how assets are best held to minimise the CGT bill on sale.
• Making sure that you take full advantage of your annual taxfree ISA allowance.

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Our expert advisers would be very pleased to talk to you about how to adjust your financial planning following the June 2010 budget. To take advantage of Isis Financial Planners' experience, contact us and see how we can assist with your financial planning needs.