A leading Shropshire financial planning expert said today’s Budget contained few major surprises – but that was not necessarily a bad thing.
Alasdair Coutts-Britton, founder of Oswestry-based Una Vita Financial Planning, said Chancellor John Healey’s hands were largely tied by manifesto pledges and the state of the nation’s finances, leaving him with little room for manoeuvre.
“I don’t think this was ever going to be anything more than a steady-as-you-go Budget because Mr Healey simply did not have many options available to him,” Alasdair said.
“The increase in the threshold for business rates is good news for pubs, clubs and restaurants, and the continuation of the fuel duty freeze was entirely predictable with diesel at £2 a litre.
“The decision not to go ahead with the cut to the amount people can put into a cash ISA and keep it at £20,000 was less predictable but certainly welcome, as was the £100 energy support for people living in homes in Council Tax bands A to D in England.
“Talk of changing Capital Gains Tax and bringing it into line with income tax fizzled out in the weeks before the speech, and we already knew that most unused pension funds and pension death benefits were to be brought within the scope of inheritance tax from April 2027.
“But, in fact, a relatively quiet Budget is not necessarily a bad thing. If you think back to the last two Budgets, all the speculation ahead of them led to people making personal finance decisions they later regretted.”
Alasdair said one of the most important things the Government could provide was certainty.
“Financial planning is all about helping people make good decisions today that will benefit them years or even decades into the future. That’s much harder to do if the rules are constantly changing or if people are reacting to speculation rather than facts.
“Last year there was significant concern around pension tax-free cash and whether changes might be made. Some people were considering making decisions based on something that ultimately never happened.
“Once governments encourage certain behaviours through the tax system, people build those assumptions into their long-term plans. Constantly moving the goalposts risks undermining confidence.
“And, of course, businesses need predictability just as much as individuals do.
“The tax system should raise revenue, but it should also provide a degree of stability so that people and businesses can plan with confidence.”
Alasdair has more than 25 years’ experience in the financial sector, including a decade in the City of London. Una Vita serves clients across Shropshire, Mid and North Wales, and parts of Staffordshire and Cheshire from its base in Arthur Street, Oswestry.
For more information, visit https://unavita.co.uk/
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