A new set of proposals for funding long-term care has emerged from a significant source. The funding of long-term care is an issue that beats even Brexit in terms of protracted political procrastination. A Royal Commission on the subject was established in 1997 and reported in 1999. Its proposals were rejected by the then Labour…

If those three letters mean nothing to you now, they may do soon. Universal Basic Income (UBI) has become a topic attracting attention among some think-tanks and political parties, both in the UK and overseas.The idea behind UBI is simple and has an obvious electoral appeal. In its most basic form, UBI would give every…

Recent HMRC statistics highlight the over-taxation of some pension benefits. More than one million people have received flexible pension payments thanks to therules introduced just over four years ago. HMRC’s most recent statistics, to the end of March 2019, show that 1,113,000 people have withdrawn over £25,600m from their pensions, across 6,136,000 payments.The amounts withdrawn…

Measures designed to limit the cost of pensions tax relief to the Treasury are having some unwelcome consequences, as some senior doctors have found their incomes disappearing. Some members of the medical profession have found changes to legislation mean their earnings are getting swallowed up by the tax system. According to a recent Financial Times…