I've been enjoying the football in the World Cup, as have a lot of other people (although not seemingly those I work with..) and Theresa May took the opportunity off the back of the England team's opening victory (this may not actually be true!) to announce that the NHS will be receiving a 5 year funding package equivalent to £20bn a year from 2023-24. On the face of it this sounds a welcome addition to a system that is clearly under a lot of financial stress.
To explain where this extra money is going to come from Theresa May stated on BBC One's Andrew Marr show that the funds will come from the money saved following Brexit as the country won't be spending the "significant amounts of money on our subscription, if you like, to the EU". Understandably, this courted controversy from some quarters and ties in with the adverts on the side of the pro-leave buses before the Brexit vote that were derided by pro-stay campaigners.
A further, more realistic in the author's view, addition to this comes from the Chancellor Philip Hammond as he has confirmed that taxes will need to be increased to fund the increased NHS spending. This should come as little surprise to most people and Mr Hammond has stated that they will be "fair and balanced". Only time will tell if this is true but past experience suggests that certain groups of taxpayers will meet the majority of the increases. Taxes are a necessity to pay for public services and cutting taxes usually means that public services end up with less money. The two sides are inextricably linked but care is needed to ensure that certain taxpayer groups aren't penalised more over other groups.
With tax rises on the horizon it is important that taxpayers make sure they are paying the correct amount of tax. By law, every taxpayer is entitled to structure their affairs in the most tax efficient manner possible. This can be achieved by various methods depending on your personal circumstances varying from the simple to the more complex. Just because tax rates are set to rise it doesn't necessarily follow that taxpayers have to pay more tax.
At Gepp Solicitors we have a team of experienced professionals that can help you, or your business, mitigate your tax position. We don't use complicated tax avoidance schemes and always work within the law to ensure you pay the right amount of tax. If you would like to talk to someone about how we can help please contact Marc Dorsett on 01245 228146 or dorsettm@gepp.co.uk
This is not legal advice; it is intended to provide information of general interest about current legal issues.
