Tax

At present Stamp Duty is applicable on all houses over the value of £125,000.

The average cost of stamp duty for first time buyers has increased by about 82% in the past 6 years.

Alistair Darling, Chancellor, has delayed the announcement of upcoming changes to Capital Gains Tax (CGT). In his pre-budget report, the Chancellor revealed he would be changing the CGT system.

The original tapered relief rules will instead become a single flat rate charge of 18%. Good news for some, not so for others.

Inheritance Tax is a tax based on the value of any assets, usually a property, money or investments, that a person leaves when they die.

Offset mortgages sound like they are a flexible and easy way to lower your mortgage interest costs,  keeping them to a minimum. It seems to be becoming more popular, about 8% of the total mortgage share are offset mortgages, that’s about 170,000 taken out in 2006.