A recent survey conducted by Trustnet, has found that investors were divided on whether to use their individual savings account allowance or not. Nearly half of the people surveyed said that they planned to invest as much as they could before the end of the tax year, while 41per cent of people said that they did not plan to make any investments.
Experts were critical of some of the changes made to the savings plans; the most obvious one is that the £3,000 limit on the cash element remained. Trustnet said it would help older savers if this limit was lifted or raised, as they would be looking for an investment that carried less risk.
Our view
Despite what Government say, they are in the business of raising revenue by taxation. They want us all to save a little so that they can take it back in means tested benefits in later years. They are not in the business of giving huge tax incentives so that you save too much and they lose too much in lost revenue. They prefer to tax savings above these low limits. There are of course many other investment schemes that are tax efficient. Contact us for advice.