From April 2016, the government will replace the current 10% notional tax on dividends with a £5,000 allowance. As a result, directors of small and medium sized businesses may find that paying a dividend is no longer the best way for them to extract profits from the company. 
 

The new tax year will again see higher company car tax scales for most drivers.

In 2016/17 the increase will be greater than in previous years for many drivers, because with few exceptions, the scale charge will rise by two percentage points rather than the normal one. Until the Autumn Statement, the tax bill for diesel cars had been due to go down from April 2016, but the Chancellor - probably with VW in mind - decided to delay this cut until 2021/22. You could be better off leasing your own car.

The Chancellor's third set piece of last year was almost another Budget.

After a Budget in March and another in July, it might have been thought that Mr Osborne would have little new to say in his Autumn Statement, but this proved not to be the case in two important areas.

Tax and additional homes

In his July Budget the Chancellor announced two measures aimed at individual investors in the buy-to-let market and the Autumn Statement added two more.

As auto-enrolment into workplace pensions enters its fourth year, the Pensions Regulator (TPR) has started to hand out more reprimands and fines. In the third quarter of 2015, TPR issued more unpaid contribution notices than it had sent out over the whole of the previous 33 months and more than 100-400 fixed penalty notices for employer non-compliance.

The Bank of England is keeping interest rates at a record low.

The potential costs to a business of not complying with the rules for automatic enrolment were recently highlighted in press reports about Swindon Town football club. In the words of The Pensions Regulator, the club repeatedly failed to comply with its automatic enrolment duties, and was ultimately fined £22,900. If your business is yet to start auto-enrolment, you need to begin preparation early to avoid incurring penalties. Occupational pension schemes are regulated by The Pensions Regulator.

The buy-to-let sector is under Treasury attack

The government appears to have taken aim at buy-to-let investors in its efforts to help "generation rent" become first time buyers.

In the last year there have been five important announcements:

1. A phased reduction in tax relief for mortgage interest down to 20% by 2020/21;

2. The replacement in 2016/17 of the 10% wear-and-tear allowance with one based on costs the landlord has actually incurred;

March 2016 marked the seventh anniversary of a 0.5% Bank of England base rate, but other interest rates are still falling. 

"Lower for longer" is now a commonly used phrase when economists and bankers discuss the future of interest rates. The view is supported by banks and other deposit takers, which continue to reduce savers' rates. Shortly after Easter, National Savings & Investments (NS&I) joined the rate cutters. From June Income Bonds and the Direct ISA will then pay only 1%.

This year's Budget contained many measures which could affect your long term financial planning.

Budgets have become a regular feature of the financial landscape. The March 2016 Budget is the third in twelve months and it revealed some important tax changes:

The implications for investors of the result of the UK referendum on EU membership will be played out over the months ahead and it is very likely that volatility will persist in the near term. Although we understand investors' concerns, you should not need to make dramatic changes, provided you have a well-diversified portfolio.

Financial risk needs a different reaction