Opinion  

'Use your tax reliefs while you still can'

Jeff Prestridge

Jeff Prestridge

Simplicity must be the way forward. Hunt had his chance to be the Isa reformer, he chose not to step up to the plate.

The months ahead are going to be increasingly dominated by politics.

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My message to the adviser world is to use this time to encourage clients to use their tax-friendly investment breaks while they are still available.

No one knows what the future holds for pensions in terms of tax relief. And no one knows for certain what role Isas will play in a future long-term investment landscape, especially if Labour comes to power.

Scaremongering? Me? No. Just cast your mind back to 1997 when Labour came bouncing back into power after years in the wilderness, D:Ream’s "Things Can Only Better" playing loudly in the background.

What was one of the first things that chancellor Gordon Brown did? Launch a £5bn a year tax raid on company pensions, marking the beginning of the end for employee-friendly defined benefit pension schemes.

Jeff Prestridge is group wealth and personal finance editor of DMGT