Brown's budget tightens tax avoidance loopholes
Financial planners have been responding to the chancellor's announcement that the government will push to clamp down on certain tax avoidance loopholes with satisfaction.Citywire had reported on schemes which could by used by wealthy investors to avoid tax by investing in life insurance policies offshore.The finance bill 2007 includes a clause which states that clients who invest more than £100,000 in this way for less than three years will not be able to avoid tax any longer.This new law is effective from today for both new schemes and new premiums paid into bonds that have already been set up.The government's budget report stated that the new legislation would mean that "the amount of premium allowed in calculating gains on these large, short-term, policies and contracts is restricted to the true cost to the policyholder, taking into account the benefit to the policyholder of any commission rebate".David Crozier of Navigator Financial Planning told Citywire: "I'm very pleased at this move. In only targeting certain investors the government has avoided throwing out the baby with the bathwater."It means that while you will not now be able to churn life insurance policies for fallacious reasons, you will still be able to rebate commission to clients where it is in their best interests to do so."
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