22 the advertizer Financial Blog by Carl Melvin, Affluent Financial Planning Ltd Are you prepared for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which will apply from 25 May <strong>2018</strong>? New Tax Year Allowances The tax year runs from 6th <strong>April</strong> to the following 5th <strong>April</strong> and the new tax year offers you a range of allowances to reduce your tax liabilities. The main allowances are: • Tax Free Personal Allowance – the amount of income you can earn without paying income tax will rise from £11,500 to £11,850 (reduced if your income exceeds £100,000pa) • Savings Allowance – tax free bank interest of £1,000 for basic rate income taxpayers, £500 for higher rate income taxpayers and £0 for additional rate taxpayers. • Dividends Allowance - tax free dividends allowance will fall from £5,000 to £2,000 per person in the new tax year, meaning more tax to pay for many. • Capital Gains Tax Allowance – the exempt amount will rise from £11,300 to £11,700 per person in the new tax year, so when you sell an asset and make a gain you get to keep almost £12,000 tax free (£23,400 for a married couple) • Residential Nil Rate Band Allowance – this is an exemption from Inheritance Tax in respect of your main residential property. The allowance increases from £100,000 to £125,000 in <strong>2018</strong>/19, and will rise to £175,000 over the next 2 years. This information is not fi nancial advice. If you require advice you should consult a professional adviser. The first meeting is normally free and there is no obligation. Call us for a FREE fi nancial review on 01505 59 50 60 or info@affl uentfp. co.uk. Alternatively, pop into the Affl uent offi ce opposite Amaretto restaurant on Main Street, Bridge of Weir. www.affl uentfp.co.uk IT Blog with Colin Fyfe of Colcom I know that I repeat myself a lot, on this article and elsewhere too I’m sure. For the record, yes I still prefer Gmail to all other free email platforms. While we are at it I still believe Apple are too expensive and I still don’t like McAfee or Norton. So then this - the telephone scammers are still at it, and doing well out of us it seems. Social engineering scams, of the type where a chancer will call you ultimately to gain access to your bank account, seem to be on the rise. Certainly on my radar - as localised as that is. In the last two or three months I have heard from at least six people needing to go through the rigmarole with the bank, cancelling cards and all that. It is my experience that, each of these scammed victims believes themselves to have been ‘stupid’ or ‘gullible’ and is left bewildered as to their own actions in letting themselves fall victim to a telephone ruse. Imagine enjoying your breakfast one morning at 7 or 8 am, the phone rings, you pick up, a little perplexed, to hear someone hurriedly address you by your name, telling you they are from your ISP or perhaps Microsoft, then telling you that your computer is basically breaking the internet and it is all your fault! Your heart rate goes from nought to sixty in two seconds, the resulting adrenaline evidently makes us lose our inhibitions regarding security, the scammers are on their front foot in familiar territory but to the victim it’s a slow motion car crash. If you have been taken in by this kind of behaviour then don’t beat yourself up, this is a mental manipulation that has been honed by many victims before you. To this end, I would just like to remind everyone reading that you may not be as impervious to this type of scam as you may think. These callers are extremely persuasive and adept at reading and manipulating the situation they concoct. Don’t have nightmares. deadline date for our may issue - Friday 13th <strong>April</strong> - You don’t want to miss it!!
april <strong>2018</strong> t: 01505 613340 e: info@advertizer.co.uk 23 @<strong>Gryffe</strong>Ads www.advertizer.co.uk