The government has rejected proposals to modernise cohabitation laws in England and Wales, leaving it up to individuals to arrange their financial affairs for partners and dependents. In August, the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee published The rights of cohabiting partners for England and Wales (Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own laws). Amidst all the other political excitement of that month, the report received little coverage. The lack of media at

The new Chancellor’s Autumn Statement has increased the tax bill for many investors. In his Autumn Statement, the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, said that in making decisions on tax the government followed a broad principle that “we ask those with more to contribute more”. Investors were clearly placed into this category as Mr Hunt: · Halved the dividend allowance to £1,000 in 2023/24 and then halved it again to just £500 in the following tax year. The dividend allowance was £5,

A growing number of taxpayers are being caught by the personal allowance taper, which will be exacerbated by the reduced additional rate tax threshold of £125,140. With many also questioning why the new threshold is not a round number, a short history of tax setting provides the answer. Seven chancellors ago in 2009, the then occupant of 11 Downing Street, Alistair Darling, had a not uncommon problem. He needed to raise some extra tax. His basic solution was to create a new i