Unbiased.co.uk, a UK based ‘find an adviser website’, said its Tax Action research found British people are set to “gift a massive £100m more to the taxman this year than in 2013”.
The research focused on four main areas of tax waste: ISAs, tax relief on pension contributions, capital gains tax and inheritance tax. It found “wastage” on pension contributions and IHT are set to rise this year compared to 2013 by £300m and £60m respectively. Meanwhile, tax “wastage” on the use of ISAs and CGT is set to fall, but will still hit £1.1bn and £154m.
Looking specifically at IHT, unbiased.co.uk said the waste is largely due to taxpayers not placing life protection policies under trust, something which could reduce a £100,000 life insurance payout by as much as £40,000 if an estate is worth more than £325,000.
Unbiased.co.uk added that only 27% of respondents said they would be confident in tackling IHT planning without the help of a professional adviser.
The company added that, while, 38% of the nation thinks they would be confident in sorting out their tax planning without the help of professional advice, its research found 77% Brits admit they have not done anything in the past 12 months to cut their individual tax waste figure, up from 68% last year.
Karen Barrett, chief executive of unbiased.co.uk, said: “Unbiased.co.uk’s 2014 Tax Action research shows a huge rise in the amount of tax set to be wasted this year compared to 2013. While more people are confident with the idea of ‘shopping around’ and getting the best value for food and retail goods, the same cannot be said for their finances.
“We are still seeing millions of UK taxpayers putting their hard earned cash into taxed saving and investment vehicles, when reliefs, allowances and better rates are available to them.”
