Yorkshire's tax waste mountain grows to £725 million (consumer)

16 March 2007

Yorkshire's tax waste mountain grows to £725 million (consumer)

15 years on since the TaxAction campaign began and tax wastage at highest ever level
55% of adults in Yorkshire resent the rising tax burden, but 77% admit to doing nothing to reduce their tax payments
The amount lost in tax across the UK increases to nearly £8 billion, and Yorkshire is the fifth most wasteful region in the whole of the UK
Personal tax contributions have risen 367% in the past 20 years to an estimated £149 billion by all UK adults in 2007
Visit www.unbiased.co.uk/taketaxaction to see how YOU could save tax

Over three quarters (77%) of taxpayers in Yorkshire will waste £725 million in unnecessary tax in 2007, according to Unbiased.co.uk’s fifteenth annual TaxAction report. This is a massive £123 million** increase on last year and the highest ever since Unbiased.co.uk’s campaign began.

Unbiased.co.uk’s research in Yorkshire has found that although 55% of people in Yorkshire resent this rising tax bill, over 3 in 4 (77%) admit to not taking steps to reduce their tax. This means taxpayers in Yorkshire will be throwing away an average of £173 each on tax in 2007.

The TaxAction report from Unbiased.co.uk, the website promoting the benefits of independent financial advice, also reveals that Yorkshire is the UK’s fifth worst region for handing money to the taxman.

REGION	TAX LOST	INDIVIDUAL WASTE
UK	£7.9bn	£160
Midlands	£1.3bn	£166
South East	£1.04bn	£153
London	£1.03bn	£172
North West	£796m	£140
Yorkshire	£725m	£173
East Anglia	£716m	£159
South West	£696m	£166
Scotland	£652m	£155
Wales	£371m	£155
North East	£348m	£158
Northern Ireland	£248m	£177

David Elms, Chief Executive of Unbiased.co.uk comments, “Since we launched TaxAction fifteen years ago, we have seen a shift in responsibility in personal tax away from HMRC towards the individual. Even though controlling tax is more firmly in our hands people in Yorkshire are still throwing away £725 million.

“It’s hard to say whether we are disengaged or just confused as to why people not just in Yorkshire but across the UK are still throwing away billions in tax every year. Simple steps such as filling out a self assessment form correctly, making a will and taking full advantage of your tax credits, could help people in Yorkshire and the wider UK population pocket this wasted cash.

“There are plenty of simple actionstaxpayers in Yorkshire can take themselves to save on tax bills, and even for more complicated tax issues seeking professional help is easy. I would encourage those with complex tax bills to seek advice from a local Independent Financial Adviser through Unbiased.co.uk, who can help you discover where you can make significant savings on your tax burden.”

Tax doesn’t have to be taxing – Here are 10 basic ways to claw back some of the waste:

IF YOU HAVE ASSETS OVER £285,000: Plan your inheritance - an extra £1.5 billion could go to chosen heirs by planning properly to avoid IHT liabilities. IHT is often lost through not writing life assurance policies in trust, not thinking about inheritance tax allowances and, worst of all, by not making a will at all.

IF YOU SAVE: Use up your annual ISA allowance - £382 million in tax could be avoided by sheltering investments in ISAs, or moving savings from an ordinary deposit or savings account to an ISA. Also consider a Friendly Society savings account or products from National Savings & Investments as tax-efficient savings options.

IF YOU ARE ELIGIBLE: Claim your tax credits - £2.3 billion of ‘free money’ is up for grabs from HMRC and the DWP, in the form of Pension Credits, Child Tax Credits and Working Family Tax credits.

IF YOU FILL IN A TAX RETURN: Sort out your self-assessment - £463 million waste could be wiped out by all forms arriving present and correct by the 31st January deadline. Self-assessment forms received after the deadline incur penalties of £100; further penalties and errors make up the balance of tax wasted in this way.

ALL TAXPAYERS: Maximise your personal tax allowances - £546 million goes begging each year, £322 million through non-taxpayers failing to claim tax back on banks and building society savings accounts, and a further £224 million by taxpayers not transferring savings accounts to non-taxpaying spouses, if appropriate, so that the tax liability on the savings is lower, or none.

IF YOU SAVE: Top up your pension pot - £739 million could be spared by optimising contributions to personal or company pension schemes, or making Additional Voluntary Contributions.

IF YOUR EMPLOYER OFFERS AN EMPLOYEE SHARE PLAN: Take advantage of it - £171 million is up for grabs for the estimated 600,000 staff currently in Profit Related Pay schemes.

IF YOU HAVE CAPITAL GAINS: Use your allowance efficiently, perhaps by transferring assets between spouses to make the most of both of your CGT allowances - £510 million could be saved in this way.

IF YOU GIVE TO CHARITY: £1 billion more could go to good causes by using tax-efficient means of charitable giving, i.e. using a deed of covenant, Gift Aid or payroll giving.

IF YOUR CHILD OR GRANDCHILD IS ELIGIBLE FOR A CHILD TRUST FUND: Avoid waste byusing up the tax free saving potential - £125 million in tax could be saved in their first year of existence.

As a first step to stamping out this waste, visit Unbiased.co.uk’s dedicated website at www.unbiased.co.uk/taketaxaction. The site contains tips on how to save tax, an online tax wastage calculator, and a guide to saving tax. You can also find details of local IFAs in Yorkshire on the site or by calling

0800 085 3250.

-ends-

* Survey for IFA Promotion by YouGov, using a sample of 2610 people in February 2007.

** TaxAction 2007 report produced for IFA Promotion by RAKM, based on a specially commissioned analysis of Inland Revenue and a range of other official data sources.

For further information please contact:

David Elms	Nicola Hussey/ Jonathon Grove
Chief Executive	Lansons Communications
Unbiased.co.uk	020 7566 9718 / 020 7294 3653
020 7833 3131

For expert comment or case studies from over 200 media-friendly IFAs, journalists should call unbiased.co.uk’s Media Services hotline on

020 7294 3682 or search online at www.unbiased.co.uk/media

1. Independent Financial Adviser Promotion

Unbiased.co.uk is the consumer brand of IFA Promotion, the organisation established in 1989 to promote the value and accessibility of independent financial advice to the public. It represents around 9,000 firms of independent financial advisers across the UK, incorporating over 17,000 registered individuals. These individuals hold over 20,000 incremental qualifications which are each individually verified by the awarding body. IFA Promotion welcomes the prominent display of incremental qualifications and further developments into the credentials of independent financial advice.

IFA Promotion is sponsored by 30 leading financial institutions, and in the past 12 months, over 600,000 consumers and businesses used unbiased.co.uk to find local independent financial advice.

IFA Promotion believes Independent financial advice should be:

Affordable. The option to take independent financial advice should be available, by right, to all- not just the wealthiest in society.
Convenient. IFAs should be available in the location of the consumer’s choice, wherever they live in the UK.

Transparent. It must be clearly transparent to consumers who is able to offer independent financial advice and who is not.

2. Independent Financial Adviser Promotion’s sponsors

Aberdeen Asset Management	London Mortgage Company
Abbey	Lincoln Financial Group
AEGON Scottish Equitable Plc	Mortgage Express
Alliance Trust	National Savings & Investments
AXA Life	New Star Investment Funds
Bright Grey	Norwich Union Life
BUPA Health Services	Prudential
Canada Life Ltd	Scottish Life
The Children’s Mutual	Scottish Life International
Clerical Medical Investment	Scottish Widows Plc
Defaqto	Skandia UK Group
Friends Provident	Standard Life Assurance Company
GE Life	UnumProvident
Invesco Perpetual	Webline Limited
Legal & General	Zurich Intermediary Group

Registered Office: IFA Promotion Ltd, 90 St. Vincent Street, Glasgow G2 5UB. Reg

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Yorkshire's tax waste mountain grows to £725 million (consumer)

16 March 2007

Yorkshire's tax waste mountain grows to £725 million (consumer)

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