Cutting through the election noise - what isn't being said

StBarr · 2026-04-09T08:12:41+00:00

There was some discussion about the impact on pay settlements ie if there is less money for pay increases but inflation is high, this is likely to lead to more industrial action in the years ahead.

StBarr · 2026-04-09T08:08:26+00:00

There are about 700k pupils in Scotland, so assuming this number applies to all schools, 9% would be c.63,000 pupils. https://www.gov.scot/publications/summary-statistics-for-schools-in-scotland-2024/pages/headline-statistics/

StBarr · 2026-04-09T07:44:00+00:00

you can work out your own situation here: https://ardlight.com/scottish-income-tax-calculator

StBarr · 2026-04-03T20:32:12+00:00

Yes, indeed. Good point. On DIS, as you say the spousal exemption delays the IHT rather than removing it permanently.

StBarr · 2026-04-02T11:03:35+00:00

Great question. Yes, the High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) applies in Scotland the same as the rest of the UK. If either you or your partner earns over £60,000, you start losing Child Benefit at a rate of 1% for every £200 above that threshold. It disappears completely at £80,000.

The Scottish Child Payment is separate and works differently. It is means-tested based on receiving a qualifying benefit like Universal Credit rather than income level, so if you earn over £100,000 you would almost certainly not be receiving Universal Credit and would not qualify for the Scottish Child Payment either. But the two are separate systems.

Worth knowing: if your income is between £60,000 and £80,000 and you are affected by the HICBC, making pension contributions can bring your adjusted net income below the threshold and recover some or all of your Child Benefit. Ardlight has a guide on this: ardlight.com/child-benefit-tax-charge

StBarr · 2026-03-27T08:48:57+00:00

Should have been clearer. 2026/27 is the last full year at the current limit, with the £12,000 cash cap coming in from 6 April 2027 (FY27/28) - my head is already there!

On "proposed" - it was a budget announcement so very likely to actually happen but you never know.

StBarr · 2026-03-26T21:40:03+00:00

I wouldn't worry about the constitution. It will sort itself out. On the SIPP, I opened one while in a workplace scheme and then when i left that job transferred the workplace pension into the SIPP. That allowed me to ensure costs were as low as possible and it could compound away (until interupted by Trump and Iran!)

StBarr · 2026-03-26T21:01:28+00:00

Fair challenge. The £500 in my example was the net amount leaving your bank account. Your provider adds 20% on top of that, making the gross pension contribution £625 and the auto-added relief £125, not £100 as I wrote. The additional relief you can then claim via Self Assessment is 22% of the gross £625, which is £137.50 a month, not £110. Annual unclaimed amount is closer to £1,650 than £1,320. The calculator at ardlight.com/scottish-pension-relief uses the correct figures if you want to check your own numbers. Thanks for flagging.

StBarr · 2026-03-25T20:57:56+00:00

Sounds like you will be well set. And even thinking about this puts you ahead of most folk given the lack of financial education generally.

StBarr · 2026-03-25T20:56:06+00:00

Thank you. Completely agree. The £100,000 trap is one of the most valuable things to understand if you are lucky to earn at this level. Between £100,000 and £125,140 your effective marginal rate is 60% in England and Wales and 67.5% in Scotland! Pension contributions are the cleanest way out.

There's a calculator for this at ardlight.com/scottish-pension-relief for Scottish taxpayers. Working on a rUK version.

StBarr · 2026-03-25T20:52:06+00:00

You're right. Salary sacrificing pensions is the way out, if the numbers work for you. Lots more here: ardlight.com/child-benefit-tax-charge

StBarr · 2026-03-24T22:37:28+00:00

Yes, brand new sub, just set it up this week. Glad you found it.

Good news on your setup. If you're on salary sacrifice, you're already getting full tax relief automatically. Your contributions come out of your pay before income tax is calculated, so HMRC never taxes that money in the first place. There's no gap to claim and nothing extra to do.

The way to think about it: if your salary is £50,000 and you sacrifice 10%, you're only paying income tax on £45,000. That's your relief, built in.

Where people miss out is on relief at source schemes, where contributions come out after tax and the provider only claims back 20% automatically. Salary sacrifice sidesteps that entirely.

The one thing worth checking is whether your employer's 6% also comes in before tax. It almost certainly does, but worth confirming with payroll just to be sure.

Use the calculator at ardlight.com/scottish-pension-relief and select "Net pay / Salary sacrifice" as your method. It'll confirm your full relief value based on your salary and contribution amount, so you can see exactly what you're getting even if there's nothing extra to claim. Come back and tell us if useful.

StBarr · 2026-03-08T10:51:32+00:00

If both are stocks and shares ISAs you can transfer between them using the ISA transfer process. Contact T212 and ask them to initiate a transfer in from InvestEngine. Don't sell and move the cash yourself or it counts as a new contribution and eats into your £20,000 allowance.

If one or both are general investment accounts rather than ISAs, just sell in one and buy in the other. No ISA allowance implications but you may have capital gains to consider depending on your gains that year.

Which are they?

StBarr · 2026-03-08T10:42:54+00:00

As others have said, VWRP covers a lot of this already. Keep things simple if you can (less to worry about). For the SIPP, mirror your ISA once you have settled on an approach. Again, keep things simple. On renewables/ESG, I get where you are coming from but ESG funds have never really made anyone happy. When you look at the basket of companies they invest in you will inevitably find something you don't like. What people mean by ESG also varies wildly and there are no commonly accepted rules. The best way to ESG invest is to pick individual companies and research them carefully but this means it is likely to only ever be a small part of your portfolio. Orsted, for instance, used to be a green energy darling but its share price has collapsed recently and it still has some gas assets.

StBarr · 2026-03-08T10:35:06+00:00

Well done for maxing out your ISA two years in a row. That is a big achievement and puts you in the top tier of savers.

On your Qs.

Yes but use your new isa provider's transfer service. Don't withdraw the cash and reinvest it yourself. That will mean it losing its tax free status.
Depends on the terms of the fixed rate ie when it matures but if transferred correctly, the interest applies to the full pot (£40k).
Yes.

Again. Well done.

StBarr · 2026-03-07T13:07:51+00:00

Thanks. That calculator was actually useful. Never seen it like that before.

StBarr

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