Well the Chancellor has given his final Autumn Statement, prior to next years Election - and what does he give with one hand (and take with the other)?

The main 'give' - is Stamp Duty changes!

He has reformed residential property stamp duty so that rates apply only to that part of the property price that falls within each band

0% paid for the first £125,000 then 2% on the portion up to £250,000

5% up to £925,000, then 10% up to £1.5m; 12% on anything above that, saving £4,500 on average priced home

Changes to come into effect at midnight on Thursday, 4 December

For the vast majority of people (and the official 'stat' is 98%) will benefit.

For example, if you were buying a property worth £300,000 under the old rules the 3% charge would equate to £9,000 and under the new rules it will only be £5,000.

The properties that will really benefit though are the ones that had values 'just over' the old threshold boundaries - a property which sells for say £255,000 did cost £7,650 in Stamp Duty - the new rules it will only be £2,750 - whereas a property which sold for £250,000 had stamp duty of £2,500 under both the old and new rules. Therefore prior to the change, alot of properties were artificially sold low to avoid the Stamp Duty hike - which will no longer be relevant.

The losers in the change will be those buying at over £1.125 million - which other than buyers in London and afew higher value areas (and individual properties nationally) is unlikely to affect most people.

More good news is that Fuel Duty has been frozen.

For savings and investments, the changes are fairly minor : -

Spouses will be able to inherit their partners ISA's 'tax free' on Death and the ISA threshold will increase to £15,240 per annum from April 2015.

Mirroring the recent announcements on changes in death duties for Drawdown plans, Dependent Annuities will become Tax Free (where the annuitant died under the age of 75).

On personal taxation, the Personal Tax Allowance will increase to £10,600, also from April 2015.

So individuals will generally benefit from the changes (which with an election coming up, isn't surprising!)

The main losers will be Banks (changes to taxation), people on Working Age Benefits (which will be frozen for two years) and Multi-National firms, which legally have been able to 'shift' profits offshore and reduce their UK Tax (25% Tax on those shifted profits).

Should you want further information on the proposed changes/announcements or require a review of your own personal situation, please do not hesitate to contact us.