Summer 2005 Newsletter Content More of the same? Around the world Hot tips Inside out? Sweet sacrifice Simple trust Done and dusted? Open immediately File under E An Inspector calls CO still OK Open for business High PHI Arctic chills Duty calls Pensions Fuelling around WIP round Win some, lose some Take it and go? Party talk Work less, earn less Making adjustments

Pensions You are probably aware that big changes are coming to the rules on tax-favoured pension schemes on 6 April 2006. We have some of the details already, such as how much you can save up by your retirement date (£1.5 million, rising with inflation) and how much you will be able to put into pensions each year under the new rules (100% of your current earnings, but not more than £215,000). For most people, these new limits are more generous than the existing ones, and certainly won't represent a disadvantage. The problem is that there are plenty of details that have not yet been filled in. It seems almost certain that pension funds will be able to invest in residential property, and there is a lot of interest in this idea - there's a rumour that property prices for holiday homes in Spain have risen as a result - but we don't know yet what the conditions will be, so we can't assess the advantages until we know more. This year, a new tax charge on 'pre-owned assets' came into force on 6 April, and the details were only released in March - which doesn't leave a lot of time to think about them. We can only hope that the Revenue are a little more helpful with the pensions rules. We will be happy to discuss with you the effect of the changes we do know about - but, in the meantime, it's important not to rush into anything in the expectation that the rules will give you some particular benefit, when we really don't know.