Latest news with #ThisIsMoney
Daily Mail
6 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
How far would you go to avoid your personal tax raid? This is Money Podcast
Tax is an increasingly taxing subject for many people who feel hard done by as Britain's complicated system catches them out. From quirks of the system, such as the 60 per cent tax trap and child benefit removal, to the childcare cliff edge, frozen thresholds, and pensions soon to be dragged into inheritance tax, there's a whole host of things to drive us mad. And, it's getting worse. The Tories and now Labour have both chosen to ratchet up the things that trip people up to raise money, rather than sort out a tax system that most economists say is a total mess. So how far would you go to avoid your personal tax raid? And is tax changing people's behaviour? Lee highlights how. On this podcast, Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Simon Lambert dive into how the British tax tail is wagging the dog. Plus, as the Switch 2 arrives and the video game industry goes from strength to strength, should you invest in video game firms? How much do you need for a comfortable retirement – and what does that get you? And finally, you put up an 8 foot fence for privacy, your neighbour has gone from non-plussed to threatening to call the council over a planning breach, what do you do? The team have some answers. And for all the listeners that Simon directed to the gem that is the comments section of the story, here's the link. Listen to the This is Money podcast We publish the podcast every Friday on This is Money and at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and more. Search for it at your favourite podcast platform. To download Apple Podcasts go to the App store. On Android devices, go to the Google Play store to download the podcast app of your choice. You can press play to listen to this week's full episode on the player above, and wherever you get your podcasts please subscribe and review us if you like the podcast. You can also listen to the latest episode, find the archive and join in the debate in reader comments on the This is Money podcast page.
Daily Mail
20 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Is this Revolut email genuine? It's asking me out of the blue to confirm personal details but how can I be sure it's not a scam…
I've been receiving emails from what I think is a Revolut email asking me to confirm personal details for my account. I use the account occasionally when I go abroad. The emails tell me to click on a link to update my personal details but I am wary of it, given other banks say they will never contact you to ask for personal details or ask you to follow a link to log on to online or mobile banking. I have been receiving an email a week since April and most recently Revolut has said it will shut down my account if I don't confirm my personal details. How can I be sure it's not? Revolut sends customers emails asking them up update personal details, they contain a link to take customers to their bank account Helen Kirrane of This is Money replies: I can understand your concern, but Revolut has confirmed this is a genuine email. You told me you thought the email had all the hallmarks of a scam, with the deadline for action, a link to click, and the request for personal details. It's best to be vigilant, especially given all of the high profile cyber attacks in recent months, hitting M&S, Co-op and HMRC. Revolut says it sends emails like this periodically as part of its normal communications with customers. The email came from a Revolut email the bank uses to send out customer communications - no-reply@ The attached link in these emails, which appears in a blue box, brings customers to their Revolut app where they will be prompted to enter their details. Revolut won't ask customers to confirm or make changes to their details anywhere other than in its banking app, the link was just a way to get you there. In addition, there was an issue with the formatting on the emails you received from Revolut which may have thrown you. Revolut is looking into this. The Information Commissioners Office and Article 5 of GDPR require firms to take steps to keep customer information up to date to help prevent fraud. The financial regulator, the FCA, does not have rules on how specifically banks should keep this information updated. Not all banks send a link to direct customers to app or online banking in an email. Santander and Barclays, for example, do not ask customers to log on to online or mobile banking through a link so customers know an email is genuinely from Santander. While Lloyds Bank may send customers links to its secure app. Emails from Lloyds to customers will always include your name, and the last four digits of an account you have with it. A Revolut spokesman replies: These are genuine Revolut comms sent to customers to ensure all details are correct on their accounts, sent from our Revolut email. These are sent periodically to our customers. The attached link on the email only takes users back to their Revolut app where they will be prompted to securely their details Revolut will never ask customers to confirm or make changes to their details anywhere other than in-app The Financial Conduct Authority declined to comment. If in doubt, always check with your bank via its in chat function or telephone number, usually located on the back of your debit card.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Does someone else have a mortgage on my new home? CRANE ON THE CASE
I bought and moved in to a new flat in May last year. Since then, I have received regular letters from Barclays, addressed to a woman I don't recognise and who is not the previous owner. I've been returning the letters as 'not at this address'. As I have a Barclays credit card, I recently opened one by mistake. I was horrified to find it related to an offset mortgage this person appeared to hold at my address. I called Barclays, but it said it couldn't tell me anything about the mortgage account due to data protection. I'm worried about fraud and just want confirmation there is no other mortgage at my address. D.G, West Midlands Helen Crane, This is Money's consumer champion, replies: What a shock it must have been to open that envelope and see what looked like another mortgage on your home. When you bought the maisonette with your sister about a year ago, you took out a mortgage with Halifax. If there was another charge on the property at this time, it's very unlikely this would have evaded the attention of the bank, not to mention your lawyer. In rare cases, though, these things can be missed. I wrote last year about a reader who only discovered his garden was leasehold 17 years after buying the house. You also checked the Land Registry, as well as speaking to neighbours to make sure no one had accidentally given Barclays the wrong flat number. All of these yielded nothing, suggesting there was no second mortgage. However, I can still see why you were concerned. Many of us are on high alert for fraud at the moment, and with good reason. For example, I've written previously in this column about fraudsters stealing unsuspecting people's addresses to register a businesses with Companies House. If that can go undetected, who knows what else might be possible. You contacted Barclays looking for reassurance. However, you were told by the person on the phone that they couldn't even bring up the account on their screen, as you weren't the customer named on the mortgage. I understand that banks must abide by the general data protection regulation (GDPR). It wouldn't be appropriate for Barclays to tell you the details of this person's mortgage (though you already knew a fair amount thanks to the letter) or where they really live. That said, I don't see how confirming to you that there was no Barclays mortgage on your own home, provided you showed the proper proof of address, would be breaking any rules. I contacted the bank to try and solve this mortgage mystery. I'm pleased to report Barclays quickly responded to say it had stopped the letters to your address. It also confirmed that it didn't hold a mortgage on your property, and that this was not a case of fraud. I understand the letters had been delivered to you because of an administrative mistake by another customer, and that the bank wasn't at fault. Barclays could not give any more detail due to data protection, which is understandable. But I have pieced together the information I have to come up with my own theory which I think fits. The letter had your address listed at the top, as the correspondence address, but nowhere did it mention the address of the property the mortgage was held on. Therefore, I believe the mortgage was on a different property. You mentioned to me previously that the person you bought your flat from had rented it out sometimes. You hadn't looked into the tenant's details, as it wouldn't make sense for them to be receiving post about a mortgage on the home they rented - which you assumed this was. But I think that mortgage letters, while sent to your address, related to a mortgage on another home - one that is owned by one of these tenants. While it's not common, there are many circumstances where a renter might have a mortgage on another property. Perhaps they are working away temporarily, going through a divorce, renting while their house is renovated or are even a buy-to-let landlord themselves. When this person moved on, I believe they redirected all their other post - but forgot to tell Barclays about their new correspondence address. As many people now manage their mortgage online, it is easier for this to slip the mind. I could be wrong, but this version of events makes most sense to me. Either way, you said you are pleased the letters are now going to their rightful recipient, and the snap of the letterbox no longer brings a sense of dread.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
I'm giving my pension away to my daughters as surplus income to cut inheritance tax - here's how
Inheritance tax has become an even hotter topic in recent times when it comes to our personal finances and financial planning. With an increasing number of estates set to be dragged into the inheritance tax net in coming years, more people will need to take action to mitigate the eventual tax bill. One way to do this is to make use of gifting out of surplus income, officially known as 'normal expenditure out of income'. This useful exemption is becoming more popular with those looking to slash the IHT bill levied on their estates, especially as it means the money given away becomes free from IHT immediately, and is not subject to the seven year gifting rule that many are caught out by. Gifting out of surplus income allows you to pass on wealth free from tax provided that it forms part of a regular 'pattern of giving'. However, failing to properly record these regular gifts could see you fall foul the rules. As a result, it is important to ensure that the gifts come out of your income rather than capital, and form a regular pattern. Below, one This is Money reader, Dave Oram, 59, explains how he is using gifting out of surplus income to pass his wealth to his two daughters, and how you can do the same. 'Every pound I can pay my daughters legally now is going to be worth a pound rather than 60p,' Dave Oram says. 'I just want to pay as much money to them now so that I can help them and they have to pay less of it in tax to the Government.' The savvy 59-year-old plans to use gifting out of surplus income in order to pass his wealth on to his two daughters, both of whom have moved out of his home in south London. Oram previously worked in payment systems at NatWest, taking voluntary redundancy in 2021. When the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, announced pensions would cease to be free from inheritance tax from 2027, Oram realised that his self-invested personal pension (Sipp) was at risk and that he might not be able to pass as much of his wealth to his children as he hoped. That was when he came across gifting out of surplus income, and discovered that it could be the perfect solution to help him secure his children's futures. 'I didn't set up a self-invested personal pension to avoid inheritance tax,' Oram said, 'I just got it in order to be able to retire earlier not pay the penalties for withdrawing my defined benefit pension early. 'Then my mum died, and I got an inheritance from her.' 'I've got a lot of money. I've got a lot of savings. Even before my mum died, I had a lot of savings and my house is worth a lot of money, so I knew I'd be hit for inheritance tax.' Having inherited money from his mother, Oram initially planned to leave his Sipp to his two daughters as a way to mitigate his future tax bill – a plan that was scuppered by the Autumn Budget changes. He said: 'I started looking into how I could avoid paying inheritance tax, and gifting. I was already using the £3,000 gifting allowance each year.' Oram added: 'I won't avoid inheritance tax, but I will at least mitigate it.' Oram told This is Money: 'The Government site is pretty poor on what counts as disposable income. 'There's no formula… it has to be regular payment. It cannot be the odd payment here and there. It has to be regular, which I've deemed to be monthly. Oram's plans are in place – upon drawing his defined benefit pension in May 2025, he has started to gift money to his daughters each month, satisfying the requirement for gifts to be regular and consistent, and also not hitting his standard of living. He said: 'It has to be regular outgoings, like utilities, food, those kinds of things. That's what I'm basing on. So I know how much I spend every year. I know what my pension income will be every year.' Oram plans to divide the money equally between his two daughters, 'I'm in a position where I have got a significant amount of savings. So I can give as much of my income as I can to my girls now, which is quite useful for them.' He told This is Money: 'I've explained to them that I can pay them money and that I'll be paying them an equal amount to go towards their rent.' 'They're just very happy that I can pay some money monthly.' Oram added: 'My youngest, who got married last year, is renting, and they want to buy. 'This will help them. I will be paying them quite a bit of money, which means I can just save that and put into their pot for deposit.' With pensions set to be drawn into the inheritance tax net, and the IHT threshold being frozen until 2030, an increasing number of people will start paying inheritance tax on their estates. Oram said: 'I'm totally against inheritance tax. I think it's wrong. I certainly I think it's wrong for everyone, even if you've got loads of assets and you're really super well off. I still think it's wrong, because if you've been paying your taxes, I don't see why on death you should have to pay in inheritance tax.' 'A lot of people think 'tax the wealthy', not realising that they'll probably be taxed as well, because most of them haven't got a clue how inheritance tax works.' He added: 'Their view is, 'it won't affect me', but it will affect them. Of course, those people are the ones who end up paying more because they're not going to mitigate it.' Inheritance tax receipts reached £8.2billion between April 2024 and March this year, another record high and an increase of £800million compared with the same period last year. Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis, Hargreaves Lansdown, said: 'A mixture of frozen tax thresholds and rising asset values drag more families into the net. 'The recent government announcement that pensions will be made subject to inheritance tax from April 2027 will act as a further warning to families that they need to be prepared.' What is gifting out of surplus income? Gifting out of surplus income, as mentioned above, allows you to pass on wealth without incurring a tax bill. To qualify for this, the gifts must form part of a 'pattern of giving' that can be backed up with records. Obviously, this pattern has to start somewhere, so a gift that proved to form part of a commitment to create a pattern also qualifies. Alongside this, these gifts must be from income that is surplus to your needs, this means that giving the gifts must not impact your standard of living in any way. Gifts must also be made from income, rather than capital – this means that savings and investments can't be the source of the funds gifted. However, there are other stipulations that you need to be aware of, so it is important to do your research before taking any action and it is advisable to speak to a qualified independent financial adviser.
Metro
4 days ago
- Business
- Metro
Sainsbury's shoppers still losing millions of Nectar points in widespread scam
Scammers are still having a shopping spree with stolen Nectar points, with shoppers seeing their accounts drained in places they have never visited. Meanwhile, some say they have been locked out of their accounts entirely and have asked Sainsbury's for an explanation. The supermarket introduced an 'account lock' feature to their loyalty app in February to try and crack down on the problem – but customer services reps are still fielding dozens of complaints. Mum-of-two Fariba Rad, from Putney in London, told Metro she was 'really upset' to get two emails on Sunday morning thanking her for spending her balance. 'First I started thinking about when I was at Sainsbury's, but then I saw the area was Oakley and I said to myself, 'someone's hacked my points',' she said. The thieves spent £12.50 in two transactions of 1000 and 1500 points, leaving her with only 194 points left worth 97p. Some shoppers contacting Nectar online said their points had been spent while they weren't even in the UK, while others said they were having problems with the app and 'can't even log in'. In recent months, retail cybersecurity has come into the spotlight after Marks and Spencer was hit by a devastating hack which is still not completely resolved, with online shopping unavailable. Supermarkets Co-op and Harrods were targeted by hackers too, while sports brand Adidas also fell victim – so the natural question for many was if Sainsbury's could also have been compromised. But the supermarket said they were not experiencing any IT issues. They confirmed that Fariba had fallen victim to fraud, and that criminals use a range of tactics to try and profit from their popular loyalty scheme, which has over 23 million members. The ease with which scammers can access Nectar points was revealed in January, when This Is Money revealed over 12 million points worth some £63,000 had been taken. Another Sainsbury's shopper, 43-year-old Amber Shuker-Bright, pictured at the top of this article, said she and her husband lost £60 of points. 'We do what most people do – save them for Christmas,' the mum-of-one told Metro. She realised something was wrong when she got an email thanking her for redeeming 2000 points in Brixton on April 12, but thought: 'I'm in Putney and I haven't even left my house.' The mum-of-one said her husband lost even more this weekend, when scammers spent 10,000 of his points, worth £50, in Camden. She did not know there had been issues with points theft in the past, or that there was an option to lock her account, saying this should be made more clear. Sainsbury's has refunded the couple's points after checking they were spent outside of their usual area, but sales assistant Amber said she is worried many customers wouldn't even realise they were victims, as they might assume their partner had spent the points on a linked account. She said the incident left her worried about how scammers got her details, and what else they may have accessed. The paper reported that scammers were selling account numbers online, although it's unclear how they accessed them in the first place. Sainsbury's has not revealed how they think scammers are doing this, fearing that it could encourage more fraud if they do. Fariba, a 44-year-old professional placement advisor, said she struggled to resolve the loss of her points because her mum was the primary account holder, despite using the card 'for years' with her email address – a problem that others also reported to customer services reps. Eventually, she managed to resolve the issue and will be sent a new card with the lost points added to it. But she described the process as 'really pointless and a waste of my time', saying the experience made her concerned that criminals have her details. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video There are no ID checks to spend points, except at Argos when there are if the amount is over £50. A loophole meant that anyone with a user's account number or barcode could potentially spend their points, unless the spend lock feature was turned on. Last year, Cian Heasley, Threat Lead at Adarma cyber security firm, told Metro: 'The specific nature of this vulnerability hasn't been disclosed, but it could be that the attackers are conducting a brute-force attack. In this type of attack, malicious individuals, either manually or through automation, attempt to log into a customer reward portal using randomly generated reward account numbers. 'When they do not receive a 'no such user' or similar error message, they know the account is active and can generate a barcode scannable account identifier to spend the reward points. 'To defend against this attack, app developers should incorporate security measures into the app's design. For instance, they should require a full login or identity authentication to spend points and ensure that login portals do not indicate whether accounts are valid or not. Limiting the number of login attempts before imposing a timeout can also slow down brute-force guessing attacks. More Trending 'The attackers may also be using credential stuffing, a cyber-attack where hackers use breached account information, like usernames and passwords, to gain unauthorised access to other online accounts. To protect against credential stuffing, it is crucial that individuals do not reuse passwords across different accounts, enable multifactor authentication whenever possible, and consider using a password manager to store and manage passwords for various apps and websites securely.' A Nectar spokesperson said: 'The security of our customer accounts is our highest priority and the proportion of those impacted by fraud each year is very small. 'We have a range of measures which detect and in many cases prevent fraud, including point spending confirmation emails and our Spend Lock feature.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Fears of drug '500 times stronger than heroin' circulating in London after deaths MORE: 'Poisoned' beef wellington chef Erin Patterson tells murder trial exotic mushrooms 'have more flavour' MORE: Madeleine McCann police using radars to 'scour' trenches in fresh search after 'tip-off'
