One of the most important decisions you will make for your future

Under the pension freedoms rules introduced in April 2015, once you reach the age of 55, you can now take your entire pension pot as cash in one go if you wish. However, if you do this, you could end up with a large Income Tax bill and run out of money in retirement. It’s essential to obtain professional advice before you make any major decisions about how to access your pension pot.

Deciding what to do with your pension pot is one of the most important decisions you will make for your future, and now you can access your pension in more ways than ever before. This leaves retirees with different options, from withdrawing lump sums in cash as and when needed to staying invested and drawing income, or to use how they wish. It is still possible to opt for the traditional route of buying an annuity offering a guaranteed income.

As well as understanding the various options for accessing benefits, when you are deciding what to do with your pension pot, you also need to consider your personal financial landscape. How long do you expect your investments and pensions to remain invested for? What do you want to achieve in the future, and how do you see your retirement playing out? How much investment risk are you willing to take? What income sources do you currently have or need to create, and how are they taxed?

2018 to 2019 could be the last tax year it may be possible for high earners to use a carry forward allowance of £40k.

If you haven’t contributed your full tax-relieved allowance into your pension for the past three tax years, you could be eligible to top up this year.

Our chartered financial planners are well versed in the ins and outs, so please don’t hesitate to contact us to find out whether you are eligible. The rules can be complicated, to say the least, particularly if you are self-employed.

Making new year’s tax saving resolutions

At this time of year, we think about New Year’s resolutions, and it’s also a good time to start planning our tax affairs before the end of the tax year on 5 April. As you think about 2019 and your goals for the coming year, we can help to start you off on the right financial footing. It’s well worth spending some time in January to think about your money so you can achieve your goals as quickly as possible.

Tax planning might not sound very exciting, but it can have a dramatic effect on your personal finances. The Government and HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) continue to clamp down on what they regard as tax avoidance and unacceptable tax planning. But there is still much that can legitimately be done to save or reduce tax.

Meeting your financial goals
Tax planning is one part of meeting your financial goals. By taking action now, it may give you the opportunity to take advantage of appropriate reliefs, allowances and exemptions, and consider whether there are any relevant decisions that you need to make sooner rather than later. Many of the tax and investment planning opportunities available require action to be taken before 5 April 2019.

While some people avoid making New Year’s resolutions for fear that they will only break them, people who make financial New Year’s resolutions are more likely to end 2019 in better financial shape than when they began.

Ready to put the tips into action?
Here we’ve provided some of the main areas you may wish to discuss with us, if appropriate to your particular situation.

Topping up your pension
Pensions are now more flexible than they have ever been and remain extremely tax-efficient. You’ll receive tax relief at the basic rate of 20% on contributions made to personal and workplace pensions. So for every £80 you pay in, HMRC will top it up to £100. If you’re a higher or additional rate taxpayer, you can claim back up to an additional 20% or 25% through your self-assessment tax return. However, if you are a Scottish taxpayer, the tax relief you will be entitled to will be at the Scottish Rate of Income Tax, which may differ from the rest of the UK.

But you’ll need to watch out for the annual pension allowance. This is the limit on the amount that can be contributed to your pension each year while still getting tax relief. For the 2018/19 tax year, for most people it’s £40,000, or the value of your whole earnings – whichever is lower. Lower allowances may apply if you have already started drawing a pension, or if you are a higher earner with income plus pension contributions that total above £150,000.

If you’ve used your full allowance in the current tax year but not in recent years, you may also (depending on your circumstances) be able to ‘carry forward’ any annual allowance that you haven’t taken advantage of in the three previous tax years. There’s also the Lifetime Allowance to consider. If the value of all your pensions is more than £1,030,000, anything over this limit will be taxed when you start using it.

The value of pensions can go down as well as up, and you may not get back as much as you put in.

Taking your ISA to the max
One of the easiest ways to reduce your tax bill is to shelter any returns above your allowances in an Individual Savings Account (ISA), which is a tax-efficient wrapper. For the 2018/19 tax year, you can put up to £20,000 into an ISA. For a couple with two children, the total ISA allowance available to the family is £48,520, which comprises £20,000 for each adult plus £4,260 of Junior ISA allowance per child.

You can choose to hold all of that in a Cash ISA, or put it into a combination of investments, including funds, shares, gilts and bonds through a Stocks & Shares ISA, or you can invest in peer-to-peer lending through an Innovative Finance ISA. Alternatively, you can split your allowance between a Cash, Stocks & Shares, Innovative Finance and Lifetime ISA. (LISA)

However, with a LISA, you can only allocate up to £4,000 of your £20,000 allowance. You also must be aged between 18 and 39 when you start and can deposit up to £4,000 per year until your 50th birthday. The Government will add an annual bonus of 25% (up to a maximum of £1,000 per year) to any savings.

The principle purpose of a LISA is for the proceeds to be used to either (a) purchase a first home or (b) provide you with funds to help you in your retirement after you have attained age 60. This means that, if the money is withdrawn for any other purpose (and unless the saver is in serious ill health), the 25% government bonus will be withdrawn, and the proceeds will also incur a 5% charge.

You won’t be taxed on returns from savings or investments held in an ISA, nor will you have to pay Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on any of the profits you make above the annual CGT allowance, which in the 2018/19 tax year is £11,700. The standard CGT rate is 10%, while the higher rate is 20%.

Getting personal with your allowance
Everyone has a certain amount of income they can earn each year without paying Income Tax, known as their ‘personal allowance’. For the 2018/19 tax year, this amount is £11,850.

Your personal allowance is in addition to the Personal Savings Allowance (PSA). Since April 2016, savings interest has been paid tax-free, which means that most savers no longer have to pay Income Tax on the savings income they receive.

Your PSA depends on which Income Tax band you are in, with basic rate taxpayers entitled to a £1,000 allowance, while higher rate taxpayers receive a £500 allowance. Additional rate taxpayers are not eligible for a PSA.

Investors also have a dividend allowance, which means that individuals receive their first £2,000 in dividends tax-free, but any dividends above this amount will be charged at 7.5% for basic rate taxpayers, 32.5% for higher rate taxpayers and 38.1% for additional rate taxpayers.

Take advantage of your marriage vows. If one spouse is a higher rate or additional rate taxpayer and the other doesn’t pay tax at all, it could be more tax-efficient to put the account solely in the non-taxpayer’s name. This would give that spouse full ownership of the account, so you’ll need to make sure you’re both happy with the arrangement.

Keeping your inheritance in the family
ISAs and pensions are the two big ways to shelter your money from tax, but there are other tools at your disposal. Your estate is valued when you pass away and chargeable to Inheritance Tax (IHT) at 40%, although the first £325,000 nil-rate band (NRB) is exempt. Anything that goes to your spouse is also exempt.

Married couples and those in registered civil partnerships can also benefit from an additional family home allowance, which makes it easier to pass on the family home to direct descendants without incurring IHT charges. This was introduced on 6 April 2017, starting at £100,000, and will be phased in gradually until the total IHT threshold reaches £500,000 per person in 2020/21.

The residence nil-rate band (RNRB) acts as a top-up to the current IHT NRB and works in a similar manner by reducing the value of your estate that is subject to IHT at the full rate of 40%. It is potentially available for deaths on or after 6 April 2017 where, in general terms, an interest in the family home is left under your Will to your children, grandchildren or other lineal descendants. The RNRB is offset against the value of your estate ahead of the NRB, and the maximum RNRB amount allowed on a death in the 2018/19 tax year is £125,000.

Current tax rules also enable you to give away up to £3,000 free of IHT each tax year. You can give away more than this amount if you want to, but you must live for at least seven years from the date of the gift for it to be exempt from IHT.

Don’t leave your tax return until the last minute
The deadline to submit your tax return online is 31 January. Failure to meet the HMRC deadline can result in penalty fines or extra interest charges.

INFORMATION IS BASED ON OUR CURRENT UNDERSTANDING OF TAXATION LEGISLATION AND REGULATIONS. ANY LEVELS AND BASES OF, AND RELIEFS FROM, TAXATION ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

THE VALUE OF INVESTMENTS AND INCOME FROM THEM MAY GO DOWN. YOU MAY NOT GET BACK THE ORIGINAL AMOUNT INVESTED.

Considering making contributions ahead of the tax year end?

Investing for the future is vital if you want to enjoy a financially secure retirement, and it requires you to look at the big picture. Although pensions can be complicated, we will help you get to grips with the rules if you are considering making contributions ahead of the tax year end. Here are our top pension tax tips.

Annual and lifetime limits
Getting tax relief on pensions means some of your money that would have gone to the Government as tax goes into your pension instead. You can put as much as you want into your pension, but there are annual and lifetime limits on how much tax relief you receive on your pension contributions. Please note that if you are a Scottish taxpayer, the tax relief you will be entitled to will be at the Scottish Rate of Income Tax, which may differ from the rest of the UK.

Provided that you stay within your pension allowances, all pensions give you tax relief at the rate that you have paid on your contributions. For personal pensions, you receive tax relief at the basic rate of 20% inside the pension. That means for every £800 you pay in, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will top it up to £1,000. If you’re a higher or additional rate taxpayer, you can claim back up to an additional 20% or 25% on top of the 20% basic rate tax relief through your self-assessment tax return.

Benefit from tax relief
For workplace pensions, your employer normally takes your pension contribution directly from your salary before Income Tax so that the contribution is not taxed at source like the rest of your employment income, and therefore the full benefit is received inside your pension immediately. If your employer does not handle your contributions before tax, then these would benefit from tax relief in the same way as for a personal pension contribution.

You’re still entitled to receive basic rate tax relief on pension contributions even if you don’t pay tax. The maximum you can pay into your pension as a non-taxpayer is £2,880 a year, which is equivalent to a £3,600 contribution once you factor in tax relief.

Total amount of contributions
The annual allowance is a limit to the total amount of contributions that can be paid in to defined contribution pension schemes and the total amount of benefits that you can build up in a defined benefit pension scheme each year for tax relief purposes.

Taxpayers can pay in up to 100% of their income, up to an annual allowance of £40,000. Any contributions you make over this limit won’t attract tax relief and will be added to your other income, being subject to Income Tax at the rate(s) that applies to you.

Your annual allowance will reduce from £40,000 if your income plus your pension contributions totals £150,000 or more. For every £2 in excess of £150,000, your allowance will reduce by £1, until it reaches a minimum allowance of £10,000.

Carry forward unused allowances
You can also carry forward unused allowances from the previous three years, as long as you were a member of a registered pension scheme during this period.

If you choose to take a taxable income from a personal pension other than via an annuity, your annual allowance will be reduced to £4,000 or 100% of earnings, whichever is lower, and you won’t be able to carry forward previous unused allowances.

Paying tax on the excess
As well as the annual allowance, there’s also a maximum total amount you can hold within all your pension funds without having to pay extra tax when you withdraw money from them, known as the ‘lifetime allowance’. The standard lifetime allowance is £1,030,000 (2018/19), but some people have a higher allowance. The standard lifetime allowance is inflation linked, so it’s likely to increase each year.

If the value of your pension savings is higher than this, and you have not secured protection from HMRC against the changes in the lifetime allowance at the point that they reduced, you will pay tax on the excess. So, if you’re approaching this limit, be careful about contributing too much.

There’s no immediate tax charge once your pension fund grows beyond your lifetime allowance. It’s only when you choose to take your pension benefits over your lifetime allowance that you pay a tax charge, and the charge only applies to the benefits taken over your allowance.

Freedoms give greater flexibility
Commencing 6 April 2015, under the new ‘pension freedoms’ rules, you can now access your savings from your defined contributions pension scheme once you reach age 55. You cannot make withdrawals from a pension before you’re 55, moving to 56 in 2019 and 57 by 2028. If you’re due to reach retirement this year, you could take up to 25% of your pension fund as a tax-free lump sum if you want to, but the remaining 75% will be liable to Income Tax.

Previously, most pensioners purchased an annuity with their pot, which paid a guaranteed income for life. The pension freedoms give greater flexibility over retirement funding. But you’ll need to plan any withdrawals you make carefully, as taking large sums from your pension can boost your income in a particular tax year, pushing you into a higher rate of tax so that you pay more tax than you need to.

INFORMATION IS BASED ON OUR CURRENT UNDERSTANDING OF TAXATION LEGISLATION AND REGULATIONS. ANY LEVELS AND BASES OF, AND RELIEFS FROM, TAXATION ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

THE VALUE OF INVESTMENTS AND INCOME FROM THEM MAY GO DOWN. YOU MAY NOT GET BACK THE ORIGINAL AMOUNT INVESTED.

Build a portfolio that meets your needs

The earlier you commit to an investment strategy, the longer your money can work in the market. However, the world is an uncertain place at the moment.

Investing should be for the long term. Why? Because markets and the economy have a tendency to rise over time. For investors, this should mean a return on investment for people who can ride out the ups and downs along the way – a reward for the extra risk they’re taking.

Key drivers of long-term returns
Fundamentals and changes in value are the key drivers of long-term returns, and they are possible to forecast with a degree of accuracy rather than trying to time the markets or second-guess rises and falls in prices.

But throughout history, we have seen periods of extreme volatility when there have been rallies and sell-offs time and time again for a variety of reasons. With long-term investing, you can expect cycles – periods of falling prices followed by a recovery. A key to successful investing is being comfortable knowing that there will be falls as well as rises in the market.

Cyclical in nature and prone to volatility
Many people will remember the dot-com bubble of 2001 and the global financial crisis of 2007. However, stock markets are cyclical in nature, and although prone to volatility, markets and wider economies have a tendency to rise over time. This applies to everything from share prices and earnings to wages and the price of household goods.

On the other hand, short-term returns are driven by changes in valuation and investor sentiment. These are impossible to forecast consistently, and trying to time the markets can also mean potentially locking in losses and missing out on gains.

Returns generating more returns
Compounding is one of the reasons long-term investing has the potential to give such great returns. This is the snowballing effect of your returns generating more returns. In the stock markets, compounding is usually a result of reinvesting dividend income. Companies are collectively owned by their shareholders, and their board members may agree to pay investors their share of the profits through a dividend.

Dividend-paying shares are a staple of most income-seeking investors’ portfolios. But when the income is reinvested, we can see a significant increase in total return over time. This makes them ideal for investors who are seeking growth – especially as a stable and growing dividend is seen as a sign of good corporate governance.

Political uncertainty or volatility
When people feel nervous about investing – perhaps due to political uncertainty or volatility in the stock market – a common reaction is to sell their investments and keep their money in cash. Cash is seen as a ‘safe’ asset, but it does leave investors open to the risk of inflation. Inflation erodes the buying power of your savings over time. Your account balance doesn’t change, but you can buy less with your money.

Although markets have been volatile and there remains uncertainty over the global political future, there will always be reasons not to invest and scenarios to worry about. However, you must remember that every period of time spent out of the stock markets is a period of time potentially missing out on returns.

INFORMATION IS BASED ON OUR CURRENT UNDERSTANDING OF TAXATION LEGISLATION AND REGULATIONS. ANY LEVELS AND BASES OF, AND RELIEFS FROM, TAXATION ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

THE VALUE OF INVESTMENTS AND INCOME FROM THEM MAY GO DOWN. YOU MAY NOT GET BACK THE ORIGINAL AMOUNT INVESTED.

PAST PERFORMANCE IS NOT A RELIABLE INDICATOR OF FUTURE PERFORMANCE.

Making the most of the next chapter in life

Pensions can seem complicated, but the basic idea is a simple one. And increasingly, if appropriate, people are turning to private pensions as a tax-effective way to increase their retirement income. Once you’ve decided to start saving for retirement, you need to choose how you’re going to do it. The precise amount you’ll need to save each month to retire at 55 depends entirely on the kind of lifestyle you plan on having in retirement. If appropriate to your particular situation, there are several different types of private pension to choose from. But, in light of recent government changes, the tax aspects require careful planning.

Different pension schemes

The term ‘private pension’ covers both workplace pensions and personal pensions. The UK Government currently places no restrictions on the number of different pension schemes you can be a member of. So, even if you already have a workplace pension, you can have a personal pension too, or even multiple personal pensions.

These can be a useful alternative to workplace pensions if you’re self-employed or not earning, or simply another way to save for retirement. Any UK resident between the ages of 18 and 75 can pay into a personal pension – although the earlier you invest, the more likely you are to be able to build up a substantial pension pot.

Pension-related tax relief

A private pension is designed to be a tax-efficient savings scheme. The Government encourages this kind of saving through tax relief on pension contributions. In the 2018/19 tax year, pension-related tax relief is limited to either 100% of your UK earnings, or £3,600 per annum. If you are a Scottish taxpayer, the tax relief you will be entitled to will be at the Scottish Rate of Income Tax, which may differ from the rest of the UK.

Basic rate taxpayers will receive 20% tax relief on pension contributions. Higher rate taxpayers also receive 20% tax relief, but they can claim back up to an additional 20% through their tax return. Additional rate taxpayers again pay 20% tax relief, but they can claim back up to a further 25% through their tax return. Non-taxpayers receive basic rate tax relief, but the maximum payment they can make is £2,880, to which the Government adds £720 in tax relief, making a total gross contribution of £3,600.

Tapered Annual Allowance

The Annual Allowance is the maximum amount that you can contribute to your pension each year while still receiving tax relief. The current annual allowance is capped at £40,000, but may be lower depending on your personal circumstances.

In April 2016, the Government introduced the tapered annual allowance for high earners, which states that for every £2 of income earned above £150,000 each year, £1 of annual allowance will be forfeited. The maximum reduction will, however, be £30,000 – taking the highest earners’ annual allowance down to £10,000.

Overall tax liability

Any contributions over the annual allowance won’t be eligible for tax relief, and you will need to pay an annual allowance charge. This charge will form part of your overall tax liability for that year, although there is the option to ask your pension scheme to pay the charge from your benefits if it is more than £2,000. It is worth noting that you may be able to carry forward any unused annual allowances from the previous three tax years.

If you have accessed any of your pensions, you can only pay a maximum of £ 4,000 into any un-accessed pension(s) you have. This is called the ‘Money Purchase Annual Allowance’, or ‘MPAA’. The MPAA applies only if you have accessed one of your pensions.

Access your pension

The lifetime allowance is the maximum amount of pension benefit that can be drawn without incurring an additional tax charge. From 6 April 2018, the lifetime allowance increase to £1,030,000.

What counts towards your lifetime allowance depends on the type of pension you have. We will be able to help you determine how much of your lifetime allowance you have already used up. This is important because exceeding the lifetime allowance will result in a charge of 55% on any lump sum, and 25% on any other pension income such as cash withdrawals. This charge will usually be deducted by your pension provider when you access your pension.

Pension protection addition

If you are concerned about exceeding your lifetime allowance, it may be possible to apply for pension protection. This could enable you to retain a larger lifetime allowance and keep paying into your pension, depending on which form of protection you are eligible for.

In addition to pension protection, if you have reached your lifetime allowance or are close to doing so, it may also be worth considering other tax-efficient vehicles for retirement savings, such as Individual Savings Accounts. In the current tax year, individuals can invest up to £20,000 into an Individual Savings Account.

Savings tax-efficiently

The Lifetime Individual Savings Account, launched in April 2017, is open to UK residents aged 18 to 40 and will enable younger savers to invest up to £4,000 a year tax-efficiently. Any savings you put into the Individual Savings Accounts before your 50th birthday will receive an added 25% bonus from the Government. After your 60th birthday, you can take out all the savings tax-efficiently.

Finally, it is worth noting that there will normally be no tax to pay on pension assets passed on to your beneficiaries if you die before the age of 75 and before you take anything from your pension pot, as long as the total assets are less than the lifetime allowance. If you die aged 75 or older, the beneficiary will typically be taxed at their marginal rate.

Remember:

A pension is a long-term investment. The fund may fluctuate and can go down, which would have an impact on the level on pension benefits available.

Pensions are not normally accessible until age 55. Your pension income could also be affected by interest rates at the time you take your benefits. The tax implications of pension withdrawals will be based on your individual circumstances, tax legislation and regulation, which are subject to change in the future.

The value of investments and income from them may go down. You may not get back the original amount invested.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Taking responsibility for funding our own retirement

Although each generation will likely face different challenges and opportunities, achieving retirement readiness will require actions common to us all. We all know that our ageing population and increased life expectancy are putting a strain on government finances. Following pension freedoms, there’s greater choice than ever before in how you access and take your retirement benefits.

Now, more than ever, it is vital that we all take responsibility for funding our own retirement. But what if you’ve reached your 50s and you have little or no savings to speak of? Don’t panic. You can still build a decent pension. Here’s how:

Make the most of free money
The good news is that there’s still time to build a decent pension pot when you are in your 50s. For starters, many people of this age are at the peak of their career earnings, so can make the most of the tax relief available when contributing to their pension. You can put as much as you want into your pension, but there are annual and lifetime limits on how much tax relief you get on your pension contributions.

If you’re a UK taxpayer, in the tax year 2018/19 the standard rule is that you’ll get tax relief on pension contributions of up to 100% of your earnings or a £40,000 annual allowance – whichever is lower.

Any contributions you make over this limit won’t attract tax relief and will be added to your other income and be subject to Income Tax at the rate(s) that applies to you. However, you can carry forward unused allowances from the previous three years, as long as you were a member of a pension scheme during those years.

But there is an exception to this standard rule. If you have a defined contribution pension and you start to draw money from it, the annual allowance reduces to £4,000 in some situations. Since April 2016, the annual allowance is also reduced if you have an income of over £150,000, including pension contributions.

Track down your workplace pensions
Launched in May 2016, the Pension Tracing Service is a free-to-use government initiative that searches a vast database of pension schemes to help you find a lost pension from companies you almost forgot you worked at, as well as private pension providers.

All you need is the name of the employer (or the pension provider) and the dates you worked there, and the system can locate it. What it can’t do is tell you if you do or do not have a pension there, or how much the fund is worth. However, with the details it provides, it can help ‘reunite’ you with pensions you may have forgotten you had.

Steps to take to trace your old pension:
Keep hold of statements, old emails or mail you’ve had from previous pension providers
Contact former employers for long-forgotten workplace pensions
Get in touch with the pension provider if possible
If you can’t, then track them down via the Pension Tracing Service
Get as much information as you can about those pension plans

Pension consolidation
If appropriate to your particular situation, having all your pension savings in one place could mean you’re clearer about your financial position, giving you the option to make more informed decisions. If you’ve had more than one job during your career, you could have more than one pension pot.

Pension consolidation means bringing a number of pension pots together into a single pot. This process will not be right for everyone, and it is essential to obtain professional financial advice before moving any pension monies.

You will need to compare the benefits from your current pension with the estimated benefits of your new pension, including any guarantees that you may be giving up or any exit penalties that may apply if you transfer out of a scheme. Transferring your pension may not be the best option for you.

If appropriate, consolidating your pension monies may reduce the money spent on multiple charges and could make managing one pension easier than looking after several. Instead of receiving statements from different providers at different times, you’ll only receive one statement that shows all of your pension savings.

By combing all of your pension pots together, you can also quickly and easily see how much you’ve got, if you’re invested in the right funds and how your pension is performing. This single view could make it easier to see if you’re on track to meet your retirement goals and to make changes if you need to.

It’s important to keep a close watch on the pension savings you’ve got, and consolidating them could mean you don’t lose track of your savings.

A PENSION IS A LONG-TERM INVESTMENT.

THE FUND VALUE MAY FLUCTUATE AND CAN GO DOWN, WHICH WOULD HAVE AN IMPACT ON THE LEVEL OF PENSION BENEFITS AVAILABLE.

PENSIONS ARE NOT NORMALLY ACCESSIBLE UNTIL AGE 55. YOUR PENSION INCOME COULD ALSO BE AFFECTED BY INTEREST RATES AT THE TIME YOU TAKE YOUR BENEFITS. THE TAX IMPLICATIONS OF PENSION WITHDRAWALS WILL BE BASED ON YOUR INDIVIDUAL CIRCUMSTANCES, TAX LEGISLATION AND REGULATION, WHICH ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE IN THE FUTURE.

THE VALUE OF INVESTMENTS AND INCOME FROM THEM MAY GO DOWN. YOU MAY NOT GET BACK THE ORIGINAL AMOUNT INVESTED.

YOUR HOME OR PROPERTY MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE.

ACCESSING PENSION BENEFITS EARLY MAY IMPACT ON LEVELS OF RETIREMENT INCOME AND IS NOT SUITABLE FOR EVERYONE. YOU SHOULD SEEK ADVICE TO UNDERSTAND YOUR OPTIONS AT RETIREMENT.

TAX TREATMENT DEPENDS ON INDIVIDUAL CIRCUMSTANCES AND MAY BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE IN THE FUTURE.