Direct answers to the UK money questions people actually ask.

Usually yes. HMRC treats most crypto as an asset, so selling, swapping or spending it can trigger Capital Gains Tax on gains above the £3,000 annual exempt amount (2026/27). Crypto from mining, staking, airdrops or as payment is taxed as income instead.

Crypto exchanges share customer data with HMRC, and from 2026 the UK adopts the OECD Cryptoasset Reporting Framework (CARF), under which platforms must report users' transactions automatically. HMRC also sends 'nudge' letters to suspected crypto holders.

An ISA that holds investments rather than cash. All capital gains and dividends inside it are tax-free; the £20,000 annual allowance still applies.

8.75% for basic-rate taxpayers, 33.75% for higher-rate, 39.35% for additional-rate. The first £500 of dividends each year is covered by the Dividend Allowance and taxed at 0%.

Gains on UK government gilts are exempt from Capital Gains Tax. Coupon (interest) payments are taxable as savings income — covered by the Personal Savings Allowance and starting rate for savings.

Selling your own used personal items is not taxable, even in large amounts. You only pay tax if you are effectively trading — buying or making things to sell for profit — and your trading income tops £1,000 a year (the trading allowance).

Since January 2024, platforms such as Vinted, eBay, Etsy and Airbnb must report sellers' details and income to HMRC each year — but only where a seller makes 30+ sales or earns over roughly £1,700 (€2,000). Being reported does not mean you owe tax.

£12,570. Frozen until April 2028. It tapers by £1 for every £2 of income above £100,000, disappearing entirely at £125,140.

£3,000 per person. Above that, gains on shares and second property are taxed at 18% (basic-rate) or 24% (higher-rate).

£500 a year. Above that, dividends are taxed at 8.75% (basic), 33.75% (higher) or 39.35% (additional).

A way for a non-taxpayer spouse to transfer £1,260 of unused Personal Allowance to a basic-rate-paying partner, saving £252 a year.

£325,000 'nil-rate band' per person, plus up to £175,000 'residence nil-rate band' when leaving a home to direct descendants.

Look at your payslip, P60, P45 or your HMRC Personal Tax Account. The default for 2026/27 is 1257L.

When your VAT-taxable turnover exceeds £90,000 in any rolling 12-month period, or you expect it to in the next 30 days alone.

For employees, Class 1 NI starts at £12,570 a year (£242 a week). For the self-employed, Class 4 NI starts at £12,570 of annual profit.

A tax-free allowance for casual self-employed or side-hustle income up to £1,000 a year — no need to register with HMRC or file a return for that income alone.

£7,500 of tax-free income per tax year from letting furnished accommodation in your only or main home. Halved to £3,750 if shared with another joint owner.

A tax charge that claws back Child Benefit when one partner's adjusted net income is between £60,000 and £80,000 — full clawback at £80,000 and above.

Yes if you are self-employed earning over £1,000, a partner in a partnership, a company director with untaxed income, owe the High Income Child Benefit Charge, or have untaxed income (rental, dividends, foreign, savings) that cannot be collected via your tax code.

31 January for online returns and the balancing payment, 31 October for paper returns, and 31 July for the second payment on account. All deadlines are for the previous tax year ending 5 April.

The effective marginal tax rate between £100,000 and £125,140 of adjusted net income, caused by the Personal Allowance being withdrawn at £1 for every £2 earned.

£3,000 a year (the annual exemption), plus unlimited £250 small gifts to different people, plus wedding gifts up to £5,000 to a child / £2,500 to a grandchild / £1,000 to anyone else. Larger gifts become exempt after 7 years (the '7-year rule').

You may be able to if you took out car finance (PCP or HP) before 28 January 2021 and the dealer earned an undisclosed commission linked to your interest rate. The FCA is setting up an industry-wide redress scheme, so you can wait for it rather than pay a claims firm.

It refers to hidden commissions on car finance. Before January 2021, dealers could raise a customer's interest rate to earn more commission without telling them. A 2025 Supreme Court ruling and an FCA review have opened the door to compensation for affected drivers.

4.25%, after the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee held rates at the May 2026 meeting.

Up to £85,000 per person, per UK-authorised banking group, paid out if your bank or building society fails.

Your credit card provider is jointly liable with the retailer for breach of contract or misrepresentation on purchases between £100 and £30,000.

A 2023 FCA rule that requires financial firms to deliver 'good outcomes' for retail customers, including fair value and clear communication.

Up to £85,000 per claim under the Payment Systems Regulator's mandatory reimbursement rules, in force since 7 October 2024. The sending and receiving banks split the cost 50/50.

Seven working days from the date you choose, under the Current Account Switch Service (CASS). All Direct Debits, standing orders and incoming payments move automatically and the old account closes.

Support includes the Household Support Fund through your council, the £150 Warm Home Discount, Cold Weather and Winter Fuel Payments, Council Tax Reduction, and charitable grants. Check your benefit entitlement first — many people miss out on what they're owed.

£26.05 a week for the eldest child, £17.25 a week per additional child. The High Income Child Benefit Charge starts at £60,000 of income.

A single monthly benefit that has replaced six older means-tested benefits, paid to working-age adults on low incomes (in or out of work).

A means-tested benefit that tops up the weekly income of people over State Pension age — and a gateway to free TV Licence (over 75), Cold Weather Payment, Housing Benefit and Council Tax help.

A non-means-tested benefit for adults under State Pension age with a long-term health condition or disability. Two parts — daily living and mobility — each paid at a standard or enhanced rate.

A weekly payment for people providing at least 35 hours of care a week to someone receiving a qualifying disability benefit, provided the carer's own earnings (after tax, NI and half of pension contributions) are below a weekly threshold.

Mostly no — Housing Benefit is closed to new working-age claims. Apply for the housing element of Universal Credit instead. Pension-age renters and people in specified or temporary accommodation can still claim Housing Benefit.

£20,000 across all your adult ISAs combined. Junior ISA £9,000. Lifetime ISA £4,000 (counts towards the £20,000).

Basic-rate taxpayers can earn £1,000 of cash savings interest a year tax-free; higher-rate £500; additional-rate £0.

Save up to £4,000 a year between ages 18 and 50 and the government adds a 25% bonus. Use it for a first home up to £450,000, or from age 60.

A government savings account paying a 50p bonus on every £1 saved over four years, worth up to £1,200. Open to people receiving Working Tax Credit or Universal Credit with earnings over a small monthly threshold.

£9,000 per child per tax year, in any mix of Cash JISA and Stocks & Shares JISA. The money is locked until the child turns 18, then becomes theirs and can roll into an adult ISA.

Up to £5,000 of savings interest is taxed at 0% — but the band is reduced £-for-£ by other non-savings income above the £12,570 Personal Allowance, so it mostly benefits people with low earnings.

66 for both men and women. It will rise to 67 between 2026 and 2028, and to 68 between 2044 and 2046.

The full new State Pension rate is set each April under the triple lock. It was £230.25 a week (~£11,973 a year) for 2025/26 and is uprated again at the start of the 2026/27 tax year — check gov.uk for the current weekly amount. You need 35 qualifying years of National Insurance for the full new State Pension.

£60,000 a year. Above that, contributions can trigger an Annual Allowance charge. High earners may have a tapered allowance as low as £10,000.

A Self-Invested Personal Pension — a personal pension where you choose the underlying investments, with the same tax relief as any other personal pension.

Through your Self Assessment tax return, or by writing to HMRC with details of your contributions if you do not file a return.

A reduced pension annual allowance of £10,000 that applies once you have flexibly accessed a defined-contribution pension — for example through drawdown or a UFPLS lump sum.

Generally 25% of the pot, capped by the Lump Sum Allowance of £268,275 across all your pensions combined.

From 1 July 2026 the cap on a dual-fuel direct-debit home is around £1,720 a year for typical use — about 7% lower than the spring quarter.

Generally only if the provider materially raises the price or worsens the service. Since 17 January 2025, Ofcom requires all new broadband and mobile contracts to state any price rises in pounds and pence upfront.

People aged 75 or over who receive Pension Credit (or live with a partner who does). Blind or severely sight-impaired licence-holders get 50% off. Residential care home residents may pay just £7.50 a year through the ARC scheme.

£125,000 for standard buyers in England and Northern Ireland. £300,000 for first-time buyers, with relief up to £500,000.

Lenders must check you could still afford repayments if rates rose. The Bank of England removed its mandatory 3% stress test in 2022, but lenders still apply their own.

The size of your mortgage as a percentage of the property's value. Lower LTV usually means cheaper rates: pricing bands typically step at 95%, 90%, 85%, 80%, 75% and 60%.

Most fixed-rate mortgages allow penalty-free overpayments of up to 10% of the balance per year. Tracker, variable and offset mortgages typically allow unlimited overpayments.

Yes — a will is legally valid in England and Wales if you are 18+, of sound mind, sign it in front of two adult witnesses (who are not beneficiaries or married to a beneficiary), and both witnesses sign in your presence.

A solicitor-drafted single will typically costs £150–£300, or £200–£500 for a couple's mirror wills. Online services range from £30–£150. Discretionary trust or business wills cost £500–£1,500 or more.

The intestacy rules decide who inherits. In England and Wales, an unmarried partner receives nothing. A spouse with children receives personal items, £322,000, and half of the rest; children share the other half. Scotland and Northern Ireland have different rules.

Any adult (18+) with mental capacity who is not a beneficiary under the will and not married to a beneficiary. Two witnesses must be present at the same time as you sign, and then each sign in your presence.

Usually yes, if the deceased owned property in their sole name or had bank accounts above each bank's small-estates limit (typically £25,000–£50,000). You don't usually need it for jointly-held property, joint accounts, or estates under those limits.

HMCTS quotes 16 weeks from a complete application to the grant being issued (England and Wales). Stopped or incomplete applications take significantly longer. Full estate administration typically runs 9–12 months from death.

In England and Wales, marriage or civil partnership automatically revokes any earlier will, unless the will is expressly made 'in contemplation of' that specific marriage under s18 of the Wills Act 1837. Divorce does not revoke the will but treats the ex-spouse as having died before you.

Most UK adults benefit from one — but it becomes urgent if you have children under 18, own a home, are unmarried but in a long-term relationship, run a business, or want to leave anything to charity. Without a will, the intestacy rules decide who inherits, and unmarried partners get nothing.

A will takes effect only after you die and says who inherits. A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) takes effect while you are alive and lets a trusted attorney make decisions for you if you lose mental capacity. Most adults need both — they cover different risks at different stages.

A legally binding document under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 that lets you refuse specified medical treatments in advance — in case you later lose capacity. To refuse life-sustaining treatment it must be written, signed, witnessed, and say 'even if my life is at risk'.

Yes, on two main routes. Either attack validity (lack of capacity, undue influence, improper execution, forgery) or claim 'reasonable financial provision' under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. The 1975 Act has a strict 6-month deadline from the grant of probate.

Anyone aged 18 or over with capacity. The appointment, made under s5 Children Act 1989, must be in writing, dated and signed — a will is the cleanest option. It takes effect only once no parent with parental responsibility is still alive.

Since 29 July 2022, providers must be FCA-authorised. FSCS protection applies if an authorised provider fails after 1 November 2022. Always check the provider is on the FCA register, and read the small print on what is and isn't covered — third-party fees often aren't.

Not in the literal sense. The local authority means-tests your assets when you enter residential care. Above the upper capital limit (£23,250 in England) you pay in full; your home is included unless a spouse, dependent child, or relative aged 60+ still lives there.

It depends on the form of co-ownership. Joint tenants pass by survivorship — the survivor automatically owns the whole, outside the will. Tenants in common own defined shares that pass under the will or intestacy.