Govt targeting basic-rate taxpayers with latest dividend income hike

The government has been gradually waging a war on dividends, and it's happened so gradually that many investors won't have felt the pinch. But the rate on tax has been creeping up for years, with the final blow for income investors dealt at last week's Autumn Statement. New chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced plans to slash the tax-free allowance on dividends from the current £2,000 down to just £500 by April 2024. Alongside similar cuts to capital gains tax, the cut formed part of the chancellor's crackdown on so-called wealth taxes. It's a move that's popular with the broader public, who ...