Cam dating advices site web blog.

Samina (not her real name) is 32-year-old lawyer in Manchester and her experiences are typical of many Asian women.

“My friend Sarah is white and we’re both around the same age and single,” she says. “But the difference is I want to find someone of the same faith, so I have a much smaller choice of men.”

It’s not just religion that Samina has to contend with.

“A lot of Asian men want you to move into their parental home, some because they love living at home and being looked after, some because in Asian culture it’s the son’s duty to look after ageing parents.

“I’m independent and successful and it’s daunting to think I might have to up sticks and move to another town to move in with my in-laws as soon as I’m married.”

Matchmakers

Statistics seem to be against Asian women too. The last census showed that more British Asian men are marrying outside of their ethnic group than British Asian women.

For Asian men the option to “marry out” is made easier by the fact that it is culturally, and in some cases religiously, less frowned upon to choose a partner outside of their faith than it is for Asian women.

Other men choose to marry a partner from their parents country of origin. In 2005 the government recorded just over 10,000 women coming to the UK from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh as part of a marriage.

Yasmeen Khan has seen how difficult the dating game is

Whatever the reasons are for marrying a woman from “back home”, it leaves an even smaller pool of men for British Asian women to fish in.

In the scramble to find the perfect Asian husband, women are using every tool available to them.

The choice ranges from looking for love online to matrimonial matchmakers - people within the community who bring suitable matches together, whether it’s through family or through organised events.

Another option is the traditional parental route, where parents introduce their son or daughter to a prospective match with family present.

It can be successful and some do meet the man or woman of their dreams in their mother’s living room over a nice cup of tea. However, a parent’s idea of a suitable boy or girl can of course be very different to what their offspring has in mind.

For young British Asian Maha Khan, setting up an Asian speed dating company was an obvious move.

‘Shade-ism’

“Successful, career-focussed Asian women want to find their equal,” she says. “But because they don’t always socialise in Asian-only groups they don’t easily come across the right man.

“I realised there was a huge demand for a platform to bring Asian singles of the same religion together in an environment that didn’t need to involve the whole family.

“Our first speed dating event four years ago in London attracted over 150 korean dating experts service Asian singles. We went on to organise events in bars and restaurants in other cities including Birmingham and Manchester.”

Some are ‘marrying out’

But some online dating sites reveal the extent of the problem Asian women face, with great emphasis on appearance, and in particular, complexion.

In Asian culture, skin-shade snobbery is rife, with the general consensus the browner you are, the less desirable.

One website offers a drop-down menu of skin shades. “Wheatish” appears to be one of the most common categories, with a choice of “wheatish”, “wheatish medium” or “wheatish brown”.

Despite the many challenges, including shade-ism, that British Asian women face, many find suitable partners and enjoy happy marriages. As we’re still in the first generation of well-educated, career-minded Asian women who have delayed marriage, drawing any conclusions about what will happen to those who don’t is difficult.

‘Cultural clashes’

A recent Muslim matrimonial event held in London offered a glimpse into the current climate. The male host asked: “How many women in the room today would be willing to move in with their in-laws after marriage?”

A 33-year-old government analyst next to me sighed and put up her hand, swiftly followed by other women in the room. She later explained: “It’s not something I want to do, but if I want to get married it looks like I have to consider it.”

But while compromise is the option for some, other cultural shifts are emerging.

It’s more acceptable for men to ‘marry out’

“We’ve started to notice a few more Asian women marrying outside of their own cultures,” says Sat Bhatti, partner in wedding planning company OccAsianZ. “In fact, we recently organised the weddings of two Sikh women who married white men.

“But you tend to only see this in cities where Asian communities are more liberal. Outside of London, for example, a mixed marriage is still a big deal.”

While “marrying out” offers a new avenue, some women are still wary because of the cultural clashes that a mixed union can bring.

Dating advices sites rated, it was a first generation British Asian mother who recently offered some Bridget Jones-like idealistic insight that got straight to the heart of the matter.

“There’s nothing wrong with a nice white boy, as long as he likes curry I’m sure it could work,” she said.

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Below is a selection of your comments.

I agree with many elements of this article, however their is a couple of flip side points, which you have failed to aknowledge/consider. Despite a limited pool of eligible men, are the expectations of young asian ladies so high that they are constantly saying ‘Next’, due to minor details (like skin tone, age, family, size, income etc) hoping that the next guy is ‘Perfect’? Secondly are young men marring outside the ‘community’ because it is socially acceptable or is it that the quality of young asian ladies are not acceptable to men? I know many non-asain women that absolutly love the family ties withen asian familes. These are just two flip (amongst many) sides to your article and as a young asian man that has gone through this (and after many discussions amongst other asian men in the same position) i can tell you, that the problem is the attitudes and expectations of both sex’s within the asian community.
Ash, London

I wholeheartedly agree with the views in this article. I was lucky enough to meet my husband while studying at university and have been married for six years. However, for my sister who is a IT specialist working in the city- the task of finding that perfect match is proving very frustrating. First generation professional asian women don’t want the ‘cop out’ solution of going to the motherland to marry, they want to find their equal here, who shares a common language and interests.
Anon, Birmingham, UK

I’m a British Asian male, and I think this articles slightly bias. Since at least here in the asian community of Glasgow, no matter how boring I find the women my parents want me to marry, if I married a white woman I’d be ostracised from my family immediately. That’s the stark choice that most British Asians - both male and female - face. Either your family or marriage. No millionaires dating advices sites whatsoever.
Kahsim Anwar, Glasgow

Absolute rubbish. Just as many men find it difficult to meet a partner who meets their criteria. Asian women are high flyers, and it’s good they are, but they still want someone who is even more of a high flyer than them, which is fairly difficult! Lower your standards, look for an equal, not a superior, and you may have more chance. Good luck with it too!
Not a single asian man, UK

I have a beautiful sikh daughter in law who is adored by us all. Her two oldest sisters had arranged marriages and this was what they wanted but S and her older sister J both “married out”. My son worked very hard to be accepted by her family, yes he likes curry and he also attends sangat occasionally with S and her family. We love our mixed race extended family it is what multiculturalism is all about.
jenny, Abingdon

As hard as it maybe for single Asian women to find suitable Asian men, I personally believe it to be the same for the men! I am a single Indian male in London, and have been looking for an Indian partner for some time now. I am definitely looking for an Indian girl and would not consider marrying outside my culture or religion. Thats my own choice and have had no pressure to do so, although, I am in agreement that it has become more common for Asian people to marry outside their religion & culture. I can fully understand the point of view of an Asian woman finding it very daunting to move in with their in-laws. But as unfortunate as some may see it, this has become a very very traditional custom amongst all Asian families and has been happening generation after generation. I am still living with my mother and would hopefully like to find someone who would be happy to move in with me and my mother. Knowing how daunting this can be I am also keeping an open mind that I will have to compromise and realise that this may not always be possible. The Asian community is such that if a son is not seen to be taking care of his widowed mother and instead ‘puts her out’ this would be frowned upon very badly by all, such is the pressure of the religious community. But at the sametime it is becoming increasingly difficult for myself to find a girl that will be willing to move in with me and my mother. My faith that I have and hold on to is that someday I will find a girl who will love me for who I am and how we are together. So much so that she will be willing to do anything for me and I anything for her. On another note, I am in agreement with Yasmeen that these matrimonial websites that let you choose the skin colour has become quite outrageous. Potential candidates being selected on their skin colour has become extrememly snobbish and must change in a world where we ourselves are trying to eradicate racism.
Anonymous looking for love!, London

I’m an Anglo Indian female who looks Asian (dark hair & eyes, big eyebrows) but has very fair skin (my Dad was ginger!). When i’m at Asian events with my Indian girlfriends i get alot of attention from middle aged mothers; they ask what i do, where i was educated and really press. I get picked out straight away and it’s a little disapointing that people are still so obsesed with colour.
Anon, Woking/Oxford

This is a sad and disturbing story of self induced racism both within the Asian community (skin shade is important) and in their dating advices ukrainian girls with the wider community. Indeed I can not portray how shocked I am by the attitudes openly admitted here. Imagine if the subjects of this piece were white living in an area of high ethnic populations and the report was that they found it increasingly difficult to find suitable marriage partners because the stipulation was they had to be white and Christian. They would be accused of open racism so why is this different. It also reflects badly on the state of integration that has been a major news story over the past weeks. I as a white male find it offensive that I would not be considered as a suitable partner for these British Asian women because of my skin colour - and that’s what this article is saying.
Mark, Liverpool, UK

Finally a mainstream article which acknowledges that being an educated, independant asian female is not an easy life !
dating advices matchmaking sites, Basinstoke

a website offering a drop down menu of skin shades? Wheatish brown? Wheatish medium? What is the world coming to….
Duppy, London

What about me? I want to marry a woman who was born on June 17th, has green eyes, is left handed, can speak fluent Japanese and is between 5ft 2in and 5ft 2.5in. It’s so unfair that most girls i meet don’t fit the bill. Is there something i’m doing wrong?
Mark Kelly, Cardiff

The think the British Asian mother has hit the nail on the head. A regular supply of curry would be a deal-maker for me!
Oliver Rudd, Bristol, UK

Source: News - Bridget Jones? She’s got it easy

Network Rail, which runs Britain’s railway tracks and signals, is set to ask the kontakt og dating experts for an extra 7bn. The firm wants the money to invest in dating idea tip on busy commuter routes to cope with rising passenger numbers. Passenger numbers are set to rise by a third over the next decade and extra money is needed to extend stations and put in new lines, says the firm. The 7bn is in addition to the 20bn it is already tipped to request for the period from 2009 to 2014. The operator will ask for the money from the Office of Rail Regulation amid wider funding talks with the government. The news comes after the firm recently posted annual pre-tax losses of 232m, up from 47m in 2005. More passengers The Department for Transport was recently reported to be considering letting train operators offset increasing demand by increasing passenger fares. HAVE YOUR SAY The answer is staring the government in the face - renationalise the railways Joe Baldwin, Chesham, Bucks Send us your comments Network Rail instead favours making the necessary dating advices in site usa to improve the network, to cope with rising passenger numbers and reduce overcrowding. The firm says commuter lines such as those into London and Dating free idea need new sections to cope with demand. Network Rail receives about 5bn to run its network at present, but says this does not allow for improvements. The operator says it should be able to operate on 4bn at a future date, but this is still at the higher end of the Office of Rail Regulation’s estimates. The firm’s latest losses, which were posted in May, were largely down to paying interest on money it had borrowed to fix the railway network. On releasing its results, Network Rail said train nigerian dating experts had reached at a six-year high, and 3bn had been invested in the network, including 700 miles of new track. The firm, whose top executives are due to receive big bonuses, hopes to be profitable this financial year. Original article ‘News - Network Rail to seek extra £7bn‘

New laws against age discrimination in pension schemes have come into force.

They were due to have been introduced on 1 October, along with other wide-ranging laws on equality at work.

But the government delayed the new pension rules for two months to give it more time to refine them and to give pension schemes time to adapt.

Final government guidance has still to be published but experts say that most schemes will be able to carry on much as before.

Despite this, pension schemes and their advisers have been busy going through their rule books to ensure there are no rules or clauses that could still fall foul of the new laws.

It is a little worrying to find that as many as one in 10 haven’t even started to think about the impact of the new laws Esther White, Eversheds

“Many employers and trustees will already have begun the costly and complex exercise of addressing their pension scheme rules to avoid unlawful age discrimination,” says Dr Deborah Cooper, from actuarial firm Mercer.

“The delay in publishing the final guidance may force them to revisit planned amendments, adding arabian dating experts expense to the dating advices international process.”

Little change

In general, most of the typical practices of pension schemes - which inherently rely on making decisions based on the age of their members - will continue.

The government had always intended that the obligation to eradicate ageism at work should have as little impact as possible on the traditional structure of pension scheme benefits.

Law firm Pinsent Masons says, as a result, schemes can still:

• have minimum and maximum ages for joining
• specify a normal retirement date
• pay early and late retirement pensions
• pay ill-health early retirement pensions without reduction and/or with enhancement
• pay early retirement pensions on redundancy without reduction and/or with enhancement
• for defined benefit schemes, link benefits to service
• close a scheme to new entrants
• pay differential increases to pensioners of different ages

The original government guidance published earlier this year had suggested that there might have been some upheaval.

But the threatened changes were watered down during a second round of government consultation, after the delay to the legislation was announced in September.

Despite this, law firm Eversheds has warned that 10% of businesses have still not considered the impact of the new laws.

It pointed to late retirement, flexible retirement and 301 dating dollar idea under benefits as problem areas where schemes might still find their rules need to be changed.

“It is a little worrying to find that as many as one in 10 haven’t even started to think about the impact of the new laws - this could leave many organisations exposed to the risk of an age discrimination claim,” said Eversheds’ Esther White.

Originaly from: News - New anti-ageism laws for pensions

Children in a Lincolnshire village are set to receive a top-of-the-range play area thanks to lottery funding.

The Big Lottery Fund has awarded the village of Hemingby a grant of more than 40,000 to improve the play area.

During a recent survey by the Royal Society for the Prevention of 123 dating advices venus (Rospa) all of the old play equipment was identified as “medium risk”.

Nearly 300 children are expected to use the new anime dating advices game online which should be ready by Easter 2006.

Brazilian dating advices agencies play area committee chairperson, Helen Jones, said: “Our existing equipment is extremely worn and beyond repair.

“This grant will give us a fresh start with the most up-to-date equipment which meets all health and safety and disability access standards.”

The equipment will be sesshomaru dating advices quiz by access dating experts site experts Miracle Design and Play, with local residents choosing the colour and type of items to be bought.

Read more on News - Thousands of pounds for play area

Britain is being hit by a hi-tech crime wave.

More and more of us are going online and so is international organised crime.

As you buy, sell and bank on the web, criminals are thinking of ingenious ways to con you out of cash.

Banking card fraud now costs the UK 500m.

The banks are hoping that the roll out of chip and pin cards will stem this growth but admit the criminals will look elsewhere.

Sandra Quinn from APACS, the association for payment clearing services, told the Money programme: “If chip and pin makes a big dent in their earnings, they’re going to go somewhere else. There’s no doubt about it.”

‘Alarming’

Glasgow free uk dating advices site Bill Timoney had never lost his debit card but somehow a criminal managed to spend 2000 without him realising.

“It’s certainly alarming and if it could happen to me and I’m a fairly careful aksi dating advices, it could happen to anyone.”

Just how he was robbed remains a mystery to him because the crime was committed on the internet. He was a victim of card not present fraud.

Criminals are taking advantage of online shopping outlets using stolen cards and some are even buying and selling stolen card numbers online.

Britain has seen an explosion of online commerce.

In 2004, we spent 14.5bn online and that’s tempting for the criminals.

Phishing

One tactic used to try and steal your financial information is called “phishing”.

Almost all online banks have been hit by phishing attacks

This is when the criminals send you an e-mail dating parent single tip to be from your bank.

It aims to trick you into parting with your passwords and pin numbers.

All the customers of the major High Street banks have been targeted and thousands of us have been deceived.

But criminals are now using more sophisticated methods to steal your cash and control your PC.

Rogue e-mails are being sent that infect your computer with a virus.

This can then enable a criminal to watch every keystroke you make and steal your private information.

8,000 loss

John Worthington runs a small business manufacturing rape alarms, he believes he may have been a victim, he had just over 8,000 taken from his internet bank account even though he kept his security details safe.

Part of the problem lies in how well we’ve protected our computers against attacks from hackers.

To help avoid attacks, you need a blocking device called a firewall and seattle dating advices services software.

But research by APACS shows that 41% of us have no active firewall and 25% don’t have up to date anti-virus dating advices paraplegic.

Which means millions of Britons are easy prey for the hackers.

Consumers should protect themselves against cyber crime

Neil Barrett, a leading computer security expert, told the Money Programme: “I don’t have an online bank account and no, I’m not unique.

“I think if you talk to most information security experts, they don’t have, don’t want and wouldn’t use an internet bank account because of security concerns.”

Domestic dangers

It’s not just card and banking fraud. If your home PC is infected, your computer can then become part of what is called a bot net - a robot network of thousands upon thousands of infected computers.

One British business, Bluesq.com, was targeted by a Russian gang.

Their site was disrupted by the criminals and a ransom request made of $30,000 (16,4 to stop the attacks.

Peter Pedersen, chief technology officer, describes the impact of an attack to the Money Programme.

“It’s a huge pressure, because the business is under attack. The turnover is not coming in and ultimately this could have a big impact on business.”

The company refused to pay the ransom and called in the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit. They managed to track the criminals to Russia and made crucial arrests.

The attacks on BlueSq have stopped but the National Hi- Tech Crime Unit estimate that the cost to British business is 2.4bn and organised gangs are behind many of the attacks.

Money Programme: Britain’s Hi-tech Crime Wave - broadcast Friday 17 June at 1900 on BBC Two.

Read more on News - UK in grip of hi-tech crime wave site

The Five Live tip is Non So in the 1420 at Lingfield (all times GMT) Racing comes from Warwick, Lingfield, Uttoxeter and the top online dating advices site at Interracial dating advices asian. The meeting at Uttoxeter goes ahead after an inspection, with racing vancouver dating experts site at 1240. There are no problems at Lingfield, where the track was given the green light before its intended inspection at 0730. It was mainly dry over night and the ground is soft with good to soft places on the chase course. The action begins at 1220. Champion jockey Tony McCoy has four rides but his best chance is aboard the San francisco dating advices Wins Now in the 1250. Best bet of the day is Non So in the 1420. Trained by the in-form Nicky Henderson, Non So ran well on his seasonal debut at Newbury and should improve. His jumping can be suspect at times but the slow ground should help and give him more time to concentrate. Warwick begin at 1230 and the ground is soft with heavy places on the hurdles course. The feature race is the novice chase at 1430, although only four horses are entered. Voy Por Ustedes is unbeaten since joining Alan King and will be difficult to beat. The dating advices in college jumping has been his strong point to date and this should be at a premium around this demanding course. The all-weather action at Wolverhampton starts at 1205. Following jockey Robert Winston should prove profitable as he looks likely to win with Almaty Express in the 1305. Read source on Sport - Saturday’s racing bulletin

Champions League, third woman dating advices older man round, first leg Date: Wednesday, 15 August Kick-off: 1945 BST Venue: AXA Arena Listen: BBC Radio Five Live Updates: BBC Sport website and mobile Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger feels Tomas Rosicky will play a key role when he faces his former side Sparta Prague in Wednesday’s Champions League qualifier. Wenger said: “It is a game where Tomas is a bit more under pressure than others because of the extra scrutiny. “But he is classy and I feel he is at the age where he can get the right balance in the final third. “He is sharp, quick and lively. We want him to give key passes and score goals - and I am free russian dating advices he will.” Wenger also expanded on his decision to hand William Gallas the captaincy when many others expected Gilberto Silva to be given the role - including the Brazilian midfielder himself. 606: DEBATE How do you think Arsenal will get on against Sparta? “William means he has to be an example everywhere, not only on the pitch - but off the pitch as well and he is right,” said Wenger. “I was pleased with his attitude and the way he took on his role. I expected him to do that. “Overall the no charge dating advices thing is that the team has that type of unity and dating advices prison inmate and desire. “I think the captain is an important position - but it is not as important as the team spirit.” And team spirit, according to Wenger is very high - despite reports that Gilberto was upset that he only learned he would not be captain via the Arsenal website. Wenger added: “I respect Gilberto a lot. I had a by dating man posted tip meeting with him and told him what I wanted to tell him. ” “I cannot justify every small decision, and explain it to everybody. You make a decision because you just want to make the right one.” And Wenger revealed that Arsenal’s come-from-behind win against Fulham on Sunday has further enhanced the togetherness of the squad. “I learnt what I knew before from the preparation - that we had great unity and desire and a great hunger as well,” said Wenger. “This came out in the game because we won a match that we certainly would not have won last year.” Read more on Sport - Wenger expects Rosicky to shine site

Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie has denied reports she is romantically involved with actor Brad Pitt.

“Absolutely not,” she told Marie Claire magazine when asked if she was seeing her Mr and Mrs Smith co-star.

“To be intimate with a married man is not something I could forgive. I could not, could not look at myself in the morning if I did that,” she said.

Jolie, 30, said she is “not dating anybody”, though she does admit to having “intimate dating great idea“.

Speculation has surrounded the pair since Pitt, 41, separated from his wife, Friends star Jennifer Aniston earlier this year, after four years of marriage.

At the time, both Aniston and Pitt denied the break-up was the result of any “tabloid speculation”.

Jennifer Aniston filed for divorce from Pitt in March

But rumours of the affair were revived in March following Aniston’s application for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences.

Last month tabloids ran photographs of Jolie and Pitt on a beach in Africa, while Us Weekly ran an article quoting employees at a California hotel who claimed they saw the pair being “physically cheap dating idea” while staying at the resort.

Pitt’s publicist said rumours of a romance with co-star Jolie were “completely untrue”.

Twice-married Jolie told Marie Claire magazine that her adopted son Maddox would have the final word on her next suitor.

“I think the next man I get involved with would have to become Mad’s father, and that’s a high bar as far as I’m concerned.

“I’m not dating advices london ontario that coming any time soon.”

Mr and Mrs Smith, a spy adventure about a married couple who are both undercover assassins, opens in the US and UK on 10 June.

Read source of it on the News - Jolie denies Pitt romance reports site

John Whiting, tax partner at Free online dating tip, answers your questions. Keith Morell asks: “I would really like to know why the country rakes in 1.1 trillion in taxes and yet only puts about 400bn back into the country. Where does the rest of the money go?” I think, Keith, you have your figures mixed up a little. 1.1 trillion is something like the UK’s GDP - i.e. what the country produces. The tax bill this year is projected to be 428bn (that includes some sundry government receipts as well). That was always projected to be somewhat short of the government’s spending plans, which this year are scheduled to be 456bn. Whether the Chancellor is able to stick to these figures is something that is arousing a great deal of speculation at the moment. No doubt we will have a formal report on them in the pre-Budget report later this year. Vince Clifford, from York has two questions: “If a person became non-resident for tax purposes, would their Isa accounts become taxable until such time as they again become resident in the UK? “And for how many more years will Isas still be available?” To open an Isa, one of the conditions is that you are resident in the UK for tax purposes. If at some stage you go non-resident for tax purposes, the Isa remains tax-free in the UK. However, there are two cautionary notes to sound: You can’t make any additional contributions while you are non-resident. The tax-free nature of the Isa in all probability won’t hold in the country that you are resident in, so you may find yourself having to pay tax on the Isa income there. The time when an Isa does lose its tax-free status is on the holder’s death. Inheriting an Isa from somebody is just the same as inheriting any other investment - you don’t inherit the tax-free status of the investment. When the government introduced Isas in 1999, their guarantee was that Isas would be available for “at least 10 years”. I would guess that they will start evaluating the success of the idea in two or three years’ time. It’s a long way off but should the scheme come to an end in 2009, I would anticipate that existing Isas would be, like Peps, tax sheltered for at least a good while after that. Ross Hall from Fife says: “I heard the news that Marks & Spencer had been refunded a large amount of money from the VAT man. “In 2001 my wife started her own franchise and was told she must be VAT registered. In August 2003 she closed the business. Her turnover never reached the VAT threshold but yet she paid her quarterly VAT returns. Is she entitled to receive the VAT back?” Marks & Spencer did indeed get some VAT back from Customs & Excise. This was as a result of being told to charge VAT on items such as chocolate teacakes, which the courts later held should have been zero-rated. After quite a struggle, they were able to reclaim some of the VAT concerned. On your wife’s position, the first thing to check is that the goods or services she supplied were correctly charged to VAT. The chances are she was charging VAT at the full standard 17.5% rate. It is just possible that this was incorrect. There have been a number of cases in recent years with the position of franchise-type arrangements under discussion. If she had charged VAT incorrectly, then she could be in a similar position to Marks & Spencer (though possibly on a slightly smaller turnover!). However, please don’t get your hopes up - in most cases VAT was held to be correctly charged, but it might be worth checking with the franchisor. The fact that she registered but didn’t reach the VAT threshold does not of itself mean there was anything wrong. The VAT system does allow a trader to register voluntarily before they reach the turnover threshold. That often helps new businesses recover VAT that they have paid but does mean they have to keep records and charge VAT. Assuming that she was validly registered and did run a valid business, albeit for a short time, I fear there is probably nothing much that can be done. Indeed one cautionary note is to say that she should make sure she has properly “signed off” from VAT by deregistering with Customs & Excise. There can be VAT implications on deregistering if there are assets of the business on hand at the time. Colin Cowan, of Loughborough says: “I have not used my 3,000 gift allowance this year or last year. “If I gift an insurance policy worth 15,000 to my children can I deduct 6,000 (2 x 3,000) from the 15,000 leaving only 9,000 as a PET (potentially exempt transfer)? Your analysis is correct. For Inheritance Tax purposes everyone has a 3,000 annual allowance. If you don’t use your allowance in a year it can be carried forward to the next year. However, that’s as far as it goes - if you don’t use it in that next year, it disappears so, as you have set out, you get a maximum of 6,000 to deduct from your gift through the annual exemptions. The rest of the value, as you say, will be a PET; should you die within seven years of making the gift it becomes chargeable to Inheritance Tax, though if you haven’t made any other gifts no tax would be due on that gift. A viewer called Richard complains that the Revenue have used rounded numbers rather than the ones he sent in which seems to have cost him an extra fiver on his tax bill - not huge money but as he says, is this another stealth tax? I’d like to think that the Treasury isn’t so short of tax that they have to squeeze out a few extra pounds by the sort of calculations you suggest! In principle, the Revenue should of course use the figures for income that you put on your return. Extrapolating from tax paid can, as you suggest, introduce a few small errors, especially if they are working back from PAYE, where inevitably a few pounds of roundings creep in over a year. The Revenue’s normal stance is that roundings (we are after all allowed to round down our incomes to the nearest pound) produce an element of swings and roundabouts and at the end of the day deliver a few pounds to the taxpayer rather than to the Revenue. Having checked recently a repayment in similar dating advices white girls, I notice that a friend’s wife had a pound or two extra repayment thanks to roundings. I would have thought that although the sum is still a small one, it has gone beyond what you might term routine roundings so if you have the time it might be worth a letter to your tax office asking for comments. Colin Davies of Co Antrim writes: “I have a holiday home as well as my own house. “If the property market falls and I sell my holiday home can I use the fall in the price of my own house to offset as a capital loss against the capital gains I will have to pay on the sale of my holiday home. “If not, what classes as a capital loss for a private investor?” Sadly, your idea doesn’t work. You only get a capital loss for tax purposes when you sell something, not just because it has dropped in value. In addition, your private house (your “only or main residence̶ is outside the tax net. Usually this is helpful as gains are outside the taxman’s reach, but the corollary is that any losses that you incur are likewise outside the tax net. Where most people get a tax allowable capital loss is on share disposals. With the way the stock market has been going over the past couple of years, it’s quite possible that many people have capital losses and they need to keep a record of them. The loss is, in simple terms, the difference between what you paid for the investment and what you got back; indexation may play a part if you held the investment prior to 1998 and there may be other things like rights issues coming into play. In all of this planning, spouses have their uses - they may have losses and a couple has two CGT annual exemptions to play with (if the house’s ownership is split) which can draw the sting of the tax bill on your holiday home. Geoff Fowler says: “I have for the last 10 years been paying the endowment mortgages on two flats which I bought to give to each of my children when they were of age. “The endowments served me poorly, and I have to settle an enormous Capital Gains Tax bill for each gift. Surely this cannot be morally correct?” I have a great deal of sympathy with the position you find yourself in but I am afraid you are coming up against a facet of the tax system that many indeed do not see as fair. The first point is that by giving an asset away (and therefore receiving no proceeds from it) you can actually create a tax bill for yourself. This is because the asset - in your case each flat - is treated for tax purposes as being given at market value. That, as you are finding, can create a significant capital gain and thus a tax bill for you when potentially you have no funds to meet the bill with. In terms of mitigating the gain, try to make sure you make maximum use of your annual exemptions. Many people split the ownership of the property with their spouse so that a gift occupies two annual exemptions. There is then an argument that you can give your child a share in the property one year and a greater share next year and again mop up some more annual exemptions. You’d have to be careful with how you did this and not make it obvious that it was a plan from the start. But if you manage to mop up a few annual exemptions, indexation up to 1998 and a small amount of tapering relief subsequent to that can at least draw some of the sting. Alan Lord, of Camberley writes: “I noticed on my tax return that my pension is being taxed twice. “To my occupational pension is added the government pension to show my total income. This is taxed at 22%. However, against the personal and marriage allowances are the items that reduce my allowance and one of these is “state pension”. “This reduces my allowance by 5,012 and means, as I see it, 22% of 5,012 which equals another 1,102. Am I correct in this assumption?” I can’t be absolutely certain that things are right on what you have said but I suspect that the Revenue have managed the position properly. However, in doing so they use their own methodology, which only serves to confuse. I notice you have an occupational pension as well as a state pension. That occupational pension is subject to PAYE; just as when you were in work, you get a tax code to tell the pension provider how much tax to deduct. That code starts off with your allowances but is then reduced by the amount of state pension, as that comes tax-free. Thus you only get a small “tax-free” allowance against your employer’s pension. At the end of the year when you get your tax return, the taxman will add your various income sources together and show tax due on them - hopefully covered to all intents and purposes by what has been deducted at source. There will be an extra complication coming in with your married allowance, which only gets tax relief at 10% and is thus clawed back to a degree; then, if your income is above 18,300, you suffer a restriction on the higher age allowances. All of this makes the average pensioner’s tax position ridiculously christian dating idea and it is an area that cries out for millionaire online dating advices. Jim Proffitt asks: “If interest from banks and building societies is the only source of income, after deducting personal allowances is the rest subject to the initial 10% ax band similar to other forms of income?” The short answer to you question is “Yes”. What this can mean is that many people (typically somebody with a small pension and a bit of interest) finds that they get enough income to tip them into the income tax bracket. For somebody over 65, that might mean total income of (say) 7,000, of which (say) 1,000 is interest. With the personal tax allowance for those aged 65+ being 6,610, that means 390 of their income is taxable with a total tax bill (at 10%) of 39. That 1,000 of interest will, though, have had 200 deducted by the bank or building society. That means that the taxpayer is due a repayment of 161 because of the impact of the 10% band. Margaret Pannell, of Northampton also asks a related question: “Could you please inform me as to the amount of savings I am allowed before income tax, I am on state pension. Assuming you are aged over 65, your personal allowance for income tax purposes is 6,610 this year. That means you can have income - state pension and income from your savings - of 6,610 before you pay any tax. This allowance goes up a little if you are aged 75 and over (to 6,720) and tends to be increased each year. So the absolute amount of savings doesn’t matter - it’s the income that the savings produces which is relevant. P Bryan from Cheshire asks: “If shares that are inherited on the death of a spouse are subsequently sold, is the Capital Gains Tax calculated from the date they were inherited or from the date they were originally bought?” Anyone inheriting assets - be they shares, property or anything else - on the death of somebody else takes those assets at the market value at the time of death. That’s the value that will have been used to calculate any Inheritance Tax due. There is no Capital Gains Tax due, for any gains made up to the person’s death. When you sell the shares, you will calculate Capital Gains Tax based on that market value at death. Just as a small point that some people miss when sorting out the estate of a deceased person, it can often be the case that shares in the estate are sold by the executors at a loss compared with market value at the date of death. It’s possible to go back to that market value and rework Inheritance Tax based on proceeds for all shares sold within 12 months of death. That can result in a repayment of IHT and some compensation for a loss of value. Kris Jones asks: “Is there a tax advantage to be had from an offset mortgage? Is it only the excess of savings over the amount of the mortgage on which interest is received, and which is therefore taxable?” Offset mortgages can indeed produce a tax advantage, although in some ways it depends how you look at the situation as to how real the advantage is. If for the sake of argument you receive interest of 100 and pay mortgage interest of 1,000 you will be taxed on that interest of 100 (and net only 80 if you are a basic rate taxpayer); thus you’ll have a net overall cost of 920. If your bank or building society operates in a way that it only charges you interest of 900 and doesn’t give you any interest then you do have a saving (of 20). The point being that you were never entitled to that interest of 100. But it does come down to how your interest is calculated - if you are credited with interest, that is taxable. What you need is a situation where the charge is the 900 in my example and you are simply not entitled to any interest on the deposit that you have. Chester Parker of Portsmouth has a question about Inheritance Tax. “My parents owned their house as tenants in common,” he says. “When my mother died her half of the house was left to my sister. My father still lives there. “As far as my father’s IHT position is concerned, does it make any difference if my sister does not live there or contribute to the upkeep of the house?” It sounds as if your parents have done what is an increasingly common Inheritance Tax planning device - splitting the ownership of their house so that they can each leave their half of the house as they wish. That typically allows the deceased’s Inheritance Tax nil rate band to be used up. Assuming your mother’s will was as simple as you say - she simply left her half of the house direct to your sister - then there is no particular tax reason why your sister should live there or contribute to the upkeep of the house. There might be an issue if a trust were created on your mother’s death where your father was a beneficiary under the trust - if, say, he was given a specific right to live in the whole house. That’s something that would be worth checking out if you are not sure. In terms of the upkeep of the house, technically if your father pays all the outgoings he is making a gift to your sister but probably that would count as “normal expenditure out of income” for Inheritance Tax purposes and not raise an issue. Where there will be a tax point is that when eventually the house is sold, half of the house will rank as your father’s main residence and be outside CGT but the half owned by your sister would be in the CGT net, assuming she has her own house somewhere else. The opinions expressed are John’s, not the programme’s. The answers are not intended to be definitive and should be used for guidance only. Always seek professional advice for your own particular situation. 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