LAST weekend I spoke at a tax conference in Scotland.

I was struck by the fact that every speaker made the same two points.

The first was that the Summer Budget was one of the most radical any of us could remember and the second was that we all expected even more radical changes over the next year, perhaps as early as the Autumn Statement on November 25.

There have been significant changes to the taxation of savings income and dividends.

While many businesses have been (correctly) advised to operate as limited companies over recent years, the benefit of doing so will, for most, have been reduced – but not eliminated - by the changes announced in July.

People who have significant levels of dividend income may also need to review their situation in the light of the new rules.

Landlords faced three major changes in the July Budget, the most significant of which was the announcement that interest relief will be restricted to basic rate only in future.

The restriction will be phased in over four years starting in April 2017.

The effect for any letting business (excepting those operated through limited companies, which are not affected) where there are significant borrowings could be crippling.

One of the speakers gave an illustration of a real lettings business that would be facing a tax rate of 164% of the actual profit.

If interest rates increase, the effect will be even greater. All landlords should seek advice on the potential impact of this change as soon as possible.

The sheer scale of changes to the tax system is unprecedented. There are yet more changes to pensions with more expected. The days of higher rate tax relief for pension contributions appear numbered, though some people have a one off opportunity to make increased contributions this year.

At the end of the conference the speakers got together to mull over some of the issues each of us had raised.

We talked about what we expected over the next year. We could – and can – only guess, but we all felt that there would be further radical changes to pension taxation and more changes for businesses.

We were all surprised that there had been no changes to capital gains tax and we all expect that there will be. As one of my colleagues put it: expect the unexpected on November 25.

Somerset County Gazette:

*Paul Aplin OBE is a tax partner with A C Mole & Sons and chairman of the Technical Committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales Tax Faculty; you can follow him on Twitter @PaulAplinOnTax. He and fellow tax partner Amanda Gunter can be contacted on 01823-624450.