Sumayyah Khan
Tax, Benefits & Family Finance
Sumayyah Khan writes our retirement tax, benefits and family-finance guides. As a Semi Senior Accountant working in the UK, she spends her week explaining HMRC rules to clients - including older taxpayers worried about getting things wrong.
She believes the biggest wins in retirement finance are unclaimed benefits and avoidable tax - and that the people most likely to lose out are those least likely to ask for help.
Outside RetirementExpert, Sumayyah is studying for further accountancy qualifications and writes plain-English explainers for clients facing self-assessment for the first time in retirement.
Credentials
- Semi Senior Accountant
- Studying towards full chartered accountancy qualifications
Recent articles by Sumayyah Khan
- Is the State Pension taxable?
How the State Pension counts as taxable income, how HMRC collects the tax, and what happens if your pension uses up your personal allowance.
- Tax on pension drawdown
How income tax works on flexi-access drawdown, the 25% tax-free element, and how to avoid pushing yourself into a higher tax band.
- Emergency tax on pension withdrawals
Why HMRC often emergency-taxes your first pension withdrawal, the forms you can use to reclaim it, and how to avoid the problem.
- How much pension can I take tax-free?
The 25% tax-free rule, the Lump Sum Allowance, and how the rules apply to defined contribution and defined benefit pensions.
- Marriage Allowance for pensioners
How retired couples can use Marriage Allowance to save up to £252 in tax, who qualifies, and how to apply through HMRC.
- Inheritance tax and pensions
How pensions interact with inheritance tax, the changes scheduled for April 2027, and what passes to your beneficiaries.
- Paying for care home fees
How the local authority means test works, the upper and lower capital limits, and what you can do to plan for care fees.
- Can I give my house to my children?
The risks of gifting your home to your children - inheritance tax, deprivation of assets, gift with reservation, and capital gains tax.
- Downsizing in retirement
When downsizing makes sense, the real costs (stamp duty, moving, legal) and how to weigh it up against equity release.
- Retiring with a mortgage
How to handle a mortgage that runs into retirement - extending the term, RIO mortgages, drawdown to clear it, or downsizing.
- Helping elderly parents with money
Practical steps for adult children - checking entitlements, setting up online banking safely, third-party access and lasting power of attorney.
- Lasting power of attorney and retirement planning
The two types of LPA, why they matter more than a will for retirement planning, and how to register one with the Office of the Public Guardian.