Welcome to the Spring edition of our newsletter
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News
Out goes hand sanitiser, in comes vinyl…
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has been sorting through its inflation shopping basket. Every year in March, the ONS announces the results of a review of the approximately 750 items which it uses to compute inflation indices, such as … Continue reading
The child benefit tax rule changes
One of the few surprises in the Spring Budget was the change affecting how child benefit is taxed for higher earners. The high income child benefit charge (HICBC or ‘hicbic’) was introduced in January 2013 to reduce child benefit payments … Continue reading
Demographics shift to minority married
New data on marriage and civil partnerships shows a significant threshold has been crossed. ‘Population estimates by marital status and living arrangements, England and Wales: 2022’, sounds like a rather esoteric piece of academic output from the Office for National … Continue reading
How much does retirement cost?
New research has put some surprising numbers on the income needed in retirement. Each year since 2019, the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) has set about answering the question of how much retirement costs for couples and single retirees. … Continue reading
25 years of ISAs
Individual Savings Accounts will celebrate their 25th birthday on 6 April 2024. A quarter of a century ago, Personal Equity Plans (PEPs) and Tax Exempt Special Savings Accounts (TESSAs), both inventions of Conservative chancellors, were replaced by Individual Savings Accounts … Continue reading
Budget – 6 March 2024
Contents Budget highlights Introduction Personal taxation Pensions, savings and investments Capital taxes Welfare and family support Business taxes Value added tax Tax administration National insurance contributions BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS The main rate of class 1 employee national insurance contributions (NICs) will … Continue reading
Tax Tables 2024/25
2024/25 Tax Tables Click the image to download PDF.
Please click the image to the left to download the PDF
2023: The year of disinflation
At the start of 2023, the Prime Minister pledged to halve inflation. The goal was reached, but how much credit can he take for the achievement? Source: ONS Inflation across 2023, as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) ended … Continue reading
The future of the State pension
Public opinion is pessimistic about the future of the State pension. Ask yourself these two questions: Do you believe that the State pension will be around in 30 years’ time? Do you think that the State pension will keep pace … Continue reading
On your marks – an early Spring Budget for 2024
A date to note in this year’s calendar is the early Spring Budget on Wednesday 6 March. The Treasury issued a press release in the time between Christmas and the New Year revealing the Spring Budget date, a week earlier … Continue reading
HMRC, eBay and second-hand news
The media storm surrounding HMRC taxing eBay and other online sellers from the start of 2024 was, in fact, itself counterfeit goods. A crop of stories across social and traditional media swirled across the start of the new year about … Continue reading
A revamp for individual savings accounts
From 6 April 2024, individual savings account (ISA) rules will be changing, mostly for the better. In April, ISAs will celebrate their 25th birthday. However, the ISA was hardly a new-born back in 1999, as it was effectively a reworking … Continue reading
The national insurance tax cut
For employees, the national insurance cut announced in the Autumn Statement took effect on 6 January. For many years, successive governments have been happy for the public to vaguely believe that national insurance contributions (NICs) are building up in some … Continue reading
