HMRC officially launches digital Personal Tax Accounts online, with more than a million users to have access by mid-December 2015 December 14, 2015 The taxman is coming to a computer screen near you, after HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) officially launched its online Personal Tax Accounts (PTA) today. The digital PTAs aim to provide people with a clearer and more real-time picture of their tax situation. More than a million self-assessment taxpayers will have access to their account by [...]
The new National Living Wage will set employers back £804m in direct costs alone December 14, 2015 The National Living Wage will set private sector employers back £804m in direct costs alone, according to findings released today by the Regulatory Policy Committee. The independent verification body discovered that National Living Wage, which will be introduced in April 2016 at an initial rate of £7.20 an hour for those aged 25 and over, [...]
Just six per cent of the world’s top 1,500 companies have a chief digital officer, although Europe is outpacing North America December 14, 2015 The world may feel like it has been drastically digitised but that might not be true as far as the boardrooms of some of the world's largest companies are concerned. Research released today by Strategy&, PwC's strategy consulting business, has revealed that just six per cent of the world top 1,500 companies by revenue have appointed a [...]
Bank of England’s Minouche Shafik will not vote to hike interest rates until wages go up December 14, 2015 UK rate-setter Minouche Shafik has said today she will not vote to lift interest rates from record lows until wage growth picks up. The member of the Bank of England’s nine-strong monetary policy committee said “the rate of wage growth seems to have levelled off again in the most recent data”. But there could be [...]
Jump in Eurozone industrial production boosts economic growth outlook December 14, 2015 Industrial production in the Eurozone rebounded in October after two months of decline, according to new figures released this morning. Output from Eurozone factories, quarries and mines, jumped 0.6 per cent in October compared with September. On the year, industrial production across the currency bloc was up 1.9 per cent. The figures, published by Eurostat, the statistical office of [...]
The definitive guide to where you can afford to buy a home: Unless you earn £42,645 forget about living in London December 14, 2015 Where in the UK can you afford a house? If you're a first-time buyer, the answer is "very few places". If you earn under £42,645 per year, you’re going to struggle to find anywhere in the capital. Use the tool below on desktop to find out where you can afford to buy, based on the interest rate on [...]
London grandchildren more dependent on grandparents than anywhere else in the UK – with most of capital’s over-55s still providing support to adult children December 14, 2015 Bank of mum and dad has become bank of mum's mum and dad for many Londoners, as research from peer-to-peer lending service Zopa has discovered that those in the capital rely more on grandparents for financial and childcare support than elsewhere in the UK. More than three-quarters (77 per cent) of grandparents in London are [...]
The government’s buy-to-let stamp duty increase will cost landlords the equivalent of 11 months’ rental income December 14, 2015 George Osborne's hike of stamp duty on buy-to-let properties could cost landlords the equivalent of 11 months' income, new research has suggested. The Countrywide Lettings Index suggested that the three per cent rate will mean a 0.2 per cent drop in yields – the equivalent of 11 months' income, when you take into account borrowing costs. Those [...]
Over 7m workers will resolve to find a new job in the new year, and 54 per cent will make a career-related promise December 14, 2015 Employers be warned: a large chunk of your staff might be using New Year's Day not to nurse a hangover, but to polish their CV. Research published today by CV-Library has estimated 7.7m workers will resolve to leave their job in 2016. That's just shy of a quarter of the 31.2m people in work, according to Office [...]
Getting onto the housing ladder is £2,300 a year cheaper than renting, says Santander December 14, 2015 First-time buyers could save £2,300 a year by getting on the property ladder compared to renting, according to research by Santander Mortgages. The average monthly rent in the UK is currently £995 compared to monthly repayments of £805 for the average first-time buyer household, meaning buyers could save £190 a month, the lender said. In [...]