Slower growth and perilous public finances: Can infrastructure and schools ride to Osborne’s rescue? March 16, 2016 George Osborne’s eighth Budget since taking office as chancellor proved to be one of his most challenging. With the economy taking a turn for the worse, forecasts as recent as those made in November’s Autumn Statement had to be significantly paired back. In fact, in the short term, the economy could weaken further than the [...]
Is the Lifetime Isa the answer to poor savings rates among younger people? March 16, 2016 Richard Parkin, head of pensions at Fidelity International, says Yes. The reasons why younger people don’t save enough for the longer term are numerous, but fundamentally they boil down to the feeling that they can’t afford it or that there are too many other demands on their funds. The Lifetime Isa is definitely not a magic [...]
Budget 2016: Chancellor George Osborne missed a trick and his Budget will be disappointing to the housing market March 16, 2016 George Osborne delivered a thoroughly disappointing Budget for the housing market today with scant reference to initiatives to assist the supply of new build properties. In previous speeches too, the chancellor has waxed lyrical about purchase initiatives such as help to buy (1 and 2) and help to buy ISAs etc however, today, nothing was laid [...]
Budget 2016: A tax on house purchase is a tax on house building too – which will not help the UK’s housing crisis March 16, 2016 A tax on house purchase is a tax on house building too and could perversely worsen the housing crisis in the long term. Raising taxes is a tried and tested way to discourage activity that the government thinks is bad for us and right now it seems the target is buy to let. Unfortunately the [...]
Budget 2016: Before small businesses celebrate George Osborne’s speech, they should check the small print for details March 16, 2016 The review of the small business rate relief scheme in chancellor George Osborne’s latest Budget is a very welcome one for UK businesses and is a better outcome than many expected. The news that many more qualifying businesses will pay no rates whatsoever from 2017 is also cause for celebration for small business throughout the [...]
Budget 2016: George Osborne’s digital tax breaks prove Britain’s a world leader in the sharing economy March 16, 2016 The digital age tax break is a colossal win for Britain. We are the first in the world to introduce a sharing economy allowance that allows individuals to earn up to £2,000 tax free. Chancellor George Osborne, has today divided this into two allowances, each worth £1,000 a year, for both trading and property income. [...]
Budget 2016: With Crossrail 2 and the opportunity for London to keep its business rates, there were bright spots for the capital March 16, 2016 With the ‘storm clouds gathering’, the Budget revealed additional pain for public servants – an extra £3.5bn in spending cuts over the remainder of the parliament. For many this Budget will feel like just another twist in the story of fiscal austerity over this decade, adding further momentum to massive changes that are already under [...]
Budget 2016: With the new Lifetime Isa, George Osborne is risking creating a spaghetti soup of Isa products March 16, 2016 All the talk before the Budget was about making pensions simpler. Despite noble intentions, what George Osborne has actually done is make Isas more complex. Don’t get me wrong. The Lifetime Isa and, in particular, the increase in the main Isa allowance to £20,000 are positive developments for UK savers. However, there is a danger [...]
Budget 2016: The ‘Graph of Doom’ and the UK’s £100bn secret weapon March 16, 2016 Another budget, another round of public funding cuts. Whatever the efficacy of George Osborne’s latest round of cuts to public services, one thing is increasingly clear: while government backs British business to flourish and focuses on ensuring the UK is ‘living within its means’, someone must fill the growing public services gap. When projecting their future spending power [...]
Budget 2016: As chancellor George Osborne announces new lifetime Isa, young workers now face baffling saving choices March 16, 2016 The introduction of a flexible new savings product for younger workers sounds superficially attractive but opens up a baffling range of options and the risk of making damaging choices. In recent years millions of people in their 20s and 30s have been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension, benefiting from an employer contribution, tax relief [...]