Budget 2015: George Osborne’s election gift for young and old alike March 18, 2015 Chancellor George Osborne used the final Budget of this government to give sweeteners to both younger and older voters yesterday. In an unexpected move, he introduced a new Help-To-Buy ISA, giving first-time buyers up to £3,000. “For every £200 [first-time buyers] save for their deposit, the government will top it up with £50 more,” Osborne [...]
Budget 2015: A quick guide to all the key measures March 18, 2015 Chancellor delivers good news for savers and first-time buyers as he turns up heat on banks in play for votes ahead of election. UK ECONOMIC OUTLOOK ● The UK was the fastest growing economy in the G7 last year. However, the economy grew by just 0.5 per cent in the final three months of 2014, [...]
Budget 2015: Young first-time home buyers given a helping hand with Help to Buy Isa March 18, 2015 With fewer young people able to afford to buy a home, the Budget aims to help them out. Tim Wallace asks: Will it work? Can you imagine paying £22,000 for a flat? It sounds like a joke now, but it was the average price of a first-time buyer’s home in Britain in 1984. It was [...]
On life, taxes and Osborne’s chance to beat a £20bn target March 18, 2015 If taxes are one of life’s few certainties, then taxes on banks are becoming just as predictable. Just when HSBC thought its lot could not get any tougher, up pops George Osborne with his bi-annual hike to the rate of the charge on lenders’ balance sheets. The chancellor’s final pre-General Election Budget included a commitment [...]
Budget 2015: Banks bear brunt of pre-election tax increases March 18, 2015 Britain’s banks were targeted yet again for a tax raid yesterday, as the chancellor hit them with the biggest tax hike of any sector. George Osborne increased the bank levy for the ninth time since it was introduced in 2011, in a move which will raise an extra £4.4bn in five years. The tax, which [...]
Budget 2015: Britain’s savers rewarded with new tax breaks March 18, 2015 Savers are to be rewarded with a new personal savers allowance, which the Treasury said would take 95 per cent of taxpayers out of savings tax altogether. In a nod to the difficulties imposed on savers by unimpressive interest rates, the chancellor has introduced an allowance of £1,000 of interest earned on savings. Those whose [...]
Budget 2015: Boozers set for a boost with cuts to beer, cider and Scotch duties March 18, 2015 Britain’s publicans raised a toast after further cuts to alcohol duties were announced in the 2015 Budget. With 1p off a pint and two per cent off cider duty, it marks the third year in a row duties have been cut. However, Britain’s budding wine growers will be disappointed as their duty was frozen. Ernst [...]
Budget 2015: Reactions to the chancellor’s statement March 18, 2015 THE BUSINESS GROUP Confederation of British Industry director generalJohn Cridland The Budget provides a clear plan for fiscal health and growth and will help businesses create jobs. “Stability and consistency are what businesses need to grow and prosper. This Budget sets the tone, providing a clear plan for fiscal health and growth. [...]
Budget 2015: George Osborne has discovered his mojo March 18, 2015 George Osborne has long been considered a cunning political strategist – in some circles, at least. Personally, for a long time, I found that argument difficult to accept. His first few Budgets hardly showed signs of high-level Westminster acumen. The debut of 2010 was inevitably tough, confirming an unpopular hike in VAT. The next prompted [...]
Budget 2015: Take-home pay set to increase for UK workers March 18, 2015 Britain's workers will take home more of their income from April onwards, when the personal allowance goes up to £10,600. The amount that can be earned before tax is applied will increase again, to £10,800, in 2016, and then go up to £11,000 in 2017. For those paying the higher rate of tax, at [...]