What is fiscal drag and how you can avoid it? June 6, 2025 Millions more people will find themselves paying higher income tax due to frozen tax thresholds, but there are ways to prepare. Around 8.3m people will be paying more tax by 2029, a forecast from the Office for Budget Responsibility shows. This phenomenon is known as fiscal drag. Fiscal drag occurs when earnings rise but tax [...]
Reeves won’t rule out extending income tax threshold freeze June 4, 2025 Rachel Reeves has vowed not to repeat the scale of tax rises in last year’s Autumn Budget as businesses brace for further hikes to meet the chancellor’s wafer-thin fiscal headroom. As much as £40bn in tax rises was unveiled in the budget, including huge hikes to employer National Insurance Contributions, which added millions of pounds [...]
High-tax Britain is losing the race for global talent April 29, 2025 High taxes, fiscal drag and the cost of living mean London is no longer the destination of choice for skilled employees – and competitors like the Basque Country are feeling the benefits, says Ivan Jimenez I’m a proud native of the Basque Country in northern Spain, but having spent a lot of time in the [...]
Fiscal drag pulls nearly 2 million into higher tax bracket April 28, 2025 Income tax thresholds, frozen in 2021, have pulled nearly two million Brits into higher brackets as fiscal drag bites. The number of higher rate taxpayers has increased by 1.88m, from 4.43, to 6.31m, between 2021 and 2025, according to finance specialists Rift. “Rising income taxes have been particularly punitive in recent years, as inflation reached [...]
How to get your personal finances in order before the end of the tax year April 1, 2025 As we enter the final week of the 2024-25 tax year, the good news is that investors still have time to maximise their tax-free allowances to protect their wealth from HMRC. The not-so-good news is that many savers and investors don’t seem to be aware of this, and the clock is now ticking.
PMQs: Starmer won’t repeat pledge to unfreeze income tax thresholds March 19, 2025 Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of “plotting stealth taxes” after he failed to repeat Rachel Reeves’ pledge to unfreeze income tax thresholds. The Prime Minister was pushed on his economic plans ahead of next week’s spring statement – which Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch branded an “emergency budget”. During Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) on Wednesday, [...]
Show me my money! Four ways to get your finances in order before the new tax year January 30, 2025 The financial landscape is vast, and navigating it can be a headache, especially with a lot of change. However, with inflation still eating into savings, and a bigger tax burden on individuals looming for 2025, protecting your money and making sure it is working hard enough for you has gone from a nice-to-have, to a [...]
Stealth tax raid to cost City workers £14k each by 2028 June 3, 2024 "The tax rises that happened as a result of the pandemic and the energy shock – these two giant shocks – will stay for their allotted time period," Hunt told the BBC.