Treasury forced to negotiate credit easing with Brussels November 29, 2011 THE GOVERNMENT cannot launch its credit easing programme until it gets permission from the European Commission, chancellor George Osborne revealed yesterday as he formally announced the £21bn programme to reduce the cost of borrowing by small businesses (SMEs). The scheme will work by guaranteeing the debt of those banks that lend most to SMEs, on [...]
Banks face repeated levy hikes over coming years November 29, 2011 BANKS face the prospect of having to repeatedly calculate the cost of the government’s bank levy after chancellor George Osborne hiked it yesterday and is likely to have to do so again. Osborne put up the levy for the second time this year, increasing from 0.075 to 0.088 per cent from January onwards. He had [...]
Pension charge loophole is shut November 29, 2011 Employers who make asset-backed pension contributions to their company’s pension scheme will receive less tax relief, the government said yesterday, closing a popular loophole used by a growing numbers of firms. A new Finance Bill 2012 was introduced with immediate effect to ensure that any payments now made will not allow businesses to claim “excessive” [...]
Tax breaks for artwork donors November 29, 2011 Wealthy individuals who donate gifts of valuable art to the nation will receive tax breaks, in an estimated £15m per year scheme announced yesterday. Givers of “pre-eminent objects” will be able to claim up to 25 per cent off their income or capital gains tax, up to a limit of £30m annually. The move combines [...]
Public sector faces further years of cuts November 29, 2011 WORKERS in the public sector are bracing themselves for years of extra pain, after the chancellor said he would squeeze government expenditure further as he seeks to balance the nation’s books. Osborne is planning to cap public sector pay rises to one per cent in 2016 and 2017 – two years beyond the current pay [...]
Rise in child support shelved November 29, 2011 THE COALITION has scrapped a planned above-inflation rise in child tax credits which had been unveiled by George Osborne only last year. The chancellor said he would not go ahead with the plan to raise the child element of the child tax credit by £110 above the rate of inflation in 2012-13, saving nearly £1bn. He [...]
Pension age to rise to 67 by 2026 to save £60bn November 29, 2011 WORKERS retiring in or after 2028 will draw a state pension from the age of 67 instead of 66, chancellor George Osborne said yesterday, in a move that will save up to £60bn in the decade after it is implemented. Osborne said the UK’s average life expectancy had risen by at least a year and [...]
International aid budget is slashed by £1bn November 29, 2011 GEORGE Osborne has slashed more than £1bn from the UK’s aid budget to prop up other balances for capital spending. Yesterday the chancellor announced nearly £1.2bn will be taken from the department for international development. Planned increases in the department’s budget will be trimmed by £380m this year, £265m next year and £525m the following [...]
Workers to suffer falling real pay until late 2013 November 29, 2011 THE SQUEEZE on earnings will not stop until 2013, which means consumption will do little to help an economic recovery, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecasts published yesterday. Once inflation is taken into account, real earnings fell by 2.3 per cent in 2011 – “a post-war record”, said OBR boss Robert Chote. Consumption [...]
FACT CHECKER | WITH TIM WALLACE November 29, 2011 “Because of lower market interest rates we have secured for Britain debt interest payments are forecast to be £22bn less than predicted,” said George Osborne yesterday – a “safe haven dividend”. There are two key claims here – that low rates do save £22bn; and his policies secured those low rates. Firstly, the level of [...]
