Taken from the FT:
Winners
MINIMUM WAGE WORKERS
Workers on the minimum wage will get above-inflation pay rises. The biggest pay bump will be for those between the ages of 18 and 20, who will enjoy a 5.4 per cent increase in pay, with their hourly rate increasing from £5.60 to £5.90.
Minimum wage workers above the age of 25, who are on the national living wage, will see their pay increase by 4.4 per cent.
The Low Pay Commission, the body that advises the government on minimum wages, is mandated to set the NLW so it reaches 60 per cent of median earnings by 2020. Based on current projections, the NLW will hit £8.62 by the end of the decade.
UNIVERSITY GRADUATES
University graduates in England and Wales who started their courses in September 2012 or after will not need to begin repaying their student loans until they earn at least £25,000.
Repayments previously started when graduates earned more than £21,000.
As a result, a graduate earning £23,500 will pay nothing under the new scheme, while before they paid £18 a month. For graduates on higher salaries, the savings will be bigger: anyone who earns £40,000 will save £30 a month, as they will now repay £112 a month, rather than £142.
DRIVERS
At the autumn Budget, chancellor Philip Hammond froze fuel duty for the seventh consecutive year, meaning the headline rate levied on petrol and diesel will remain at 57.95p per litre. If duty had been increased in line with the rate of inflation from September — the usual rate for uprating taxes and benefits — it would have increased to 61.54p per litre.
Because VAT is applied after fuel duty, the freeze in fuel duty saves drivers a further 0.72 pence per litre in VAT.
The Treasury has estimated that the duty freeze will save the average driver £160 a year.
Losers
WEALTHY SCOTS
The Scottish parliament has used its taxation powers for the first time and will introduce four extra tax rates and three new thresholds. The changes will make the Scottish tax system more progressive overall and will take more money from high earners.
The basic tax rate in Scotland will now be 19 per cent, compared with 20 per cent in the rest of the UK. The highest rate of tax will be 46 per cent north of the border, compared with 45 per cent elsewhere.
The new rates add additional complexity to the tax system, particularly with regard to the marriage allowance, a scheme that lets basic rate taxpayers claim some of a non-working spouses’ tax free allowance.
Meanwhile, some taxpayers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will see a rise in their take-home pay owing to an increase in the tax-free allowance, from £11,500 to £11,850. The threshold for paying the higher rate of tax will also increase, from £45,000 to £46,350.
SHAREHOLDERS
The tax-free dividend allowance — the amount shareholders can receive in dividends before they have to pay income tax on the money — will fall from £5,000 to £2,000 in the new tax year.
The Treasury estimates that two-thirds of people receiving dividend income will be unaffected by the change, but about 2.27m people will lose an average of £315 in the new tax year.
WORKING-AGE BENEFIT CLAIMANTS
People on benefits are set to lose out as working-age benefits remain frozen. The Institute for Fiscal Studies think-tank has estimated the policy will cost the average affected household £450 by 2020.
The freeze affects jobseeker’s allowance, employment and support allowance, income support, housing benefits, universal credit, child tax credits, working tax credits and child benefits. Disability-related benefits are not frozen.
Mortgage Solutions had the following to say about adding landlords to the above list:
Landlords are among the biggest losers, as the amount of mortgage interest they can offset in their tax bill falls from 75% to 50%.
Many buy-to-let investors have moved properties into a limited company in response to the tax changes, Kent Reliance recently found and warned that those who don’t prepare could be in for a shock.
Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) is also being withdrawn today and will be replaced by a loan, which will be payable upon the sale of the home.
The change affects around tens of thousands of homeowners and those who don’t sign a new loan agreement could see payments stopped altogether.
But many have not been successfully contacted about their options, which could see some homeowners struggling to make their mortgage repayments, according to Mark Pilling, managing director at Spicerhaart corporate sales.
He said: “With this in mind, lenders need to keep a really close eye on their clients’ ability to keep up their repayments and engage with third parties to look after every borrower’s best interests.”
Winners
MINIMUM WAGE WORKERS
Workers on the minimum wage will get above-inflation pay rises. The biggest pay bump will be for those between the ages of 18 and 20, who will enjoy a 5.4 per cent increase in pay, with their hourly rate increasing from £5.60 to £5.90.
Minimum wage workers above the age of 25, who are on the national living wage, will see their pay increase by 4.4 per cent.
The Low Pay Commission, the body that advises the government on minimum wages, is mandated to set the NLW so it reaches 60 per cent of median earnings by 2020. Based on current projections, the NLW will hit £8.62 by the end of the decade.
UNIVERSITY GRADUATES
University graduates in England and Wales who started their courses in September 2012 or after will not need to begin repaying their student loans until they earn at least £25,000.
Repayments previously started when graduates earned more than £21,000.
As a result, a graduate earning £23,500 will pay nothing under the new scheme, while before they paid £18 a month. For graduates on higher salaries, the savings will be bigger: anyone who earns £40,000 will save £30 a month, as they will now repay £112 a month, rather than £142.
DRIVERS
At the autumn Budget, chancellor Philip Hammond froze fuel duty for the seventh consecutive year, meaning the headline rate levied on petrol and diesel will remain at 57.95p per litre. If duty had been increased in line with the rate of inflation from September — the usual rate for uprating taxes and benefits — it would have increased to 61.54p per litre.
Because VAT is applied after fuel duty, the freeze in fuel duty saves drivers a further 0.72 pence per litre in VAT.
The Treasury has estimated that the duty freeze will save the average driver £160 a year.
Losers
WEALTHY SCOTS
The Scottish parliament has used its taxation powers for the first time and will introduce four extra tax rates and three new thresholds. The changes will make the Scottish tax system more progressive overall and will take more money from high earners.
The basic tax rate in Scotland will now be 19 per cent, compared with 20 per cent in the rest of the UK. The highest rate of tax will be 46 per cent north of the border, compared with 45 per cent elsewhere.
The new rates add additional complexity to the tax system, particularly with regard to the marriage allowance, a scheme that lets basic rate taxpayers claim some of a non-working spouses’ tax free allowance.
Meanwhile, some taxpayers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will see a rise in their take-home pay owing to an increase in the tax-free allowance, from £11,500 to £11,850. The threshold for paying the higher rate of tax will also increase, from £45,000 to £46,350.
SHAREHOLDERS
The tax-free dividend allowance — the amount shareholders can receive in dividends before they have to pay income tax on the money — will fall from £5,000 to £2,000 in the new tax year.
The Treasury estimates that two-thirds of people receiving dividend income will be unaffected by the change, but about 2.27m people will lose an average of £315 in the new tax year.
WORKING-AGE BENEFIT CLAIMANTS
People on benefits are set to lose out as working-age benefits remain frozen. The Institute for Fiscal Studies think-tank has estimated the policy will cost the average affected household £450 by 2020.
The freeze affects jobseeker’s allowance, employment and support allowance, income support, housing benefits, universal credit, child tax credits, working tax credits and child benefits. Disability-related benefits are not frozen.
Mortgage Solutions had the following to say about adding landlords to the above list:
Landlords are among the biggest losers, as the amount of mortgage interest they can offset in their tax bill falls from 75% to 50%.
Many buy-to-let investors have moved properties into a limited company in response to the tax changes, Kent Reliance recently found and warned that those who don’t prepare could be in for a shock.
Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) is also being withdrawn today and will be replaced by a loan, which will be payable upon the sale of the home.
The change affects around tens of thousands of homeowners and those who don’t sign a new loan agreement could see payments stopped altogether.
But many have not been successfully contacted about their options, which could see some homeowners struggling to make their mortgage repayments, according to Mark Pilling, managing director at Spicerhaart corporate sales.
He said: “With this in mind, lenders need to keep a really close eye on their clients’ ability to keep up their repayments and engage with third parties to look after every borrower’s best interests.”
although Im expecting 3%.
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