The Busy Person’s Guide to the Autumn Statement 2013

On Thursday 5th December the Chancellor George Osborne revealed the Government’s plans for the next few years in his 2013 Autumn Statement. While in recent years these statements have been the source of much doom and gloom, this one was somewhat of a breath of fresh air.

The statement comprised of a variety of sections including tax, pensions, transport, housing and employment. Throughout this article we are going to break down each of the sections and give you a brief overview of the most important aspects of the statement. 

Tax

As of April 2014 the personal tax allowance will increase to £10,000 meaning you’ll be able to earn an additional £560 more per year without being taxed. The higher rate (40%) tax threshold will also be increasing 1% in 2014 and 2015.

The good news doesn’t stop there; the government have asked Local Authorities to freeze council tax rates in 2014. Naturally, it is up to the Local Authorities to decide whether or not they adhere to the government’s request however there is currently no evidence to suggest that they won’t. The chancellor also revealed plans to crackdown on tax evasion, avoidance and fraud which will raise £9bn over the course of the next 5 years. 

Pension

Unsurprisingly (due to the growing life expectancy in the UK) the state pension age is set to increase to 68 in the mid-2030s and again to 69 in the mid-2040s.

This was greeted with news that the basic state pension will increase 2.7% as of April next year. Unfortunately though having broken this 2.7% increase down, it only converts to £2.95 per week! 

Transport & Motoring

The stand-out news in the transport section of the Chancellors statement is that the scheduled 2p per litre rise in fuel has been scrapped; news that has been welcomed by motorists nationwide.

It was also revealed that the old fashioned paper tax disks will be replaced with an online system from October of 2014. This also opens up the chance to pay tax via monthly direct debit along with the traditional annual or biannual payments. 

Housing

The housing section was largely dominated by the Help to Buy scheme and the Governments plans to push renewable energy in the UK.

The chancellor echoed the Prime Ministers praise for the Help to Buy scheme and announced the mortgage providers Virgin and Aldermore will be joining the scheme later this month. This was accompanied with news of a £1billion funding line to help ‘stalled housing developments’ move forward; ultimately increasing the amount of new builds available.

In a hope to boost the amount of homes employing renewable energy sources the government is launching various grants and schemes. They are firstly looking to offer £1,000 energy efficiency grants for home buyers which will be available subject to passing home inspections. They will also be targeting private landlords by offering various incentives to improve the efficiency of their properties. 

Employment & Education

In a hope to further boost employment rates, the Government is targeting school leavers and young adults by offering various schemes to help them get their foot in the door.

The first is a scheme in association with Job Centre Plus that looks to help those with few qualifications get on the employment ladder. Alongside this 20,000 more apprenticeship opportunities will also be created in the next two years.

The Chancellor also announced plans to put a stop to those spending large amounts of time on unemployment benefits. These plans state that 18 to 21 year olds will face losing their benefits after 6 months if they don’t take a work placement. 

Conclusion

As you can see the general outlook is positive. When you pair this with the fact that growth is up, employment is up and the deficit is down – the next few years could bright for the UKs economy.

This article has been written by Jason Scott on behalf of UK Credit Limited. For more up-to-date finance related news and guides visit https://www.guarantorloansonline.co.uk/Blog.

An Overview about Tax Efficient Life Insurance

If you have started up a business recently with a few number of employees, you must be planning of providing life insurance cover to each of the. Well, at most of the times, the employers of the small companies opt for a contract, in which the premiums are paid by the employer, on behalf of the employee, either from his own earnings or from the company's account. As a result of this, the employer spends a lot on the premiums. Moreover, these premiums of conventional life insurance policies are also subject to National Insurance payable. As an alternative to the traditional method of life cover policies, tax efficient life insurance has turned out to be a popular insurance policy among the employers, these days. According to the features of this policy, the employer don't need to enter any specific contract with your employees. You can just set up a death in service benefit for all your employees in which the payments are done by the company, and that too, in a tax efficient manner.

Who should opt for this cover?

This type of life insurance policy is especially designed for employers who have started up new businesses, with a few number of employees. This type of policy is absolutely not meant for companies that have the required number of workers to be eligible for a registered group life scheme.

Moreover, employees with high earning are especially benefited by this type of policy. This is so because the employees are allowed to keep the payouts separately from their pension or other annual allowances. Since the pension funds are high enough in themselves, it is important to keep these benefits separate from them. Since the premiums are not paid in kind, they are not subject to severe tax obligations. The employer, too, will get to enjoy certain substantial tax benefits like corporation tax relief as the monthly premiums are considered as trade expenses. 

Some positive aspects about Tax Efficient life insurance -

The recent changes made to relevant life legislation have proven to be extremely beneficial for the directors of the small companies. Initially, there was no individual scheme to be offered to the individual employees, whereas one could not apply for the registered group life scheme unless there were enough employees, to be eligible for that.

Due to such restrictions, mentioned in the legislation, there were some problems in providing life insurance policies to the employees and considering these problems, certain changes were made in the legislation, following which a client will be entitled to 15 times of his annual salary.

One should remember that the policy does not include any sort of surrender value and it expires when the beneficiary reaches the age of 75. Moreover, if the local tax inspector is convinced of the fact that the premiums can be considered as trade expenses and they qualify under the exclusive rules, they will be considered for certain tax exemptions. One can use a relevant life calculator to understand the effectiveness of tax efficient life insurance.

Are You Paying Too Much Tax? – How to Claim Tax Back if You Are

Taxes (Photo credit: Tax Credits)

If you think you’ve been paying too much tax, then how do you claim tax back? Here’s the low down on how to get your money back and what to do if you think you’ve overpaid. Overpayment can appear in many guises, either through income tax, PAYE, self assessment, pension, savings or national insurance, so let’s take a look at each one in turn. 

Income Tax 

Tax on your income is taken from the amount that you earn each year and is broken down as follows. 

• Anyone under 65 can earn up to and including £8165 before they’re taxed 
• Anyone between the ages of 65 -74 can earn up to and including £10,500 
• Anyone 75 and over can earn up to and including £10,660 

This system works well for a person with one full time job with a rate of pay that’s fixed. However it mightn’t be as straight forward for someone who doesn’t fit into this criteria. If you feel that you have been overpaying tax, then contact the HMRC, or use the free HMRC income tax checker. 

PAYE 

The majority of the UK workforce pay tax through the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system which is deducted automatically from your salary. PAYE uses a tax code to determine how much tax you should be paying, but if your pay fluctuates or you’re not employed for the full year, then again, you could be paying too much tax. If you believe this to be the case, then you should contact HMRC and ask for a tax assessment. Claims can be backdated for as much as four years. 

Self Assessment 

If you are self employed and feel that you have been paying too much tax, then similarly to PAYE you need to get in touch with HMRC. You have four years to claim backdated overpayments. Alternatively if you need to make a claim, or to correct a mistake on your last tax form, then you can do so by completing an amendment form. This is again available from the HMRC. 

Pension 

Tax can be paid either on personal, company or indeed state pensions and there may be a chance that you are paying over the top. This can be for a number of reasons. It could be that: 

• You've been allocated an incorrect tax code 
• Your entitlements have changed 
• Your circumstances have changed (ie age) 

Again contact the HMRC explaining the situation, but you’ll need evidence such as your P60, P45, and any other information relating to your pensions and benefits.

 

Savings 

The majority of savings accounts automatically deduct tax from the interest on your savings before it hits the bank. If you are excluded tax (ie filled in an R85 form) or your savings are in an ISA, then you shouldn’t have to pay standard savings tax. If you are, then ask for and fill in an R40 form and contact your local tax office. 

National Insurance 

If you’ve had a succession of jobs in one year then chances are could be paying too much national insurance. Visit the DirectGov website to check out if you are indeed paying too much and which form you have to fill in. 

In essence, if you are paying too much tax, then don’t worry unnecessarily. As long as you know who to contact and what forms to fill in, you should be able to claim tax back easily. Claim Tax Back at www.taxrebateservices.co.uk.