2024 UK Budget by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 6th of March- Predictions, pre-election give away, Fiscally responsible ?

[lol-lol]

2024 UK Budget by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 6th of March- Predictions, pre-election give away, Fiscally responsible ?

 

We are only 8 days or so away from the 2024 UK Budget, here are EY's (one of the big 4 Accountancy and Consultancy firms) predictions, there are others, they seem broadly similar from what I see.  Is this what you want to see ?  18% for the basic tax rate ??  

 

https://www.ey.com/en_uk/news/2024/02/ey-s-spring-budget-2024-predictions   - What we could potentially see in the 2024 Spring Budget 

There were a number of measures that we expected to see in the recent Autumn Statement that did not come to fruition.

It is anticipated that we could well see some of these measures in the Chancellor’s upcoming Budget:  

• A cut in the corporation tax rate 
• Any move to change the freezing of income tax thresholds 
• A possible cut in income tax rates for low or middle earners 
• Increases to stamp duty land tax thresholds (for first-time buyers or those down-sizing) 
• The abolition or reform of inheritance tax 

 

Edited 27 February by lol-lol

[Ootohere]

OT but i will put here instead of starting a thread.

Holyrood today.  & then after the UK Budget they find out if more money is going to come to Scotland from a magic money tree, and to Wales & Northern Ireland.

http://bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-68405657

 

[lol-lol]

10 hours ago, Rooted said:

OT but i will put here instead of starting a thread.

Holyrood today.  & then after the UK Budget they find out if more money is going to come to Scotland from a magic money tree, and to Wales & Northern Ireland.

http://bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-68405657

 

 

Apologies for being Anglo centric.  Very interested as to what happens to taxes in N.Irreland, Scotland and Wales.

As of this week, due to a massive merger, my fim will have 3 offices in Aberdeen and 3 in Glasgow so my accounts, who I talk to a lot will be familiar with "S" tax codes.   Think the same limit applies for salary sacrifice in to pension in Scotland ie £60k pa which I expect some will use ie Senior Docs.

 

Think I prefer the English tax bands and hopefully we will get even lower rates than we pay now for tax rates, Scotland etc are same as England for NI rates I gather ? 

   

Scottish Income Tax Bands 2024-25

Bands	Band name	Rate
£14,877 - £26,561	Basic	20%
£26,562 - £43,662	Intermediate	21%
£43,663 - £74,999	Higher	42%
£75,000 - £125,140	Advanced	45%

 

Edited 28 February by lol-lol

[PetrolDave]

I'll be disappointed if the rumours in todays papers that it will be a National Insurance rate cut not an Income Tax rate cut are true.

 

I'm retired so I don't pay National Insurance but do pay Income Tax as even my State Pension exceeds the non-indexed Personal Allowance.

 

Bring back Rooker-Wise!!!

 

BTW my State Pension equates to around £6.50 per hour (assuming a 40 hour week), which is just over half the National Living Wage!?

Edited 28 February by PetrolDave

[@Lee]

From last nights Channel 4 News
 

Quote

Exclusive: Survey of UK voters reveals three quarters would back keeping taxes the same or seeing them rise

https://www.channel4.com/news/exclusive-survey-of-uk-voters-reveals-three-quarters-would-back-keeping-taxes-the-same-or-seeing-them-rise

[lol-lol]

1 hour ago, @Lee said:

From last nights Channel 4 News
 

https://www.channel4.com/news/exclusive-survey-of-uk-voters-reveals-three-quarters-would-back-keeping-taxes-the-same-or-seeing-them-rise

 

Indeed.  Hard to even consider less money going to NHS and service getting even worse.

 

[lol-lol]

1 hour ago, @Lee said:

From last nights Channel 4 News
 

https://www.channel4.com/news/exclusive-survey-of-uk-voters-reveals-three-quarters-would-back-keeping-taxes-the-same-or-seeing-them-rise

 

Recent pension amounts to live basic, reasonable and comfortable amounts and it came out 19k for subsistence survival, 33k pa for an OK level of living and £49k for a nice and comfortable level of living. Two person amount but many of us are just on our own and it is not a lot less for single living. Scary high amounts and that it is taxed at 20% from only 12.5k a year.

 

[lol-lol]

Budget paper issued by UK Gov..

 

Interesting paragraph which says (second half of statement caught my eye...........

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spring Budget 2024: Background briefing

 

After peaking at 11.1% in October 2022, a 41-year high, the inflation rate (the annual change in consumer prices) has declined to 4.0% in January 2024. Further reductions are expected, with the average inflation forecast among economists of 2.2% for the final quarter of 2024. However, measures of underlying inflation, such as those reflecting services prices, remain high and present a risk that overall inflation stays higher than anticipated. Despite weak economic growth, the labour market remains tight, with unemployment low and wage growth high

 

 

 

CBP-9976.pdf

[lol-lol]

Jeremy Hunt on TV this morning but not giving much away before the Budget on Wednesday.

 

He did say he sees saving on taking parts of the civil service away ie staff whose specific task is diversity.  He had previously said he was looking to reduce the size of the civil service by as much as 65k jobs.

 

Sounds like JH will keep non Doms status as is. 

 

Maybe he might take a percent of income tax basic rate ie lower to 19% from 20% as the NI cut from 12 to 10% helped workers but non pensioners and he needs to sweeten pensioners as well for the election to come.

 

We will all know soon and can react accordingly.

 

[lol-lol]

Strong hints from jezzer interviews it will be NI rather than income tax will get the reduction.

 

Pensioners will be annoyed as it means no cut on taxation for them.

 

[lol-lol]

Most newspapers seem to have the Spring Budget 2024 give away as on Ni rather than income tax.  Birmingham Post have these figures for 1%, double it for 2% cut....

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/cost-of-living/exactly-how-much-national-insurance-28755369

But for the Father (pensioner) nothing. (Isn't that a quote from Dune ?)

 

In the event of a 1% cut, the average is £154 a year but those who earn more will get an even bigger boost. This is how much people would save based on their earnings;

• £20,000 - £74 saving
• £28,000 - £154 saving
• £30,000 - £174 saving
• £40,000 - £274 saving
• £50,000 - £374 saving
• £60,000+ - £377 saving

[@Lee]

Times reporting 2% off NI. Cuts to services when they least need it. Remember the old days when these things were announced in The House rather than leaked to client journalists as an exclusive? 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/jeremy-hunt-spring-budget-tax-cut-national-insurance-9b75v78d0

 

[xman]

I predict he will

 

Give with one hand

 

and

 

take away with another (but maybe be a bit quiet about that bit)

[lol-lol]

4 minutes ago, xman said:

I predict he will

 

Give with one hand

 

and

 

take away with another (but maybe be a bit quiet about that bit)

 

Particularly to the already well paid who stand most to gain and may have private health care.

 

[J.R.]

I was watching (Sat) TV last week, first time in a couple of years, it was a documentary about the lead up to WW2, they said that income tax was put up a large amount to 7 shillings and sixpence which is 37.5% by my mental arithmetic, sounds pretty high but then they didn't have 20% VAT indirect taxation on most purchases, no NHS then so much lower NIC payments?

 

Does anyone have any meaningfull comparisons about historic overall taxation, direct, indirect and NIC deductions say from pre war, post war, 60's 70's 80's etc?

 

Complicated I suppose by the one time purchase taxes on vehicles etc.

[xman]

12 minutes ago, J.R. said:

Does anyone have any meaningfull comparisons about historic overall taxation, direct, indirect and NIC deductions say from pre war, post war, 60's 70's 80's etc?

Beer and fags were much cheaper in the good old days.  3 mile bus journey to primary school in town centre (as a 5yr old - unaccompanied) was 2d (0.83p) iirc school meals were 1s (5p) per day

Edited 5 March by xman

[J.R.]

So they really were the good old days then!

 

Transported to school, hot lunch and cheap beer & fags waiting for you on your return after school!

[xman]

11 minutes ago, J.R. said:

So they really were the good old days then!

 

Transported to school, hot lunch and cheap beer & fags waiting for you on your return after school!

 

OT but as young kid I could never work out why the (double decker) bus driver used to double dip the clutch when changing gear. I thought it was some kind of strange ritual.

 

Back on topic, I think whatever is announced will make no significant difference whatsoever to either the UK economy or sway voters intentions which is what he will be concentrating on.

 

Pig and lipstick come to mind.

 

Edited 5 March by xman

[PetrolDave]

1 hour ago, lol-lol said:

Most newspapers seem to have the Spring Budget 2024 give away as on Ni rather than income tax. 

 

1 hour ago, @Lee said:

Times reporting 2% off NI.

That's the Tories waving goodbye to the grey vote in the General Election then.

[@Lee]

10 minutes ago, PetrolDave said:

 

That's the Tories waving goodbye to the grey vote in the General Election then.

 

YouGov poll published end of Jan has them two points behind Labour in the 60 - 69 year old age band. Looks like Reform have picked a few Tory voters up.
Newsnight special last night and it seems everyon's just about had enough of them - one poll I saw had Sunak at -54% in favourability now which is lower than Liz the Lettuce  
I watch QT every time it's on and I can't recall any audience being supportive of the Tories for at least a year now - maybe longer.

https://yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/48476-how-is-britain-voting-as-we-enter-the-2024-election-year

Edited 5 March by @Lee

[Ootohere]

I watched LORD DAVID FROST on the Telly.    In the screen it read 'Ex Government Minister'.    That is a NEVER ELECTED as a politician  by anyone, just made a peer.

Ex BRIXIT Negotiator,  FAILURE.

Ex Scottish Whisky Association Chief Executive.    He left the association well placed etc etc.    or so him and chums might believe. 

 

He was a Diplomat, maybe he did a good job....

 

So he or his wife behind a YOUGOV poll, not saying who funded it.      WE ARE GOING TO GET GUBBED.   

 Well he is not a politician just an ex Conservative and Unionist Minister. 

He is just another part of some faction with their own agenda. 

Edited 5 March by Rooted

[@Lee]

Was he wanging on about poor economic growth again by any chance, George? 

That one should practice on children's dot to dot books sometime. Once he's got the hang of that he can start on other dot joining tasks and maybe one day the penny will drop. 

[Ootohere]

Fantasist.   We fund this sort of tripe.  Hundreds of peers of the realm.  Well not me, i am not a funder of anything, i am a snouter.

http://davidfrost.org.uk/about-me

 

[lol-lol]

The options for Jeezer ?

 

1. 2% off the NI rate for up to £50k
2. 1% off both Ni and base rate income tax
3. 2% off income tax base rate 
4. Another option like unfreeze the allowance thresholds and raise in line with CPI inflation ie 4% 

 

Number one seems to be the way most the press/experts are going.  Not great for the grey voters as no sop to them but perhaps get them back in to the workplace ?

 

[xman]

We'll soon know.