Economy
Pre Budget Report PDF Print E-mail
Blog and News - Economy
Written by John Angeletta   
Wednesday, 09 December 2009 17:22
Pre-Budget Report ~ Headlines

1. Stamp Duty Land Tax 'Holiday' to end 31st December '09, returning threshold to £125,000 (down from £175,000)

2. Home Owner Support extended a further 6-mths

3. Inheritance Tax 0% threshold held at £325,000

4. VAT to return to 17.5% from 1st January 2010

5. Empty Property Relief extended to 2011

6. Bankers' bonuses over £25,000 will be subject to a one-off 50% tax deducted by the employer

7. Basic State Pension will rise by 2.5% in April

8. The Chancellor expects a return to growth in Q4 but admitted that over 2009 as a whole, the UK economy is expected to have contracted by 4.75%

Source Mortgage Solutions

What We Say ~ 

1. This was a saving of £1750 i.e. 1% up to £175,000 (not massive, but significant)
2. Chancellor claims 220,000 'people' helped to date (less than 1% of current unemployed)
3. Threshold could have risen by £25,000 effectively saving £10,000 of death tax against an estate value of £350,000
4. Adds back 2.5 pence in the pound to VATable purchases
5. Applies to non-residential property only
6. Board to Banker says, "I suppose you could pay the £487,500 tax on your million pound bonsus for this year or we could pay you £25,000 and hold over your £975,000 until next year.  What do you say?"
7. Up to £3.80 for a married couple
8. I'm lost for words!
 
Reccesion is slowing says CBI PDF Print E-mail
Blog and News - Economy
Written by John Angeletta   
Wednesday, 22 April 2009 00:38
Thank you CBI for sharing our view the recession will be slowing in the second half of '09. 

Richard Lambert, director-general of the CBI says, "The UK economy remains deeply troubled, and the first quarter of this year has been tougher than expected.  Firms have been running down their stocks of completed goods, and that is having a real impact on output, jobs and investment.  Anxious consumers are spending less ... but there are a few tentative signs that the steepest phase of recession is behind us...". Good news Richard. 

The Government Homeowner Mortgage Support scheme rolls out this week.

In A Nutshell ~ if you bought before December 1st 2008 and for less than £400,000, you can apply to defer up to 70% of your interest payments for up to 2-years.

Major high street lenders offering their customers the scheme include Lloyds Banking Group, Northern Rock, Royal Bank of Scotland and Bradford & Bingley.

Other lenders participating in the scheme include the National Australia Bank Group, parent of Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank, and Cumberland Building Society.

Four other high street lenders - Barclays, HSBC, Nationwide, and Santander - have confirmed they will offer borrowers similar alternatives to the HMS.

First, contact your own mortgage provider to see if they are/will be part of the scheme.  If not, ask them who will help you.  Or, call us.