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Tax Cuts Aimed to Alleviate Increase in Cost of Living
In response to the rising cost of living, the government has announced tax cuts that will affect millions of Britons. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak announced new tax plans in the Spring Statement on 23rd March.
The changes come amid difficult economic times for many people. In a span of 12 months, the cost of living has increased approximately 6.2 per cent in the UK. This represents the fastest increase in 30 years. The surge stems from global supply chain issues following the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, which have resulted in rising prices for many daily essentials, such as fuel, energy and food.
‘This statement puts billions back into the pockets of people across the UK and delivers the biggest net cut to personal taxes in over a quarter of a century’, Sunak said.
Specifically, Sunak’s new tax plan includes the following provisions:
- Starting in July 2022, the National Insurance starting thresholds will rise to £12,570 from £9,600. As a result, 70 per cent of workers will pay less and 2.2 million people will no longer be responsible for any payment. Overall, the change will result in approximately 30 million workers saving an average of £330.
- Starting on 23rd March 2022, fuel duty and petrol will be cut by 5p per litre. This is the largest ever cut on fuel duty rates and is worth approximately £2.4 billion. It’s estimated that the typical one-car family will save an average of £100.
- Starting in 2024, the basic rate of income tax will decrease from 20p to 19p in the pound. This is expected to result in approximately £5 billion in total savings across 30 million people, with the average person saving approximately £175.
Furthermore, Sunak announced a number of measures intended to help businesses with investment, innovation and growth. These efforts include an increase to employment allowance from £4,000 to £5,000, which will benefit approximately 500,000 small firms.
‘Cutting taxes means people have immediate help with the rising cost of living, businesses have better conditions to invest and grow tomorrow, and people keep more of what they earn for years to come’, Sunak said.
For more information related to managing costs and financial well-being, contact us today.
We are Hiring – Administration & Bookkeeping
We are looing to fill a role in our Petersfield office for an Office Administrator and Bookkeeper. You will support the Directors in making sure that the office runs smoothly and that our finances are up to date and accurate. We also invisage some support with our marketing effort. We would expect the role to involve about 30 hours a week and we are flexible as to when this work happens. A competitive salary will be provided as will other benefits that you would expect from a company like ours. If you are interested or know someone who might be, please contact Simon Gubbins in the first instance by emailing simon.gubbins@robison.co.uk. We look forward to hearing from you.
Unoccupied Buildings due to lockdown
On Monday 4 January the UK Government announced a further national lockdown and we felt it was important to remind our customers of the impact this situation has on property insurances and the support and guidance we/your insurers can offer in the management of unoccupied buildings during this challenging time.
We are in a slightly different situation to previous lockdowns in that insurers were providing blanket responses to properties that were forced to close without restrictions in cover. Whilst some Insurers are continuing to provide blanket cover, this time the reaction is less co-ordinated and will have to based on individual circumstances.
All customers who have a property insurance element to their policy have a minimum (14, 30 or perhaps 60) day definition of unoccupancy/empty in their policy, If a building is unoccupied for in excess of the specified period in the policy, we would ask that customers notify us immediately so that we can discuss your individual circumstances and ensure you receive the right advice and wherever possible maintain full cover. Failure to advise us could mean important elements of your cover are automatically withdrawn, the last thing any of us need with us moving into the coldest part of the year with freezing conditions and adverse weather.
I would urge you to discuss your individual circumstances with your Account Executive.
FCA TEST CASE – COVID-19 Losses – Supreme Court Decision announced today.
The Supreme Court judgment in the FCA Business Interruption Test Case was published today. The full judgment together with a copy of the FCA’s press release is available here.
In concert with our Network provider Marsh and specialist Law Firm Fenchurch Law, we are reviewing the content of the judgment in detail. However, the key message is that the Supreme Court substantially allowed the appeal of the FCA on behalf of policyholders and dismissed the appeal brought by insurers. Notably finding the following:
- Notifiable Disease Clauses – while the Supreme Court took a different approach to the High Court, it confirmed that all the disease clauses before the Court were triggered;
- Prevention of Access / Hybrid Clauses – cover under these clauses still faces challenges but may be triggered more readily. No requirement for a legislative step ordering closure and potential cover for loss of access to part of premises;
- Trends Clauses – the Supreme Court was clear that trends clauses can only take into account factors wholly unrelated to COVID-19 and rejected the “wide area damage” arguments of insurers;
- Orient Express – the Supreme Court determined that the Orient Express case was wrongly decided and that it should be overruled. This decision therefore has positive consequences for insureds beyond the scope of COVID-19 claims.
Next steps
We expect to be able to issue a further communication next week, to provide more detail about the key findings in the judgment and we will let you have further details when we are able. Please speak with your Account Executive if you have any questions or concerns regaring the implications following this judgement.
