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Finance
Mortgages, pensions, loans, shares, savings |
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The Budget 2007
The Budget 2007
Gordon Brown delivered possibly his final budget on 21st March. Some have accused him of being ‘Stalinist’ in his approach, but will the budget make us see red?
Savings
The tax-free limit for ISA’s will rise from £3000 to £3600 - an overall increase of 20%.
Income Tax
The basic rate of income tax will fall from 22p to 20p from April next year and the top-rate income tax threshold will rise to £43,000 from April 2009. It was also announced that the 10p rate will be scrapped.
Property
First-time buyers may be disappointed to learn that the threshold on stamp duty remains the same. Many people believe that first-time buyers should be exempt from stamp duty to help them get a foot on the property ladder.
Pensions
More help is offered to pensioners who lost their company pension schemes prior to 2005. The Financial Assistance Scheme will be increased from £2bn to £8bn. Pensioners will also be given more help with heating costs.
Transport
Road tax will double for the highest polluting cars, up to £400 in some cases.
Small businesses to pay more tax
Corporation tax is to be cut from 30% to 28%. Although this may be good news for larger businesses, small businesses will face a 3% increase from 19% to 22%. Spokesmen for the Federation of Small Businesses and the British Chambers of Commerce expressed their opinions at the increase- see below link for article.
Brown cuts corporation tax to 28%
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6473993.stm
If you want to find out how the budget will affect you, then check out the Budget calculator on the BBC News website.
Fiona Seymour-Jesse
SJ Copy
Useful Links
Budget Analysis
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/budget2007?ito=1751&itkw=2007%20budget
Budget 2007
http://www.ukbudget.co.uk/UKBudget2007/index.cfm
BBC News- The Budget
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/business/2007/budget_2007/default.stm
Business Advice
http://www.uknetguide.co.uk/Business/
The finance pages of Business in Berkshire are for general guidance only and advice should always be sought before acting on any of the suggestions made
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