2014 Budget Summary

Please find below our 2014 budget summary with the most relevant changes in the budget for our customers. Individuals Personal allowances For people born after 6 April 1948, the personal tax allowance for 2014/15 is £10,000. This will increase to £10,500 from 6 April 2015. For people born on 5 April 1948 or before, the personal tax allowance for 2014/15 is £10,660. From April 2015, spouses and civil partners will be able to transfer 10% of their personal allowance to each other, which means £1,050 in 2015/16. To be eligible to make or receive the transfer, neither party must be liable to tax at the higher or additional rate. Tax rates 2014-2015 The basic rate of 20% will be charged on income up to £31,865. The higher rate of 40% will be charged on income from £31,866 to £150,000. The additional rate of 45% will be charged on income over £150,000. Companies The main rate of corporation tax will be 21% from April 2014, falling to 20% from April 2015.   VAT The VAT registration threshold with effect from 1 April 2014 will be as follows:                                                                         Registration (£)                                            Deregistration (£) UK taxable supplies                       81,000                                                                   79,000   ‘Relevant Acquisitions’ from other EC Member States              81,000                                                                   81,000   Annual Investment Allowance   To continue to support business investment, the Government is doubling the Annual Investment Allowance to £500,000 from April 2014 until the end of 2015.   Other news   From 1 July 2014, cash and shares ISAs are to be merged into a New ISA – NISA – with an annual tax-free savings limit of £15,000. Savers will now have complete flexibility over the cash and shares mix within the overall limit of £15,000.   From April 2015, the starting rate of tax for savings income will be reduced from 10% to nil. The maximum amount of taxable savings income that will be eligible will rise to £5,000 from £2,880.   From 1 June 2014, the cap on Premium Bonds will rise from £30,000 to £40,000, increasing further to £50,000 in 2015/16. From August 2014, two £1 million prizes per month will be on offer, instead of the current one.   And finally…   HMRC is going to be given debt collection powers to recover money direct from the bank and building society accounts, including ISAs, of debtors who owe over £1,000 of tax or tax credit debts. HMRC will use this route after the debtor has been contacted ‘multiple times’. A minimum of £5,000 will be left ‘across’ debtors’ accounts after the debt has been recovered. I think we’ll blog more about this later, this is a new tactic by HMRC who don’t have a reputation for getting their calculations right and so this is probably something to be concerned...

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