call: 01344 420 625

5th January 2011

Overview
"The New Year has started with a significant increase in costs. Fuel Duty increased on 1 January followed by the Standard Rate VAT Increase to 20%. This has seen pump prices increase by nearly 10p per litre in the last week. In April we have the prospect of National Insurance increasing by 1%. There has been a rise in the starting threshold for paying NI and a large increase in Tax Personal Allowances which will help lower income earners but middle income earners won't see much benefit as the starting point for higher rate tax has been reduced to cancel out the increased personal allowance.

We have also seen rising rail fares and utility prices. With the recent bad weather and more expected in the coming weeks, we face the prospect of increased consumption. This will result in even less money in our pockets and one can only fear this will have an adverse effect on consumer spending. Lets hope that employment confidence improves during 2011 to keep spending going.

Please contact us if you need any further information on the new tax thresholds, or have any comments on the above."
 

VAT
"Standard Rate VAT increased to 20% from 4 January 2011. Please make sure you use the correct rate when raising invoices for goods and services supplied up to the 3rd. Take care when calculating purchases. Make sure you use the right calculation the VAT in VAT inclusive purchases, especially where you have business expenditure between 1-3 January 2011. Those using the VAT Flat Rate Scheme check the new percentage for your business category. Take care in the calculation of your VAT return that covers these changing rates.

Please contact us if you need any further help or assistance on this matter."