come as a boost to the government ahead of next year’s election, thought The Times. The UK is suffering its longest recession on record and is the only G20 nation not to have emerged from recession in the third quarter.
Indeed, Britain’s dominant service sector grew for the sixth consecutive month, according to data collated by the CIPS/Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) - services account for around three-quarters of the country’s total economic output. Any figure above 50 indicates rising activity and the PMI reading for November was 56.6, albeit down slightly from the previous month. Looking ahead, the services sector could gain more traction with companies’ optimism about the business outlook climbing to 73.4, up from 71.4 in October. Analysts said that the data was consistent with economic growth
of about 0.5% in the final quarter of the year, which would mark the end of the recession.
Other data released last week was mixed. The Government’s expectation that the country will spend its way to economic recovery took a bit of a knock when it emerged that consumers had paid off more of their debts at a record rate in October.
Official figures showed that net consumer credit decreased by £579m as households cut back on new loans. The figures also showed that, despite the Bank of England’s £200bn programme of quantitative easing, the availability of new credit to businesses tightened too. There was better news on the home front though, with the number of new mortgages agreed edging up to its highest level since March 2008. Car sales too are racing ahead, thanks to the government’s £400m car-scrappage scheme – new car registrations surged by more than 57% last month as buyers rushed to take advantage of the ‘cash for
bangers’ scheme which is due to finish in February and also avoid the VAT rise due next month.
Whilst the scheme will have boosted manufacturer’s production it will not be enough to reverse the overall downward trend of the last 12 years – The Financial Times reported that according to ONS data, manufacturing now contributes just 12.4% of GDP compared to
20% in 1997.
[ add comment ] ( 145 views ) | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink |
( 3 / 189 )So the time is nearly upon us and the eagerly awaited Pre Budget will be on Wednesday this week.
Will we see the end of the Child Care Tax Voucher scheme?
It has been suggested that this has received a stay of execution, but in the fullness of time will be removed for those deemed to be 'high income households'!
Maybe the Chancellor should consider the fact that they are deemed 'high earning' is because they bother to invest their money into their children being looked after and going to work to pay more tax!!
Of course in considering this budget statement, how can we forget the lovely thought of planning our way around the 50 and effective 60% tax thresholds? I am sure all the people who the government is going to hit here are excited to see how long they will have to work each year before the money they earn is their own.
If you consider a 50% tax rate, that equates to 6 months working for the government and then the 60% marker is over 7 months of the year.
Let's hope we don't have any more bad news on the horizon.....and we will of course update you in our summary that will come out on the 10th December
[ add comment ] ( 126 views ) | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink |
( 3 / 185 )False self employment in the construction industry – the Govt issued a consultation paper this year planning for legislation that removes 300,000 self employed workers in the building trade by side stepping the existing case law on self employed status. Now that the consultation is over will this legislation be enacted in the budget ? Will this mean that other business sectors will be targeted in the same way ?
Umbrella Company compliance – A consultation paper on Umbrella Company Compliance was left inactive in last years budget, with the Govt deciding to keep watching the industry. Could this be the moment to redefine Temporary workplaces or Overarching Contracts of employment ?
Income Shifting – The original consultation on Income Shifting was put back on the shelf a few years ago, but it never went away. There may have been a reason for that.
Tax Thresholds – With the pressure on raising taxes all too apparent the temptation to reduce the upper 50% tax threshold to catch more tax payers may be too much.
Whatever Mr Darling comes up with, we should not expect anything too generous for Contractors, and there is a fair chance that there will be less drama rather than more!
[ add comment ] ( 175 views ) | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink |
( 3 / 189 )The Bank of England have again held the base rate at 0.50%, as they strive to steer the UK economy out of recession with the help of the Treasury and the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
Last month the FSA took an initial step towards this by announcing new proposals that included a ban on Self-Cert Mortgages.
Self-certification mortgages, also dubbed liar loans, accounted for one third of new loans in 2007, or about GBP100 billion of the GBP300 billion loans granted that year.
The FSA argue that mortgages that don’t require any proof of income have been abused during the property boom with many people borrowing more than they could afford to repay. This theory has been backed up by the collapse of Bradford & Bingley and the sale of HBOS to LloydsTSB, both HBOS and B&B were among the biggest self-cert lenders.
Additionally, Platform, one of the few remaining self-cert providers, has announced that it will withdraw from the self-cert market at the end of this week.
David Tweedy, managing director, at Platform, says: “The FSA Mortgage Market review paper has shown that continuing to offer self certification mortgages in its current format is unfeasible and after careful deliberation of the paper, Platform has now taken the decision to withdraw from the self certification market.”
Self Certification Mortgages were designed for workers who have trouble proving their income in a conventional manner such as contractors, freelancers, self employed, and company directors.
Many contractors and freelance workers will now be concerned on how they go about securing a mortgage that takes all of their income into consideration once the expensive self-cert option has been removed.
Reading on the Guardian Money forum many contractors are worried about the proposed ban "Banning self-certification might make nice headlines, but where does that leave those of us who are contractors or self employed?" said Lookingbusy
"I'd love to meet one of these people who borrowed irresponsibly on a self-cert mortgage. I've had two self-certs in the past and both times I had to provide detailed accounts and bank statements, pretty much what the FSA says it's now going to insist on. I also paid a whopping rate of interest," said Zephirine. "Recent trends in business practice mean vast numbers of people – who would previously have been in long-term employment – now work on short contracts or are classed as self-employed. Mortgage lending has to take account of this."
Firstly Contractors need to realise that self-cert mortgages were never the only option, in fact Self-Cert’s are an unnecessary and expensive route for a contractor to take.
Any credible contractor specific mortgage broker would never advise a contract worker to take the Self-Cert route. As long as you have a valid contract in place with an end client they should be able to work with senior underwriters to secure you a mortgage based on your contract rate, thereby taking all of your income into consideration.
Specialist contractor mortgage brokers are able to secure mortgages with high street lenders and at high street rates, giving you access to the same whole of market mortgages that are available to borrowers who are able to prove their income in the traditional way.
If you need any advice on Mortgages please let us know so that we can steer you to a quality company who understands the market and your needs.
[ add comment ] ( 170 views ) | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink |
( 3 / 156 )European sales. Currently, if your business is VAT-registered and you sell goods to other businesses in the European Union (EU), you must report details of sales you make to the Taxman. This is done using the European sales List (ESL) (VAT 101) which should accompany your VAT return.
At present it’s not necessary to report the sale of services, but things are about to change.
All change. From January 1 2010 an ESL will also need to be completed by businesses that sell certain types of service to customers in the EU.
The services affected are those that are treated as being supplied to the country your customer belongs to.
We will complete your EC sales list if you have any as part of the service.
[ add comment ] ( 128 views ) | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink |
( 3 / 159 )
Random Entry
