Following
the fallout from Thursday’s Autumn Statement, I’ll give you 2 options to ‘catch
up’.
Firstly,
the full report can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/263942/35062_Autumn_Statement_2013.pdf
Secondly,
invest 3 minutes to read below.
I’m
happy with either – just make sure you know what you need to know!
Key Points:
State
Pension age to increase for many (yet again).
UK
economy to grow by 1.4% this year (double the 0.6% predicted in March) with 2.4% growth next year instead of 1.8%
(luck more than judgement)
An
extra £1 billion of cuts from the budgets of Government departments for each of
the next three years (less money = poorer services).
Car tax discs to be scrapped
and replaced by electronic vehicle excise duty system (massive investment for
very little reward).
2014's
planned 2p-a-litre fuel tax rise
scrapped (political headline – why not reduce some of the taxes
already levied?).
Borrowing
falls more than forecast and employment forecasts are revised up.
Pensioners
living abroad will have to
prove they are alive (the angle was a crackdown on fraud but this
was actually due to the volume of costly errors).
A major crackdown on tax-evasion
and avoidance to recoup £9bn over five years (if the return on the investment
is that good – why wait 5 years?).
Employer
National Insurance contributions for under-21s earning less than £42,285
scrapped from April 2015 (political headline – cheap giveaway as very few under-21’s
earn enough to pay National Insurance).
Tax
breaks to encourage "fracking" for gas (political headline to suggest
we are looking for alternatives).
A
cap on total government welfare
spending will start in 2015 (why wait?).
An
extra £150m to update and build kitchens and dining rooms in English primary
schools (nice headline but the reality is that works out at only £8,000 per
school).
A
move towards subsidising
offshore wind farms instead of onshore wind farms (see fracking).
Plans
for £375bn of
investment in energy, transport, communications, and water projects
Selling
off the government's 40% stake in the Eurostar rail service (farcical on many
levels).
In
summary, little to cheer and much to consider.
Has
it ever been otherwise?
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