Key Quotes - Money

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Last update: Wednesday 25th March
 
Pressure on the Government's economic strategy intensified after shock figure's showed Britain's faltering economy was back in recession. Prime Minister David Cameron said the estimated 0.2 per cent quarterly decline in GDP was 'very, very disappointing' but insisted there will be no change to the Government's austerity and deficit reduction plans. A slide in construction output and a stagnant services sector were blamed for the surprise slump which, after a fall of 0.3 per cent the previous quarter, has caused the UK's first double-dip recession since the 1970's.
MoneyThe Sentinel - 26th April
 
David Cameron gave a strong hint that he is ready to water down a cap on tax relief for charitable giving, saying he was ready to listen to critics, the Prime Minister said that he wanted to see more philanthropic giving to charities – something which a Treasury Minister conceded would fall under the plans announced by Chancellor George Osborne in the Budget. Downing Street said a consultation is to be held on Mr Osborne’s policy, which would see a limit on a range of income tax reliefs.
MoneyThe Sentinel – 17th April 2012
 
Nearly a million extra people have been dragged into higher -rate tax bands as a result of the Govern¬ment's changes to tax thresholds. Figures published by the tax office show that almost a third more workers will pay tax at 40pc or more during this financial year than paid it three years ago, taking the total number of high-rate payers to 4.1m. Just over 300,000 of these people will pay the 50pc additional tax rate. The increase in higher-rate taxpayers is due to reductions in the threshold for paying 40pc tax, in combination with so-called "fiscal drag", where tax bands do not move up in line with inflation, meaning inflation-linked wage increases push more people into higher rate tax bands. The total number of taxpayers, however, is scheduled to fall this year, from 30.1m to 29.7m. More of the lowest paid are being taken out of the tax system alto¬gether due to increases in the per¬sonal tax allowance, which is the amount that every-one can earn before they pay any tax.
MoneyThe Daily Telegraph May 2 2012/Business
 
Some families could lose around 20 times more than they gain from tax changes by April next year, the TUC warned today. The body says families will have gained up to £381 by April 2013 due to the personal allowance threshold rising faster then inflation, but they could lose out on more than £4000 following changes to working tax credits over the same period. The TUC has updated its tax credit calculator to allow families to work out roughly how they are affected.
MoneyThe Sentinel – 4th April 2012
 
The UK tax system gives rise to anomalies and unfairness because it is based on the individual rather than the family, said a Christian charity ahead of this week’s Budget. In its fifth annual review of the taxation of families, Care said that “while the UK tax system is, by international standards, generous towards those on low incomes, it is one of the least generous towards middle-income families with one earner.” The report argued “that there is no recognition of the fact that in many one-income families, the partner not in paid work has caring responsibility for a young child or elderly or dependant person, or him/herself physically or mentally disabled.” Care said that a transferable allowance for married couples would be a good way of reducing the tax burdens of families whose budgets are under the greatest pressure. It estimated that 70 per cent of the benefit would go to families in the poorer half of the population.
MoneyThe War Cry – March 2012
 
Research at Cambridge University suggests that immigration can push down house prices because it causes richer people to move away from affected areas. Even a small influx of people from overseas into an area can have a noticeable effect on property values, the study concludes. The research, the first of its kind, contradicts the assumption that immigrants are pushing up house prices.
MoneyThe Daily Telegraph - March 28 2012
 
An unprecedented increase in the price of stamps will put the Royal Mail on course for privatisation within two years, it was revealed last night. Royal Mail was given historic freedoms by the regulator yesterday to set the price of stamps in an attempt to turn around years of losses in its letters business. The state-owned postal group said that it would use those new commercial freedoms to increase the price of a first-class stamp from 46p to 60p, an increase of 30 per cent, from April 30. The price of a second-class stamp will go up on the same day from 36p to 50p, an increase of 40 per cent. The move by Ofcom to end almost all price caps and regulation of the Royal Mail is the second important step toward the full-scale privatisation of the business, Moya Greene, Royal Mail's chief executive, said.
MoneyThe Times - March 28 2012
 
Up to 20 million taxpayers will receive a personalised statement every year detailing how the Government is spending their contributions on the NHS, welfare and the national debt. The Chancellor confirmed that personal tax statements would be introduced from 2014. Ministers hope that the move will help persuade voters of the need for spending cuts, including in welfare payments, which represent the largest source of government expenditure. Treasury calculations suggest that someone earning £50,000 would pay for £4,727 of welfare. Someone earning £25,000 spends the equivalent of almost four weeks' paid work, £1,900, on welfare. George Osborne said he wanted to bring the tax system into "the information age". "People should know what taxes they're paying and what their money is being spent on," he told MPs. "The statements will tell people how much income tax and national insurance they have paid and how this contributes to public spending.
MoneyDaily Telegraph - March 22 2012
 
Charitable donations of more than £200,000 will get less tax relief, George Osborne announced yesterday. The Treasury wants to clamp down on rich people reducing their tax bill by making significant contributions to worthy causes. But charities are concerned that donations could fall following the Budget announcement. Critics said the changes "cast a huge shadow" over philanthropy. The Charities Aid Foundation has called for urgent talks with the Treasury over fears that many groups will struggle to cope with a drop-off in donations. John Low, the group's chief executive, said: "Government can't have a philanthropy agenda on the one hand and then introduce measures like this on the other. This change seems to run counter to the very idea of Big Society."
MoneyDaily Telegraph - March 22 2012
 
Four in five households are living in “transport poverty”, according to figures highlighted by the RAC Foundation today. These households spend more than 10 percent of their disposable income on public and private transport, with most of the money going on buying and running a car, the foundation said. On average, households – both car and non-car owning – spend 14% of weekly expenditure on transport, with £64.90 being spent out of a total of £473.60
MoneyThe Sentinel – 29th February 2012
 
Taxpayer-backed Royal Bank of Scotland has unveiled losses of £2 billion and paid staff nearly £1 billion in bonuses. RBS, which is 82 per cent state owned, paid £785 million in bonuses last year including £390 million for its 17,000 investment bankers. While the total pot is 43 percent lower than the previous year, it follows a period in which the bank announced thousands of job cuts and chief executive Stephen Hester waived his £963,000 all-shares bonus.
MoneyThe Sentinel – 24th February 2012
 
The cost of a Church of England funeral will rise from £102 to £160 and the cost of a wedding from £296 to £415. Clergy will be given the right to waive fees, but critics felt this was not enough. ‘The poor don’t want to be patronised,’ said Canon Simon Killwick, in Moss Side, Manchester. ‘They want their church to be affordable to them.’
MoneySalvationist - 25 February 2012
 
The finance ministers of the eurozone want to put Greece under even tighter surveillance in return for a £108 billion bailout, even after Athens delivered on several key demands yesterday. Representatives of the 17 countries that use the euro hailed the strong assurances that the country had found a further £270 million in cuts. But Jean-Claude Juncker, the prime minister of Luxembourg, who also chairs the finance ministers’ meetings, said better surveillance was still needed before new aid could be released.
MoneyThe Sentinel - February 16, 2012
 
The chief executive and other directors of Network Rail became the latest top bosses to waive lucrative bonuses when they decided to give the money to safety improvements instead. The executives were facing increasing political pressure not to receive any extra money amid controversy over bonuses for banking and other bosses. The issue was due to be discussed on Friday at a Network Rail meeting, which has now been postponed, potentially leading to the six executives sharing hundreds of thousands of pounds in bonus payments on top of their salaries.
MoneyThe Sentinel - February 7, 2012
 
Bank of England governor Sir Mervyn King yesterday said there was scope for more stimulus measures to help the UK economy on its “arduous, long and uneven” road.
In a speech hours before figures reveal whether the economy contracted in the final quarter of 2011, he warned that the recovery from the banking crisis will be slow and 2012 will not be an easy year. With inflation falling, there was scope to leave interest rates at their record lows and for another round of quantitative easing if needed, he added.
MoneyThe Sentinel - January 25, 2012
 
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