The Salary Calculator

Liberal Democrats pledge to lower income tax

by Admin

A reader has asked me about this campaign pledge from the Lib Dems, where they say they will increase the income tax personal allowance to £10,000 if they win the next election. They say this could mean an extra £700 a year for low- and middle-income voters.

Let’s look at the numbers and see if they are right. As you can see on The Salary Calculator “about” page, the current allowance is £6,475 for under-65s. Increasing this to £10k would give everyone an extra £3,525 untaxed, and for those in the 20% tax band this would be £705, matching what the Lib Dems claim.

However, they have to raise this extra money from somewhere – as you can see on their website they have listed some areas they might take the money from, including taking National Insurance on benefits in kind and second jobs. Also, they may lower the threshold between the 20% and 40% rates, meaning smaller savings for those in the higher bracket.

At first glance, those in the 40% tax bracket will save even more with this increase in personal allowance (up to £1,410!), but if the threshold were lowered this effect would be smaller, and as you can see on the Lib Dem website, they also talk about modifying tax relief so that pension contributions are only tax free on the 20% rate. As always, the devil is in the detail!

Needless to say, should they come to power The Salary Calculator will be updated when they make good on this campaign promise.

Tags: April 2010, election, income tax, Liberal Democrats, Pay As You Earn, pension, Pensions, personal allowance, tax rates, The Salary Calculator

Regional job hunting websites

by Admin

There’s still a lot of bad news on the employment front, with a lot of large companies making layoffs and plenty of school leavers with no job to go to. You might think that this is a bad time to look for a new job – especially if you are employed at the moment. But there are still employers with opportunities for the right person, and those helpful people at My Job Group may be able to find one for you.

They have many different websites covering all areas of the country, such as local London jobs, my Edinburgh jobs and my Birmingham jobs. This allows them to target jobs to the area you’re interested in, without you having to sort through results to find those near you. They have listings from many local employers and a search engine to help you find the right opportunity for you.

On each site they also have a Careers Centre with tips on how to improve your CV, write a good cover letter or prepare for the interview – some of these ideas and suggestions might be just what you need to get into your new job! If you’re currently out of a job or just fancy a change, I recommend you take a look and see what’s available in your area.

Tags: careers, job hunting, Jobs, training, unemployment