Finanse

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has reversed a decision to close its self-assessment telephone helpline for half of the year. The tax authority announced on Tuesday that the line would be closed between April and September, with taxpayers directed to online services instead.more

For most people, finding a £20 banknote lying unclaimed on the ground would be the highlight of their day. But choosing to pocket cash you find in public is not nearly as innocent an act as you might think – and could see you hauled into court and prosecuted for theft. That’s what happened to 23-year-old Nicole Bailey of Highfield Drive, Blurton, when she found a £20 note in a convenience store more

The UK's annual inflation rate stood at 3.4 per cent in February, down significantly from 4.0 per cent in January and the lowest level since September 2021, the UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported today.more

Mortgage deals are typically on offer for just 15 days before being pulled, despite homeowners and buyers having the widest choice for 16 years. This is the shortest shelf-life in six months, according to financial information service Moneyfacts. As a result, people have little time to decide when rates are volatile.more

A record 6.7 million people in Britain are in financial difficulty, a campaign group has claimed, as the cost of living crisis pushes more households into debt. A survey for Debt Justice found that 13% of adults had missed three or more credit or bill payments in the last six months, a figure that rose to 29% among 18- to 24-year-olds and a quarter of 25- to 34-year-olds.more

Real incomes will rise by almost 9 per cent over the next three years, Central Bank predicts.more

Consumer rights’ group Which found that the cost of a day out to some of the capital’s most famous landmarks has soared exponentially since 1974, sometimes by several thousand percent.more

Metro Bank is to end seven-day trading in all its branches and cut about 1,000 jobs after reporting losses. From 29 March, all 76 branches will close on Sundays and Bank Holidays, with more than half of them closing on Saturdays as well.more

The highest price per square metre of a flat in a large-panel building, i.e. more than 15 thousand zlotys, has to be paid in Warsaw, although prices rose the most in Krakow, according to an analysis by Otodom. The average price per square metre of such an apartment in the capital of Małopolska increased by 36 percent.more

Anyone who buys a lottery scratchcard dreams of winning big – but a major change means that if you do get lucky, you'll need to follow a new process to get your hands on your cash. The alteration in how some prize money is paid comes after Allwyn took over as the operator of the National Lottery from Camelot.more

Around 11 million broadband and 36 million mobile customers will experience an inflation-linked price increase in April but many can take action now to skip this year's price rises, according to Uswitch.com, the comparison and switching service.more

Workers in the construction sector can expect 10-15 percent raises this year, the increase in interest in green energy and ESG investment specialists will continue, according to the "Trends & Salaries 2024 Report."more

People who earn up to £60,000 a year will be able to receive child benefit in full from April. The benefit will not be taken away entirely until an individual earns £80,000, under changes in the Budget.more

The UK faces nearly 20 years of lost pay growth, a think tank which focuses on low and middle earners says. The Resolution Foundation said that, after taking account of rising prices, the average wage will not regain its 2008 level until 2026.more

British Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt yesterday presented the budget for the 2024/25 financial year. Although this is the last budget before the House of Commons elections, it does not contain any unexpected promises that could allow the ruling Conservative Party to reduce its poll losses.more

Tesco has become the latest supermarket to increase pay as retailers face up to the rising minimum wage and try to retain staff. The hourly pay rate for store workers will rise from £11.02 to £12.02 in April, while pay for workers in London will rise to £13.15 an hour.more

Plans for automated surveillance of millions of bank accounts to catch welfare cheats should be scrapped, campaigners have said, warning the approach risks a repeat of the Post Office Horizon scandal.more

Britain’s sharp regional divide is on track to deepen with London’s economy pulling further ahead despite the government’s levelling up promises, according to a report.more

Despite the development of new forms of payment, money in the currently known form - banknotes and coins - still has a future and will not disappear in the foreseeable time - says Jennifer Adam, curator of the exhibition "The Future of Money", which opened on Wednesday at the Bank of England Museum in London.more

Britain's third-largest supermarket group Asda said on Friday it would give more than 120,000 store workers an 8.4% pay rise from July 1, following a similar move by other large British retailers as the government's national minimum wage goes up.more

A council boss has said more than 70% of budgets are being used up by “very few people” as it emerged a number of authorities could become effectively bankrupt in the next five years.more

The cost of first and second-class stamps is to go up again next month, after Royal Mail announced price rises of 10p a letter. The fourth increase in two years will take the price of a first-class stamp to £1.35 and the cost of the second-class service to 85p and will come into effect on 2 April.more

The cost of the programme to send illegal immigrants to Rwanda could exceed half a billion pounds, the UK's National Audit Office (NAO) said in a report published today. This is a much higher figure than the government has reported so far.more

One in three Poles is worried about whether they will be able to pay their bills, and one in two will not be able to handle an unexpected expense, according to Deloitte's "Consumer Signals" survey. Thirty-eight percent of respondents said they would not have enough money at the end of the month - a 3 percentage point increase from December 2023.more

The extension of child benefit payments for all children under the age of 19 has been passed by the Dáil, with the planned extension being brought four months from September to May 1. Currently parents only get child benefit for each child up until their 18th birthday, but under plans announced in the Budget this was to be extended to every dependent child up to the age of 19 in September.more