The Bank of England has cut interest rates to 4.5%, as it halved its UK growth forecasts for this year and warned households would face renewed pressure from rising prices.more
Scrapping of non dom status marks the final straw for many of the wealthy people who bring London its dynamism. The reality is that London has been slowly falling out of favour for more than a decade.more
Millions of households in England are facing council tax rises above the normal limit, after the government allowed six areas to bypass a 5% cap on increases. more
Consumers will see the price of alcohol rise from Saturday when a hike in tax and duties comes into effect.
The alcohol tax itself will rise in line with the Retail Price Index at 3.6%, but a new system to tax wines and spirits based on strength will be introduced at the same time.more
The Department for Work and Pensions is set to launch bank account checks on people who DON'T claim benefits under new powers. The DWP has been handed new powers from the new Labour Party government under a benefit fraud clampdown. more
Households in England and Wales will pay £10 more on average on their monthly water bills from April, final figures show. The rise will see the average annual bill hit £603, but there are significant variations between regions.more
Millions of people have still not filed their online self-assessment tax returns for which the deadline is midnight, meaning they could be fined £100, HMRC has warned.more
UK pay growth rose in November despite evidence of employers cutting jobs after Rachel Reeves’s tax-raising budget, underlining a dilemma for the Bank of England as it considers cutting interest rates next month.more
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is set to hire 5,000 additional tax inspectors as part of a major clampdown on small businesses and their owners.
The expansion, revealed in the HMRC Customer Service & Accounts report published yesterday, aims to secure £6.5billion in additional revenue by 2029/30.more
In 2024, the average tenant in the UK paid nearly £10,000 in rent, with tenants in London facing costs upwards of £15,000. One in 10 renters (11%) spent more than two-thirds of their take-home pay on housing.more
London’s 33 borough councils are starting to reveal how much their council tax bills will rise from April.
Most are expected to agree a near five per cent rise in demands, according to draft budget planning documents. Councils that have already indicated such plans include Greenwich, Islington and Tower Hamlets.more
There has been a record jump in the number of UK businesses in critical financial distress, according to insolvency specialists.
Businesses in the most distress include those in hospitality, leisure and retail, but the construction industry is also facing challenges.more
People who have been running businesses for decades will not even save up for a minimum pension. The state will have to subsidize many self-employed people's benefits. In short: millions of Poles are at risk of retirement poverty - Wirtualna Polska reported today, citing a report commissioned by the Social Insurance Institution.more
HMRC has denied running a "deliberately poor" phone service in an attempt to push taxpayers to seek help online instead.
Nearly 44,000 customers were cut off without warning after being on hold for more than an hour last year, a report by a committee of MPs has found.more
A growing number of homeowners in the UK are opting for 35-year or longer mortgage terms, with a significant rise in older borrowers stretching their repayment periods well into their 70s.more
Poland loses more than PLN 20 billion a year on the exclusion of LGBT people. And tolerance pays off, as friendlier companies have better financial results, according to a report by Open for Business, writes today's ‘Rzeczpospolita’.more
Convicted benefits cheats who fail to pay back the taxpayer could be stripped of their driving licences, under government plans to crack down on fraud.
Those who repeatedly cheat the system and have debts of £1,000 or more could be punished with a driving ban of up to two years.more
Thousands of London homeowners will face their council tax bills doubling from April under new rules.
Struggling boroughs are set to increase payments for some residents and property owners by 100% in a bid to bring in more cash and help ease the housing crisis. more
The world's billionaires are increasing their wealth at an accelerating rate, using their monopolistic influence in politics and the economy, the international aid organisation Oxfam assessed yesterday. It warned of a ‘new aristocracy’ and an ‘oligarchy’ of the richest.more
The UK is the second most attractive country for investment behind the US, signalling a climb up the rankings, according to an annual survey of global business leaders by the consultancy PwC.more
The invalidation of a foreign currency loan agreement by a common court means that it was never concluded. As a result, a franking person cannot benefit from housing relief, writes today's ‘Dziennik Gazeta Prawna’.more
Anyone buying their shopping with their bank card could be in for a major change under plans unveiled by the government. If you’re doing your weekly shop and it totals more than £100 then currnently people have to put their card into the chop and pin machine and enter the number on the keypad.more
Experts agree that in 2025 we should expect the debt of Poles to increase, although its level is already quite worrying for many. This mainly concerns people over 30 years of age.more
A significant DWP benefit is set to be abolished, affecting all current claimants. Tax credits are scheduled to cease in April amid sweeping reforms to the welfare system. The Government has issued a stark warning that there will be "no more payments" from that point forward. more
