Paul Short looks at Take Home Pay

At little while ago I did an article for the web site trying to demonstrate that take home pay was not always a good indicator of someone’s pay package. It all depends on the extras. Since then, we have had the furore over MP’s expenses (cue my web article of 15 January 2007).

MP’s have been at it for a long time. Their base salary does not look anything super duper. But then add on the expenses and gross these up at their marginal rate of tax because they are tax free and then add on the copper plated pensions, provided out of the public purse, plus a few other perks and you have a formidable pay package, which if maximum allowances were claimed could be in the region of £355,000 a year.

Now there is something of a witch hunt on MP’s at the moment. We should remember that many of the expenses are authentic and justifiable and should not be regarded as part of their pay package but some are not. Even so, some MP’s pay package will come to a tidy sum. It is, of course, hugely tax efficient. All the benefits within and outside of Westminster are tax free, leaving some modest exposure to 40% tax on the top slice of their Parliamentary salary.

Now let us compare their situation with that of one of the purported high earners whom I shall call Gordon. I am still frustrated that MP’s define the rich and wealthy in terms of their income. They do not seem to be able to grasp that wealth and riches are a consequence of having capital. This takes me back to a web article I wrote in February 2006, comparing family A (zero income but huge capital) with family B (high income but no capital), with family A qualifying for all Brown’s welfare handouts. Anyway, back to Gordon. Gordon has an income of £200,000 a year and is reviled for being rich and wealthy. Gordon is self-employed, though. Out of his £200,000 a year (which he has only really been earning in the last year of so) he has to start funding for his retirement in around 10 years time.

To make up for lost time, Gordon is putting in £50,000 a year. It should give him a reasonable pension but nothing on the scale of an MP. Although Gordon has to pay tax on all of his earnings, the bulk of it at the current top rate of 40%, he has to retain at least £30,000 of post tax income in his business to help the continuing finance of its working capital. The alternative is to go to the Bank and become heavily geared.

Gordon is also having to finance his two children through university. They are in their first and second year respectively. It is expensive but Gordon doesn’t mind as he puts a premium on education and wants his children to graduate and have the best opportunity of securing a good job. Gordon lives in a reasonable four bedroomed house within commuting distance of London. It is very nice but far from a mansion. It was worth some £500,000 a year ago but Gordon thinks it might only be worth £425,000 now. He still has a mortgage of £150,000 on the property although he expects to clear this within the next 10 years. Nevertheless, it represents a significant monthly out going.

Gordon has always been strong on protection and having adequate insurance in place to safeguard his family and his house. That is another heavy out going. Gordon’s family run three modest cars and they do like to have one foreign holiday a year with possibly another in the UK. Gordon finds that all these commitments means that he does not have that much disposable cash left at the end of the year.

Gordon works 50 to 60 hours a week on average on his business and feels he needs the holidays to re-charge and refresh himself. Do you or I go and tell Gordon that he is rich and wealthy and that is why he is going to be paying three times as much tax as his struggling local MP?

Uncle Audley considers Quantitive Easing and suggests “Don’t ask Gieve!”

 Uncle Audley has been scathing about the performance of Mervyn King and the Monetary Policy Committee at the Bank of England.  In his view they have reacted far too slowly to the gathering storm.  It seemed obvious to most people in the country from the middle of 2008 that we were in a recession.  Indeed Uncle Audley was, even then, going on about the danger being depression.  Unfortunately the only D word coming out the Government was of a downturn. 

Yet the number of members at the MPC at this time were actually pushing for an increase in interest rates, not a reduction.  The sole voice arguing for base rate reduction was David “Danny” Blanchflower.  Now of course they have all changed their tune and we now have a base rate of 0.5% in play.  There is not much more to go and the Bank of England have moved onto Plan B which is the quantitive easing policy. 

Uncle Audley takes the matter on:

“Quantitive easing does sound a little more reassuring than printing money.  I suppose I could say it is just semantics and we have some spinning here.  Nevertheless I know there is a difference and quantitive easing is not quite the same as printing money.  The latter does give immediate connotations of inflation.  Printing money is the first step along an inevitable path to that end. 

What I do find astonishing is the comments by Sir John Gieve who is the outgoing Deputy Governor of the Bank (maybe thank goodness for that).  He is reiterating the point that inflation will be kept low.  Apparently this will require the Bank to start raising rates before it is obvious on the street that the economy is getting better.  Now, with the best will in the world, how are we to believe that the Bank will recognise the situation before those people directly affected.  We already have had the situation where the MPC were far far far behind the pace in terms of reducing rates.  Why should we think they will be any better in recognising the need to raise rates before everyone else at the sharp end?  They hardly inspire you with confidence and the smart money is on the Bank of England moving too slowly so that inflation proves to be well and truly back.  I think it was rather a case of “Do not ask Gieve”.

Lambert Chapman LLP’s Chris Harman reviews the 2009 Budget

 In my Budget 2008 comments I wrote ‘I expect this to be Alistair Darling’s only Budget. He has been handed the task of implementing some unpopular changes and will no doubt take the flak for a few more financial problems and then will move / be moved on.’  Alistair has now got two Budgets under his belt, is still in office; what more financial problems are to come?

 The world economy is in a mess and we shouldn’t blame Alistair.  The philosophy in the good times of ’spend more and borrow more’ could only lead to problems when (not if) bad times returned. 

 

I am shocked by the inaccuracies of the IMF and the Government in their estimates of both global and national budgets.  The estimates given to us last autumn of the world and of our nations share of ‘toxic debts’ from the lending strategies of banks were dreadfully inaccurate and far too low.  We now get fed more bad news and told that it will get better soon.  Why should we believe that?  The recent track record of forecasts of debt, borrowing and growth are so poor I can only see more bad news to come.  I also expect a future Budget to include a new form of ’short term tax’ (this happened many years ago when William Pitt the Younger introduced income tax to fund our war against France).

 

This year Alistair has had to present a Budget that is to kick start and then boost our economy whilst being affordable.  A tough task. 

 

There will be much in the press and media about the finer points of the 2009 Budget and how it will affect business and individuals so I only wish to make comments on four areas;

1.  Car scrappage.  I wonder how much of the £2,000 discount will stay in this country by being spent on cars that have been built here?  How much of the car manufacturers profit derived from the £2,000 will be invested in the U.K?  What will be the effect on the manufacturers of spares for the older cars that will now be scrapped?

2.  Stealth Taxes.  They are still there and the overall tax take is likely to keep increasing.

3.  HM Revenue & Customs Powers & Penalties.  From April 2010 there will be a reform of the penalties for the late filing of Tax Returns and the late payment of taxes.  ‘Reform’ means increasing the penalties as well as removing the current tax geared system that operates in some areas and also applying penalties to employers and contractors for the late payment of PAYE and CIS.  

4.  Efficiency drives. HM Revenue & Customs have been subjected to staff cutbacks, office moves and restructuring.  This has left those staff still within the HMRC unsettled, frustrated and under resourced.  The result has been a reduction in the level of service HMRC provides and an increase in the cost to business and individuals in the management of their tax matters.  The Government has cut HMRC staffing and resources back too far.  The ’savings’ may look good on paper but I feel they will be short term savings and there will be a big cost to us all in the long term. 

 

I do hope that the 2009 Budget won’t, in the words of a friend, ‘over promote and under deliver’.

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Lambert Chapman LLP’s Nick Forsyth reviews the 2009 Budget

I feel for Alistair Darling. No, I really do. After Blackadder Goes Forth one gets an image in ones mind when his surname is mentioned and his eyebrows attract unnecessary attention before we think about his job as Chancellor of the Exchequer. It’s always difficult to follow a great predecessor (although Bob Paisley did a reasonable job of it) but to follow a fool should be a straightforward task unless he remains your Boss, survived far too long in your current job and wasted all the money he took by whatever stealth method used.

Mr Darling’s job is to get Labour to the next election and do what he can to get his Boss past the post in first position. It really is a tough one! To hamper his main opponent he uses the guile of a higher tax rate in an effort to make them commit tax  plans and then looks to continue spending money to keep his voters in work for as long as possible. Can it work? Possibly it can but these days the electorate, or those of them who can bother to use the vote might be a little less niave than in the past, though I understand a donkey wearing a red rose was elected in the now defunct Dunfermline East in June 1983.

 

Over the years I’ve met many a board who are floating overambitious with their income and growth projections but spot on with the costs. Borrowings normally start reducing, sometimes quite rapidly, in month 10 for the plan but if the plan is not achieved it all it can be catastrophic. I think we have this situation here and worry that things will turn out much worse than currently being forecast.

 

When I heard the speech I did like the increased capital allowances and carry back of losses but due to the loss sums being restricted these might not amount to that much help. Increasing taxes is inevitable but to tax the entrepreneurs might prove to be not such a smart move.

 

In my mind our two main parties are both bereft of ideas and an election is looming. It’s a bit like the upcoming Newcastle United Vs Middlesbrough game; everything hangs upon it yet neither side has any clue on tactics or how to win the game. In this case they might both end up losers whilst in the election it might be the winner that lives to regret it.     

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Uncle Audley adds his thoughts on the 2009 Budget

Uncle Audley was relieved by the Budget.  His hot tip had been that the Government would scrap the Royal Navy to save costs, not that they have left much of it over the last decade.  “Well, at least the Royal Navy is saved but it will be the defence budget which will bear the brunt of the public sector savings and more British servicemen will be risking their lives with inadequate technology and equipment”.

 

How do you hope to reinvigorate an economy when you disincentivise the wealth creators.  It is all very well trying to do more for the young who are out of work and out of training but there has to be real jobs created for them.  I thought the lesson had been learnt that higher tax rates actually stifle enterprise and initiative.  Apparently the lesson has not been learnt. 

 

Pension funds invest in UK businesses.  It seems to me that the Government’s measures to restrict tax relief will have the impact of reducing investment in British businesses.

 

I noticed also about restrictions in tax relief for UK holiday lets.  They are on the same footing as foreign holiday lets so again it seems to me that this will encourage acquisitions in foreign property markets at the expense of the indigenous UK property market. I maybe wrong and we will have to see how things work out.

Lambert Chapman LLP’s Lisa Potter reviews the 2009 Budget

 

GOOD, BAD and INDIFFERENT, to me this sums up the contents of the 2009 budget.    Given the current climate and the potential effect on their re-election, Darling was not expected to deliver a budget full of excitement and for this reason he did not disappoint.

 

Positive outcomes include the incentives for electric cars and the scrapping of cars over 10 years old, although the latter could be abused by those trying to earn some money if not closely regulated.   The ability to use furnished holiday letting losses from overseas property against other income in the UK is again a positive move, as currently many individuals are suffering losses as a consequence of less travel and the high cost of the Euro.      The continuation of the higher stamp duty level of £175k until the end of December 2009 is a stimulant to boost the housing market once again.    Also provides an opportunity to those with money to invest in property for their long term pension.

 

The bad news is that there were no real changes to help smaller businesses, I would have liked to have seen a radical change to the VAT threshold which again has risen by the mere £1,000, this is a limit that has never increased inflationary.    Also the removal of the higher rate relief on pension contributions for individuals earning over £150k – for a government that wants to encourage us to invest in personal pensions so they do not pick up the tab for it, how does this help?

 

Indifferent is the static status of the corporation tax rates and the changes to capital allowances, which whilst a positive step, in the current climate I do not feel will encourage additional spending in this area.     

 

The naming and shaming publicly of tax offenders, one thinks this is a ploy to encourage people to play the game properly, the reality is I feel this would have no benefit to either the revenue or taxpayers in general and will cost the government lots of money to ensure it is implemented correctly.

 

Let’s hope that as part of the new regime for attacking tax offenders whereby more detailed accounts are required for a period of 5 years after the offence they insist on using qualified accountants to prepare them!  

 

Overall another boring budget where Darling has not been daring.

 

 

  

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Lambert Chapman LLP’s Paul Short reviews the 2009 Budget

 It is always difficult to comment in the immediate aftermath of the Budget.  The devil is always in the detail. 

The main issue for our clients will be the tax hikes and pension relief restrictions being introduced.  The current tax year will be a very busy one for me in terms of tax planning.  We will see plenty of what I call the Greaves/Nicholson effect and an awful lot of high earners will be reducing their income to £99,999 or £149,999 per year (again depending on the devil in the detail).

 

Apart from tax planning, I also expect to be busy on company incorporations, particularly of professional practices.  Part of the driver for this will be to mitigate the impact of higher rate relief loss on pension contributions. 

 

The increase in company incorporations which will ensue will be interesting.  At the beginning of the decade of financial mismanagement, Brown introduced the £Nil rate band of corporation tax which led to a surge in company incorporations predictable to everyone bar his Treasury Team, it seems.  This dark age in our island’s history will perhaps finish with another surge of incorporations.  Again, no doubt, this Government will see this as evidence of a return to health for the economy.

 

Unfortunately, these measures will make off-shore tax structures and arrangements more attractive to the highest earners.  Despite their fine words about closing down such arrangements, the Government continue to do nothing.  Indeed, they continues to be the industry’s most effective salesman.

 

The Government’s measures confirm one thing to me.  Socialists have never understood small business.  They never have done, and they never will do.

 

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Lambert Chapman LLP’s Nigel Whittle reviews the 2009 Budget

 Confidence is in short supply and this Budget has not helped to improve the situation.  With the enormous UK Government deficit continuing for years to come, our relative position with the rest of the world looks highly challenging.  

Alistair Darling’s method of combating this problem seems to be by taxing the wealthiest.  This will only lead to emigration of those that the country needs to retain, or evermore complex tax avoidance measures being created which will reduce the overall tax take.  The only real effective way of reducing the Budget deficit is by reducing Government spending. 

What is of even greater concern is that the Conservatives are not making clear that they will pursue a policy of low taxation which will inevitably lead to a continuation in lack of confidence in our potentially high earning business leaders.  Our hopes did rest upon a change in Government next year which would implement business friendly policies. 

 

Let us hope upon further consideration by George Osborne and David Cameron that they will tackle the Budget deficit and restore confidence in the UK economy.

 

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Lambert Chapman LLP’s John Smith-Daye reviews the 2009 Budget

I continue to be unimpressed by Mr Darling’s efforts to manage our economy in these troubled times, and I agree with one of the BBC correspondents who was saying that we needed to see unprecedented leadership in attacking the environmental and economic crises, whereas what we actually got was Alistair fiddling while the planet burns!

 

Having recently read Orwell’s “1984” again, I am beginning to think that AD is in fact an officer of the Ministry of Truth  - the propaganda arm of the UK regime, controlling information: news, entertainment, education, and the fine arts. Can  he really believe that the vehicle scrappage scheme can make any significant difference to the motor industry? Those who have cars more than ten years old are surely the least likely to be looking at buying a brand new car. And not a single homeowner has yet received any benefit from the HomeBuy Direct scheme, according to David Cameron.

 

A small boost to investment will come from the increase in the level of Capital Allowances from 20% to 40%, but I don’t expect this to have a major effect on the majority of our clients, who were all looking for and needing more than has been done in this Budget Speech. However, this is only on expenditure above the £50,000 AIA level, in the year of purchase.

 

On the positive side, if you believe what is being said, the budget deficit will be halved over the next four years, and we will be growing our way out of this recession. In my opinion, this growth needs to be encouraged an awful lot more by Governmental measures for the grass roots of the economy, to encourage an entrepreneurial spirit, to build confidence in this country, rather than to introduce hair-brained schemes that have little effect on the man in the street.

 

I wish I could be more positive, but I don’t feel at all inspired by this type of Budget Statement.

 

 

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