The New Tax Year

This week brings us the new tax year and a number of changes have been brought into effect,

Area Covered	Changes	Detail
Basic state pension	Up £2.40 a week	The weekly pension will go up to £97.65, for a pensioner couple it be £156.15
National Insurance contributions	Only 30 years needed	The qualifying years of NI payments for the basic state pension has dropped by nine years
Occupational pensions	Five year delay claiming	People now have to be 55 to receive occupational or personal pension payments
Top tax band	50% rate introduced	New tax rate for those earning over £150,000 a year
Tax allowance	High earner tax allowance withdrawn	Those earning over £100,000 will see the progressive withdrawal of their personal income tax allowance
Isa's	New limit of £10,200	The tax-free allowance limit on Isas rises
Paternity	Up to 26 weeks	Additional paternity leave available by transferring leave from the mother
Maternity	Up to £124.88 a week	The statutory maternity, paternity and adoption pay rises

 

It also should be noted that there is a planned increase to the minimum wage in October of 11p per hour for those aged over 21.