Tax Cuts Might Not Make Us Better Off Warns Personal Accountant.



Posted: Friday, April 15, 2011

by Liz Fletcher
Spirit OF Nature

Personal accountant Peter Lashmar has warned that the ordinary man or woman in the street may be no better off despite Government measures to give the poorest in society more money in their pockets.

Chancellor George Osborne announced in his budget that the personal tax allowance (the amount a person can earn before having to pay income tax) would increase to £7,475 from April 2011, handing everyone working in Britain a virtual tax break.

However, what difference, if any, will this actually make to people’s standards of living?

Peter Lashmar, who publishes his own tax newsletter through his firm of personal accountants in Lymington, Hampshire, said: “The 2011 budget was delivered against a backdrop of rising inflation and high oil prices, not to mention the worst unemployment figures for seventeen years.

“The cost of living has gone up substantially since 2008, while people’s salaries have increased by very little, if at all.

“Take these facts together with the rise in VAT to 20 per cent, and you find that people in Britain have less disposable income than in 2008, despite Mr. Osborne giving a little bit back with the other hand.” The personal accounting expert added.

However, the personal allowance is set to increase in April 2012 to a much more sizable £8,105 according to the Chancellor.

Surely, this hike in personal allowance would make a difference to people’s lives?

The personal accountant says wait and see.

“I wish I had a crystal ball, but the reality is that we live in very uncertain economic times.” Peter Lashmar said.

“It may be that what comes off taxes simply goes onto prices.

 “But a rise in interest rates is certainly in the offing from the Bank of England, so this could help stabilise things.” He added.

Check out Hampshire personal accountant, Lashmars
This Article has been viewed 87 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
No comments yet.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.