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01 Apr 10
18:41
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Date Joined:
08 Aug 08
[b]10 things which will cost more this month
You may be looking forward to Easter holidays, but your wallet certainly isn't.[/b]
Image: Getty Images
Spring is here, birds are singing and days are getting longer. But there is a strange rumbling sound.... it's the stampede of tax rises and price increases arriving in April.
1. Council tax
There are so many conflicting reports about how much we can expect our council tax bills to increase. The only thing that is certain is that they will go up, not down. Some figures suggest the rise will be as much as 4%, which would still be above inflation. For the average band D bill, this is means you will be paying an extra £57 on the current bill of £1,414.
Council tax has already doubled since Labour came to power. Alistair Darling's pre-Budget report, which called for £550 million in savings by 2013 from local government has left many homeowners are worried that cuts to services will affect the already shaky rubbish collections.
What you can do... check you're getting due discounts such as for single occupancy, students or empty homes and you're claiming relevant benefits and read my blog on council tax to find out how you can check whether you're in the wrong band.
2. Stamps
First and second-class stamps will rise by 2p to 41p and 32p respectively on 6 April 2010.
What you can do.... stock up on stamps now as they are inflation-proofed if they have just 1st or 2nd on them. Why not stock up for Christmas while you're at it.
3. TV licence
From 1 April the cost of a colour television licence will be £145.00. Read my BBC blogs if you want to know what your money is spent on.
4. Petrol and diesel
The government slaps an extra 1p per litre from 1 April as the controversial fuel duty hits again.
What you can do... shop around for the cheapest pumps near you at the PetrolPrices website and read my blog on surviving the petrol hike for more tips.
Check you're paying the right amount of tax on your salary
5. Car tax
From 1 April, there will be a one-off rate for vehicle excise duty for the first year a car is registered. The government says this will designed to "send a stronger signal to the buyer about the environmental implications of their car purchase and will only apply to new cars, not already registered cars".
Low-pollution vehicles in bands A-D will pay no tax in the first year, but some taxes are doubled. Owners of top-polluting cars will pay £950 for their 12-month tax disc. Ouch. From the second tax disc onwards they will then pay the standard rate.
6. Phone bills
BT changes the time during which customers can make free evening calls from 6pm to 7pm from 1 April. BT is also raising the call set-up fee for non-inclusive calls (those you have to pay for outside your free plan calls) from 9.3p to 9.9p a call, while the cost of calls made during the daytime will increase from 5.4p a minute to 5.9p a minute.
These charge changes will not apply to BT Basic, Light User Scheme and In-Contact Plus customers. I wrote about this back in February so click here for further details of the new costs and plans. BT is not the only company putting up prices in April though. Virgin Media increasing its line rental from £11 to £11.99.
What you can do... save money on your landline bill by shopping around for the best line rental prices, finding the call package which suits your needs and possibly bundling your home package with your broadband or digital TV service.
7. Nice pubs
As business taxes are raised for our struggling pubs (nearly 4,000 have closed since 1997), any locals which are unspoilt or have restaurants, real ale, gardens or wine bars are deemed to have a higher Rateable Value and must pay more tax from April.
Features such as a pool room, skittles alley, bowling green, children's play area and darts and even Sky Sports have also been targeted. Obviously the costs will be passed on to customers.
8. MPs' wages
The 1.5% rise will give them basic salaries of £65,737. Nice work if you can get it. Their pay rise last year was 2.33%.
9. Income tax
If you are earn more than £150,000 a year then your top rate of income tax will rise to 50% from 6 April. All income over this threshold will be taxed at 50%, except dividend income which will be taxed at an effective rate of 36.1%. In addition, those earning over £112,950 will lose entitlement to the tax-free personal allowance - currently £6,475.
What you can do... talk to your accountant for guidance on how to mitigate this.
Don't forget... also going up is the 2010/11 tax-free ISA allowance. The annual limit will go up from £7,200 to £10,200 on 6 April. The cash limit in the overall allowance will rise from £3,600 to £5,100. The remainder can be invested in shares.
10. Black cab fares
This only affects those of us living in or visiting London, but the cost of hopping into one of the city's iconic black taxis just got more expensive. Fares have gone up by 2.3%.
You may be looking forward to Easter holidays, but your wallet certainly isn't.[/b]
Image: Getty Images
Spring is here, birds are singing and days are getting longer. But there is a strange rumbling sound.... it's the stampede of tax rises and price increases arriving in April.
1. Council tax
There are so many conflicting reports about how much we can expect our council tax bills to increase. The only thing that is certain is that they will go up, not down. Some figures suggest the rise will be as much as 4%, which would still be above inflation. For the average band D bill, this is means you will be paying an extra £57 on the current bill of £1,414.
Council tax has already doubled since Labour came to power. Alistair Darling's pre-Budget report, which called for £550 million in savings by 2013 from local government has left many homeowners are worried that cuts to services will affect the already shaky rubbish collections.
What you can do... check you're getting due discounts such as for single occupancy, students or empty homes and you're claiming relevant benefits and read my blog on council tax to find out how you can check whether you're in the wrong band.
2. Stamps
First and second-class stamps will rise by 2p to 41p and 32p respectively on 6 April 2010.
What you can do.... stock up on stamps now as they are inflation-proofed if they have just 1st or 2nd on them. Why not stock up for Christmas while you're at it.
3. TV licence
From 1 April the cost of a colour television licence will be £145.00. Read my BBC blogs if you want to know what your money is spent on.
4. Petrol and diesel
The government slaps an extra 1p per litre from 1 April as the controversial fuel duty hits again.
What you can do... shop around for the cheapest pumps near you at the PetrolPrices website and read my blog on surviving the petrol hike for more tips.
Check you're paying the right amount of tax on your salary
5. Car tax
From 1 April, there will be a one-off rate for vehicle excise duty for the first year a car is registered. The government says this will designed to "send a stronger signal to the buyer about the environmental implications of their car purchase and will only apply to new cars, not already registered cars".
Low-pollution vehicles in bands A-D will pay no tax in the first year, but some taxes are doubled. Owners of top-polluting cars will pay £950 for their 12-month tax disc. Ouch. From the second tax disc onwards they will then pay the standard rate.
6. Phone bills
BT changes the time during which customers can make free evening calls from 6pm to 7pm from 1 April. BT is also raising the call set-up fee for non-inclusive calls (those you have to pay for outside your free plan calls) from 9.3p to 9.9p a call, while the cost of calls made during the daytime will increase from 5.4p a minute to 5.9p a minute.
These charge changes will not apply to BT Basic, Light User Scheme and In-Contact Plus customers. I wrote about this back in February so click here for further details of the new costs and plans. BT is not the only company putting up prices in April though. Virgin Media increasing its line rental from £11 to £11.99.
What you can do... save money on your landline bill by shopping around for the best line rental prices, finding the call package which suits your needs and possibly bundling your home package with your broadband or digital TV service.
7. Nice pubs
As business taxes are raised for our struggling pubs (nearly 4,000 have closed since 1997), any locals which are unspoilt or have restaurants, real ale, gardens or wine bars are deemed to have a higher Rateable Value and must pay more tax from April.
Features such as a pool room, skittles alley, bowling green, children's play area and darts and even Sky Sports have also been targeted. Obviously the costs will be passed on to customers.
8. MPs' wages
The 1.5% rise will give them basic salaries of £65,737. Nice work if you can get it. Their pay rise last year was 2.33%.
9. Income tax
If you are earn more than £150,000 a year then your top rate of income tax will rise to 50% from 6 April. All income over this threshold will be taxed at 50%, except dividend income which will be taxed at an effective rate of 36.1%. In addition, those earning over £112,950 will lose entitlement to the tax-free personal allowance - currently £6,475.
What you can do... talk to your accountant for guidance on how to mitigate this.
Don't forget... also going up is the 2010/11 tax-free ISA allowance. The annual limit will go up from £7,200 to £10,200 on 6 April. The cash limit in the overall allowance will rise from £3,600 to £5,100. The remainder can be invested in shares.
10. Black cab fares
This only affects those of us living in or visiting London, but the cost of hopping into one of the city's iconic black taxis just got more expensive. Fares have gone up by 2.3%.
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