Tax stories swamp the mid-week money sections

The mid-week’s money sections saw tax stories leap to the top of the leaderboard, accounting for 35 per cent of all personal finance articles – an all time high since MRM records began. Pension stories also saw a rise from 10 per cent last week to 15 per cent in this week’s tally.

With regards to the tax stories, in the Mirror, Tricia Phillips (@Triciaaphillips) outlined the hidden budget cuts and benefit changes which will hit families hardest. With childcare costs being chopped by 10 per cent and the recent cap on Housing Allowance affecting new claimants, it might be worth following Jessica Bown’s advice in the Express and giving your finances a spring clean. Moreover, if you’re one of the 700,000 extra people being dragged into paying higher-rate tax from today, then the ‘Seven easy ways to beat the higher rate tax trap’ in the Mail (@MailOnline) makes for an interesting read. Tips include using National Savings and Investments and making the most of your ISA allowance.

Focussing on pensions, in the Express, Holly Thomas (@holly_thomas_) explained how new reforms are set to divide pensioners who retire before 2015 and those who stop working later – with those retiring earlier being left out of pocket.  James Salmon, in the Mail, provided a useful explanation of what exactly the new £140-a-week State pension entails and how different people will be affected.

The rest of the scores on the board this week were as follows:

Charity                  5%               

Credit cards        0%      

Fraud/scams      5%     

IFAs                       0%                     

Insurance            0%   

Investment         5%   

Mortgages           10%    

Pensions              15%   

Property               0%      

Regulation           0%         

Savings                 15%          

Tax                          35%             

Utilities                 10%