Taxing times ahead with a post-Budget ‘austerity’ special

As expected, the weekend’s personal finance press was a no-surprises, no-holds-barred Budget-tastic special.

As covering all sections exhaustively may prove, well, exhausting (especially in this heat), we’d like instead to treat you to the summary highlights.

Tax was a particularly hot topic, with almost every angle of the upcoming regime scrutinised by our favourite pundits. The FT Weekend’s Tanya Powley led the pack, and the section, with a look at how the rise in Capital Gains Tax (CGT) to 28% is a ‘non-issue’ according to estate agents, who had feared the hike would trigger a mass sell-off of properties. Alice Ross continued the CGT theme with good news for investors using capital gains vehicles as they are significantly more tax efficient than income tax generating products.

 The Mail on Sunday’s Stephen Womack took a broader stance on the subject, focusing on when key tax rises will start to bite and what this means for British families.  In the same section, Richard Dyson pointed to the fact that tax constraints imposed by the Budget have highlighted the benefits of ISAs, with Philippa Gee commenting that it’s ‘plain wrong’ to overlook this opportunity.  

The Telegraph dedicated nearly its entire Saturday money section to tax, with Paul Farrow and Emma Simon leading the way with a look at the CGT changes in detail following the papers’ campaign to avert a rise. A Q&A-style piece in the section, compiled by Richard Evans on the back of a Budget webchat, also focused on the nitty-gritty of what the tax changes could mean in individual circumstances. Polishing off the section, Ian Cowie points out that 700,000 more people will be subject to the higher rate tax when the starting point for 40% is lowered next April.

Nina Montagu-Smith of The Sunday Times led the section with the startling prediction that the number of higher rate taxpayers in Britain could double to 6 million (one in five) by the end of this parliamentary term if the coalition pushes ahead with its plans to reduce the basic rate band. The paper continued on the tax-heavy theme with Ali Hussain and Nina Montagu-Smith taking a look at why we all lose out in the Budget tax-wise, highlighting the plight of middle earners, long-term savers, pensioners, second home owners and public sector workers. In the same section, Kathryn Cooper concludes from the Budget that George Osborne has learnt a few dirty tricks from Brown regarding stealth tax, with plenty of it hidden in the small print.

Finally, for a well deserved ‘tax-break’, MRM’s very own Ian Thomas shares his thoughts on payday loan companies (on the back of OFT ruling giving the nod of approval to 2,500% loan rates) in a piece by Rosanna Spero in The Independent – enjoy!

Coverage scores on the doors this week are as follows:

Charity                    0%

Credit cards          4%

Fraud/scams        0%

IFAs                         2%

Insurance              2%

Investment          15%

Mortgages             9%

Pensions                22%

Regulation            0%

Savings                   9%

Tax                          36%

Utilities                  2%