Stephenson Smart columnist at King's Lynn considers 2020 Budget
Budgeting. Something my wife and I discuss a lot. Easier said than done.
The other day we were totting up the amount of money we spend on after school activities.
I needed a sit down.
There’s the running, the football clubs, badminton, gymnastics, oh and more football.
I can’t even begin think what will be next.
And the supermarket shopping. We have a list. Everything on the list is deposited in the trolley, I’m feeling smug as I get to the checkout. Wife will be happy, I’ve succeeded.
Boys insist on helping me go through the self-service and then to my horror I spy items that were not on my list. The queue behind me is growing, the pressure is on, the barcode on the jam won’t scan.
Who put in the chocolate chip cookies? Why didn’t they go for the double chocolate version? Anyway, that’s not the point.
End result - everything ends up in bags and it’s another epic fail.
We, like every other family in the UK, try very hard to keep everything within our household budget, but there will naturally be times when this isn’t possible.
We can’t talk about budgeting without mentioning the 2020 Budget, announced last week.
It’s a difficult time for the UK in many ways and it was heartening to learn of some of the measures put in place, especially concerning statutory sick pay.
As accountants the Budget is an important subject as it impacts greatly upon our advice for our clients and the way we work.
Some of the key points include the increase in the National Insurance threshold for employees and self-employed people.
The National Living Wage is projected to be over £10.50 an hour by 2024, a 6.2% increase, the largest yet and our clients will need to factor this into their forecasts.
Fuel duty will remain frozen for another year, which is great for our businesses that rely on movement of goods and corporation tax will remain at 19 per cent.
Just a glimpse of what is to come during a very uncertain time.