News

Dec 28, 2023 - New budget to be delivered on 6 March 2024, confirms Treasury

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will deliver the 2024 spring Budget on 6 March, the Treasury has said.

It will include the government's tax and spending plans as well as new growth and borrowing forecasts.

It could be the last chance for the government to announce significant changes to tax policy before the general election.

Reports suggest there may be further tax cuts as the Conservatives try to close a major deficit in the polls.

The chancellor used his last big fiscal speech, the Autumn Statement, to extend tax breaks for business and cut National Insurance.

However, those policy decisions did not...

Dec 28, 2023 - British-born man who has never left UK faces deportation

A 28-year-old British-born man who has never left the country has spoken of his devastation after being told he will be deported to Portugal, from where his parents arrived more than 30 years ago, under a post-Brexit policy towards EU nationals convicted of crimes.

Dmitry Lima was born in Lambeth, in south London, does not speak Portuguese and has never travelled abroad but he was given a deportation order by the Home Office after serving a prison sentence for drugs offences and for carrying a Taser.

Lima, who had no previous convictions, is appealing against the deportation decision on the gr...

Dec 22, 2023 - New £38,700 income visa rule will be introduced in early 2025, confirms Rishi Sunak

The rise from the current £18,600 level was announced earlier this month and had been scheduled for the spring.

However, the government has rowed back and now says the increase will come in two stages.

Next spring, the threshold will rise to £29,000, with the further rise not applying until the following year.

Speaking in Lincoln, Mr Sunak defended the timetable, saying: "The principle here is absolutely right that if people are bringing dependents into this country as part of their family, they must be able to support them.

"We're doing exactly as we said we would. We're just doing it in two ...

Dec 22, 2023 - Deprivation of British citizenship without advance notice is lawful, concludes Upper Tribunal

The Upper Tribunal has held that it is lawful for the Home Secretary to deprive a person of their British citizenship without notice, in this case because of a concern that the second nationality would be renounced. Renunciation would have meant that deprivation of British citizenship would be at risk of being held unlawful as it would have left the appellant stateless. The case is Kolicaj (Deprivation: procedure and discretion) Albania UKUT 294 (IAC). The appellant was notified that he had been deprived of his citizenship on the same day that he had been notified that it was under review due ...

Dec 22, 2023 - Changes to National insurance contributions for employees and self-employed persons for 2024

There will be a cut in the main rate of Employee’s National Insurance contributions from 6 January 2024. This will see Class 1 National insurance contributions reduced by 2%, from 12% to 10%, in a change set to benefit some 27 million employees.

This reduction will only apply to annual earnings between £12,570 and £50,270, meaning that the maximum saving is £754 a year. Average earners, bringing home £35,400, will be £450 better off. As the main rate will be reduced from 6 January 2024, employees will, unusually, see a benefit before the start of the next tax year.

How are these reductions in ...

Dec 21, 2023 - Article 8 not automatically engaged by a refusal under the EU Settlement Scheme

In Dani (non-removal human rights submissions) Albania UKUT 293 (IAC) the Upper Tribunal has said that an application made under the EU settlement scheme does not in itself amount to a human rights claim. This is yet another case where people trying to access their rights under the EU settlement scheme have been penalised owing to an inability to get married during the pandemic.

Background

The Home Secretary rejected the appellant’s application for pre-settled status on the basis that the marriage took place after 31 December 2020 and the appellant had not been issued with a relevant document 

Dec 21, 2023 - Home Office row back on salary threshold for family/spouse visa

The government has rowed back on plans to hike the salary needed to bring family members to the UK to £38,700 next spring.

Now, the new salary threshold shall be set at £29,000.

The increase - from the current level of £18,600 - was announced earlier this month as part of a plan to lower legal migration.

But the new threshold will initially be set at £29,000, with further increases at unspecified dates thereafter.

Ministers had been facing pressure over the issue in recent weeks, amid warnings the new visa rules would keep families apart.

The government unveiled a package of measures to lower ...

Dec 20, 2023 - UK inflation falls sharply to 3.9%

UK inflation has fallen to its lowest level for more than two years, driven largely by a drop in fuel prices.

Prices rose by 3.9% in the year to November, down from 4.6% in October.

Slowing price rises for food, including staples such as pasta, milk and butter, as well as for household goods were also behind the fall.

But while inflation, which is the rate prices rise at, is now well down from its peak in 2022, it is still almost double the Bank of England's 2% target.

Falling inflation also does not mean most goods and services are cheaper, but rather prices are rising less quickly.

Grant Fit...

Dec 20, 2023 - EU rules set to transform VAT fraud detection in e-commerce come into effect from 1 January 2024

From 1 January 2024, payment service providers (PSPs) offering payment services in the EU will be required to monitor the payees of cross-border payments. PSPs will be required to provide to the tax administrations in member states information of any business that receives more than 25 cross-border payments per quarter. 

The information provided will be stored in a centralised EU database, the central electronic system of payment information (CESOP), where it can be cross-checked against other European databases. The information in CESOP will be made available to anti-fraud experts in EU membe...

Dec 19, 2023 - Scottish Budget: Higher earners to pay more income tax

Higher earners in Scotland are to pay more income tax.

A new 45% band will be introduced for people earning between £75,000 and £125,140 - meaning they will pay more tax than they currently do.

The top rate of tax, paid by those earning more than £125,000, will also rise from 47% to 48%.

Finance Secretary Shona Robison confirmed the move as she unveiled the government's budget for next year.

The changes mean Scotland will have six income tax bands while the rest of the UK has three, with higher earners in Scotland paying more than other parts of the country.

They are designed to help plug a £1...