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National Minimum Wage (Oct 2016)

National Minimum Wage rates from 1 October 2016 will be:

  • £6.95 per hour – 21-24 yrs old
  • £5.55 per hour 18 – 20 yrs old
  • £4 per hour – 16-17 yrs old
  • £3.40 for apprentices under 19 or 19 or over who are in the first year of apprenticeship.

National Living Wage

There will be no change to £7.20 per hour, implemented from 1 April 2016 for individuals over the age of 25 yrs old

The rate will then change every April starting April 2017

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National Living Wage

In April 2016 the Government’s new National Living Wage will become law.
All workers aged 25 and over are legally entitled to at least £7.20 per hour.Take these four steps to be ready for the change:

  1. Check you know who is eligible in your organisation. Find out on GOV. UK’s employment status page.
  2. Take the appropriate payroll action.
  3. Let your staff know about their new pay rate.
  4. Check your staff under 25 are earning at least the right rate of National Minimum Wage.

You can find out everything you need to know about the new National Living Wage, including the new rates of pay, on the employers’ National Minimum Wage page.

If you still have any queries that are not addressed visit our Acas page for further information and assistance or alternatively contact us

If you’re an employer, you’ll need to make sure you’re paying your staff correctly from 1st April 2016, as the National Living Wage will be enforced as strongly as the current National Minimum Wage.

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Budget 2015 – “Post Election”

George Osborne delivered his seventh Budget as chancellor on 8 July 2015

Personal taxation and pay

  • New national living wage will be introduced for all workers aged over 25, starting at £7.20 an hour from April 2016 and set to reach £9 by 2020 – giving an estimated 2.5 million people an average £5,000 rise over five years
  • Low Pay Commission to advise on future changes to rates
  • Inheritance tax threshold to increase to £1m, phased in from 2017, underpinned by a new £325,000 family home allowance
  • Personal allowance, at which people start paying tax, to rise to £11,000 next year (2016-17). The government says the personal allowance will rise to £12,500 by 2020, so that people working 30 hours a week on the minimum wage do not pay income tax
  • The point at which people start paying income tax at the 40p rate to rise from £42,385 to £43,000 next year
  • Mortgage interest relief for buy-to-let homebuyers to be restricted to basic rate of income tax
  • Rent-a-room relief scheme to rise to £7,500

The state of the economy

  • Economy grew by 3% in 2014
  • 2.4% growth forecast in 2015, 0.1% lower than predicted in March, followed by 2.3%, 2.4% and 2.4% in the following years
  • One million extra jobs predicted to be created by 2020

Alcohol, tobacco, gambling and fuel

  • No rise in fuel duty this year with rates continuing to be frozen
  • – Major reform to vehicle excise duties to pay for a new road-building and maintenance fund in England
  • – New VED bands for brand new cars to be introduced from 2017, pegged to emissions for the first year. Subsequently, 95% of car owners will pay a flat fee of £140 a year
  • – Alcohol and tobacco duties not mentioned in statement

Business

  • Corporation tax to be cut to 19% in 2017 and 18% in 2020
  • – Permanent non-dom status to be abolished – from April 2017, anyone who has lived in the UK for 15 of the past 20 years will pay same level of tax as other UK citizens
  • – £7.2bn to be raised from clampdown on tax avoidance and tax evasion with HMRC budget increased by £750m
  • – Bank levy rate to be gradually reduced over the next six years and a new 8% surcharge on bank profits introduced from 2016
  • – Cap on charges imposed by claims management companies and an increase in insurance premium tax to 9.5% from November
  • – New apprenticeship levy for large employers
  • – Climate Change Levy exemption for renewable electricity to be removed
  • – National Insurance employment allowance for small firms to be increased by 50% to £3,000 from 2016
  • – Dividend tax credit to be replaced with a new tax-free allowance of £5,000 on dividend income. Rates of dividend tax to be set at 7.5%, 32.5% and 38.1%.
  • – Annual investment allowance will be fixed permanently at £200,000 from January 2016
  • – A consultation will take place on changing Sunday trading laws
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National Minimum Wage (Oct 2015)

The national minimum wage will increase by 20p an hour to £6.70, the government has announced.

The new rates will be implemented in October 2015.

It is the first time in six years that the rise will be higher than inflation.

The rate for those aged 16 and 17 will rise by 8p to £3.87.

Apprentices will earn an extra 7p an hour, taking their wages to at least £2.80.

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National Minimum Wage (Oct 2014)

The national minimum wage will increase by 19p an hour to £6.50, the government has announced.

The new rates will be implemented in October 2014.

It is the first time in six years that the rise will be higher than inflation.

The rate for those aged 16 and 17 will rise by 7p to £3.79.

Apprentices will earn an extra 5p an hour, taking their wages to at least £2.73.