I guestimated in my rant about the new 50% tax rate [1] introduced in the UK Budget yesterday that I wouldn’t be much better or worse off because of the various changes.
A quick skim this morning through the various online calculators that have popped up proves the point: I will be just a couple of good bottles of wine poorer, and that’s mainly because of the increase in duty on good bottles of wine!
Most of my gross annual income comes through dividends, since I run my own Limited Company. This means I’m not much affected by tweaks to the income tax system – the stalling of the increase from 21% to 22% in the small business tax rate [2] is more relevant to me.
The new £10,200 ISA contribution limit [3] will make a difference over time, but it won’t mean any immediate change in my living standards.
Wondering how the 2009 Budget has affected you? Interestingly, I’ve noticed there are two camps of Budget calculators on the big websites today.
One plug-in tool has been supplied by accountancy firm KPMG, and the other by a group called Business Smart Interntational.
The KPMG calculator is a little more detailed, whereas the Business Smart one looks sexier.
Who is using which Budget 09 calculator?
Here’s links to several of the Budget 2009 calculators. The links open in a new window or tab, so that you can fire them all up if you want.
KPMG budget calculator
- BBC Business [4]
- The Guardian [5]
- Which? [6]
- Financial Times [7]
Business Smart budget calculator
- The Times [8]
- The Telegraph [9]
- The Manchester Evening News [10]
If you’re an old-fashioned sort, you can also see newspaper-style tax tables [11] detailing the differences for singles, marrieds, pensioners, and so on.