With the new 2019 tax year having just begun, there are a few main changes that you should be aware of.
The main changes are to the following:
· Tax and allowances
· Company car, van and fuel benefits
· Student loans
· Personal tax relief and benefits
· Workplace pensions
Tax and Allowances
Personal allowance – the amount earnable before you are eligible for paying income tax has increased from £11,850 to £12,500. The threshold for paying the higher rate of income tax will also increase from £46,350 to £50,000.
National minimum wage and national living wage –
· Apprentice national minimum wage has increased from £3.70 to £3.90
· Under 18-year old’s national minimum wage has increased from £4.20 to £4.35
· 18-20-year old’s national minimum wage has increased from £5.90 to £6.15
· 21-24-year old’s national minimum wage has increased from £7.38 to £7.70
· 25-year-old and above national minimum wage has increased from £7.83 to £8.21
Dividend allowance – the amount of dividend income you can earn before paying tax has reduced from £5,000 to £2,000
Company car, van and fuel benefits
Company cars – benefit in kind tax rates are increasing for company cars, the increase is based on the CO2 emissions
Company vans – benefit in kind tax rates has increased from £3,350 to £3,430
Fuel benefits –
· Benefit in kind tax rates on fuel for company vans has increased from £633 to £655
· Benefit in kind tax rates on fuel for company cars has increased from £23,400 to £24,100
Student Loans
The threshold for student loan plan 1 and 2 has increased this tax year.
· Plan 1 – the earnings threshold before you start repayments for student loans has increased from £18,330 to £18,935
· Plan 2 – the earnings threshold before you start repayments for student loans has increased from £25,000 to £25,725
Postgraduate master’s loan and postgraduate doctoral loan – this is a new type of loan to help course fees and living costs of students studying a postgraduate master’s degree course (repayment treated the same as any other student loan)
Other personal tax reliefs/allowances
Personal pensions – the lifetime allowance for pension savings has increased from £1,030,000 to £1,055,00
Capital gains tax – the capital gains tax annual exempt amount has increased from £11,700 to £12,000
Workplace pensions
Workplace pensions – the minimum amount an employer must put into an employee’s auto-enrolment pensions has increased from 5% to 8% of the employee’s qualifying earnings