Budget 2024: See whether you win or lose from tax and national insurance tweaks

Published

1 year ago

March 6, 2024

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National insurance has been cut by a further 2p, so workers will pay 8% of their earnings between £12,570 and £50,270, instead of the 12% it was before Autumn.

But tax thresholds – the amount you are allowed to earn before you start paying tax (and national insurance) and before you start paying the higher rate of tax – will remain frozen.

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This means people end up paying more tax than they otherwise would, when their pay rises with inflation but the thresholds don’t keep up. That phenomenon is known as “fiscal drag” and it’s often called a “stealth tax” because it’s not as noticeable immediately in your pay packet.

Enter your salary to the nearest £1,000 in our calculator to see how much better or worse off you are overall, once they balance out against one another.

That low threshold of £12,570 has been in place since April 2021. The Office for Budget Responsibility say that if it had increased with inflation as normal it would be set at £15,220 for 2024/25.

Workers would earn an extra £2,650 tax free each year in that case.

The higher threshold would be more than £61,000, meaning someone on a £60,000 salary would be paying the 40% income tax rate on almost £10,000 more of their earnings.

That would cost an extra £2,000 over the course of a year, more than offsetting the gains from cuts to national insurance.

Overall, workers are better off if they earn between £32,000 and £55,000, or more than £131,000, but everyone else will be paying more in 2024/25 than they would have done if the government had raised the tax thresholds as normal.

Someone on a £50,000 salary is best off, by £752 a year – not far off what the average package holiday to Europe cost in 2023.

That’s because they benefit from the maximum amount of lower national insurance before falling into the high tax bracket.

But someone on £16,000 a year will pay £607 more in total – equivalent to more than three months of average household spending on food.

Their income level means national insurance savings are limited but they are paying 20% in income tax on an additional £2,650 of earnings.

The calculations don’t account for any more complex tax deductions or credits for different groups of people, for example student loans, pensions or childcare.

But separate Sky News data analysis shows how young graduates now take home £1,200 less on average each month than they did before the pandemic after adjusting for inflation.

Methodology

Sky News has taken figures for what the new thresholds from 6 April 2024 would have been if they had increased with inflation from the Office for Budget Responsbility.

To work out how much less national insurance people will pay in 2024/25, we have worked out how much you would have paid on the 12% rate with the current thresholds, and how much you will pay on the 8% rate. This value will always be positive if you earn more than £12,570.

To work out how much fiscal drag has cost you, we have applied the new thresholds from ICAEW to the lower 20% rate of tax, the higher 40% rate, and the highest 45% rate. We have also assumed that the taper, when you start losing your personal allowance, starts at £100,000 and you lose £1 for each additional £2 earned, as it was before. This value will always be negative if you earn more than £12,570.

We ran the workings for these calculations by the Chartered Institute of Taxation who corroborated our findings.

To work out the difference we have taken the fiscal drag figure away from the national insurance figure. If it’s a positive number you are taking home more pay, but if it’s negative you are taking home less pay.

That means that the fiscal drag savings assume that national insurance is 8% rather than the 12% it was before. If national insurance had stayed at 12%, the effect of fiscal drag would have been even greater for lower earners.

The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open-source information. Through multimedia storytelling, we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.

Business

Woman and three teenagers arrested over M&S, Co-op and Harrods cyber attacks

Published

9 hours ago

July 10, 2025

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Woman and three teenagers arrested over M&S, Co-op and Harrods cyber attacks

Four people have been arrested by police investigating cyber attacks targeting M&S, Co-op and Harrods.

A 20-year-old woman and two males, both aged 19, and a male aged 17, were detained in London and the West Midlands this morning as part of a National Crime Agency (NCA) operation.

They were arrested at their homes on suspicion of Computer Misuse Act offences, blackmail, money laundering and participating in the activities of an organised crime group.

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Electronic devices were seized from the suspects and are currently being analysed by forensic experts.

M&S halted online orders, and shelves were empty in shops after the cyber attack on the retailer earlier this year.

The initial hack into the retailer’s systems took place in April through “sophisticated impersonation” involving a third party.

Disruption is expected to continue at the retailer until the end of this month.

The Co-op and Harrods were also subsequently targeted by hackers.

Paul Foster, head of the NCA’s National cybercrime unit described the arrests as a “significant step” in their investigation, which remains “one of the Agency’s highest priorities”.

He added: “…our work continues, alongside partners in the UK and overseas, to ensure those responsible are identified and brought to justice.”

The National Crime Agency is keen to “signal” to “future victims” the “importance of seeking support and engaging with law enforcement”, stating that “the NCA and policing are here to help”.

The NCA has also thanked M&S, Co-op and Harrods for their support in their investigations.

The arrests, which took place early on Thursday morning, were supported by officers from the West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit and the East Midlands Special Operations Unit.

Earlier this week, the chairman of M&S told MPs that the hack had been “traumatic” and like an “out-of-body experience”.

Archie Norman, however, refused to be drawn on whether the retailer had paid any ransom.

“We are not discussing any of the details of our interaction with the threat actor, including this subject, but that subject is fully shared with the NCA,” he said.

It is estimated that the cyber attack will cost M&S up to £300m this year.

Days after M&S was attacked, the Co-op was targeted and forced to shut down some internal systems.

Harrods was then hacked, and also had to shut some systems despite its website and shops continuing to operate.

Of those arrested, a 17-year-old British male and a 19-year-old Latvian male were from the West Midlands.

A 19-year-old man was from London and a 20-year-old woman from Staffordshire.

Business

US-listed Ulta Beauty swoops on high street chain Space NK

Published

12 hours ago

July 10, 2025

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US-listed Ulta Beauty swoops on high street chain Space NK

A New York-listed company with a valuation of more than $21bn is to snap up Space NK, the British high street beauty chain.

Sky News has learnt that Ulta Beauty, which operates close to 1,500 stores, is on the verge of a deal to buy Space NK from existing owner Manzanita Capital.

Ulta Beauty is understood to have registered an acquisition vehicle at Companies House in recent weeks.

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The exact price being paid by Ulta was unclear on Thursday morning, although one source said it was likely to be well in excess of £300m.

Manzanita Capital, a private investment firm, engaged bankers at Raymond James to oversee an auction in April 2024.

The firm has owned Space NK for more than 20 years.

Manzanita has also owned the French perfume house Diptyque and Susanne Kaufmann, an Austrian luxury skincare brand.

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Founded in 1993 by Nicky Kinnaird, Space NK – which is named after her initials – trades from dozens of stores and employs more than 1,000 people.

It specialises in high-end skincare and cosmetics products.

Manzanita previously explored a sale of Space NK in 2018, hiring Goldman Sachs to handle a strategic review, but opted not to proceed with a deal.

None of Ulta, Manzanita, Space NK and Raymond James could be reached for comment.

Business

Royal Mail to scrap second-class post on Saturdays and some weekdays

Published

14 hours ago

July 10, 2025

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Royal Mail to scrap second-class post on Saturdays and some weekdays

Royal Mail is to be allowed to scrap Saturday second-class stamp deliveries, under a series of reforms proposed by the communications regulator.

From 28 July, Royal Mail will also be allowed to deliver second-class letters on alternate weekdays, Ofcom said.

The post will still be delivered within three working days of collection from Monday to Friday.

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The proposals had already been raised by Ofcom after a consultation was announced in 2024, and the scale back was proposed early this year.

Royal Mail had repeatedly failed to meet the so-called universal service obligation to deliver post within set periods of time.

Those delivery targets are now being revised downwards.

Rather than having to have 93% of first-class mail delivered the next day, 90% will be legally allowed.

The target for second-class mail deliveries will be lowered from 98.5% to arrive within three working days to 95%.

A review of stamp prices has also been announced by Ofcom amid concerns over affordability, with a consultation set to be launched next year.

It’s good news for Royal Mail and its new owner, the Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky. Ofcom estimates the changes will bring savings of between £250m and £425m.

A welcome change?

Unsurprisingly, the company welcomed the announcement.

“It is good news for customers across the UK as it supports the delivery of a reliable, efficient and financially sustainable universal service,” said Martin Seidenberg, the group chief executive of Royal Mail’s parent company, International Distribution Services.

“It follows extensive consultation with thousands of people and businesses to ensure that the postal service better reflects their needs and the realities of how customers send and receive mail today.”

Citizens Advice, however, doubted whether services would improve as a result of the changes.

“Today, Ofcom missed a major opportunity to bring about meaningful change,” said Tom MacInnes, the director of policy at Citizens Advice.

“Pushing ahead with plans to slash services and relax delivery targets in the name of savings won’t automatically make letter deliveries more reliable or improve standards.”

Acknowledging long delays “where letters have taken weeks to arrive”, Ofcom said it set Royal Mail new enforceable targets so 99% of mail has to be delivered no more than two days late.

Changing habits

Less than a third of letters are sent now than 20 years ago, and it is forecast to fall to about a fifth of the letters previously sent.

According to Ofcom research, people want reliability and affordability more than speedy delivery.

Royal Mail has been loss-making in recent years as revenues fell.

In response to Ofcom’s changes, a government spokesperson said: “The public expects a well-run postal service, with letters arriving on time across the country without it costing the earth. With the way people use postal services having changed, it’s right the regulator has looked at this.

“We now need Royal Mail to work with unions and posties to deliver a service that people expect, and this includes maintaining the principle of one price to send a letter anywhere in the UK”.

Ofcom said it has told Royal Mail to hold regular meetings with consumer bodies and industry groups to hear their experiences implementing the changes.