Skip to playerSkip to main content


#RealityRealmUS
Reality Realm US

🎞 Please subscribe to our official channel to watch the full movie for free, as soon as possible. ❤️Reality Insight Hub❤️
👉 Official Channel: https://www.dailymotion.com/TheVisionFrame
👉 THANK YOU ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Transcript
00:00Hello. It's our last show in the run, and there's a huge amount to tool you up on before April hits, as that is the financial all-change.
00:22There's the tax year deadline, so I urgently want to show you how to boost your savings rates and minimise tax with the top ISAs, as well as possible last-ditch tax reclaims.
00:32If you're an employee, if you're married, if you wear a uniform to work, or if you've got a PPI payout in the past, it could be thousands.
00:40Yet April doesn't just shower, it pees down on the nation with a host of price hikes. Water bills up 20%, energy up, broadband up, mobile bills up, stamp prices up, stamp duty will cost more, council tax up, EV car duty up.
00:59Yet I hope to show many of you how to beat, or at least mitigate, those price hikes if you act now. Steal a march on April.
01:09There's a lot to get through. And while we may be talking April, now I want to pass you over to a woman who's nobody's fault.
01:17Jeanette Kwachi, everybody.
01:19Thank you!
01:21Thank you very much, Martin. Now for the final time, if you'd like to send in your questions, or if you've got any successes from this series you'd like to tell us about,
01:29get in touch on X, Blue Sky, or Instagram using the hashtag martinlewis, or email the team martinlewis at itv.com.
01:36And as always, a huge welcome to our studio audience. Wave your wallets, everybody! Wave those wallets!
01:43We love it. I'm going to miss that when we're off.
01:45Fabulous. Now, Martin, last week's show on wills and power of attorney really spurred people on to make some changes.
01:50Even those people who are a little bit reluctant, including this, from Angela, she says,
01:55Brilliant show last week. I've been trying to get my husband to make a power of attorney for a long time, and he thought it wasn't important until the show.
02:02So thank you.
02:03Oh, well done.
02:04Yes.
02:06Incredibly important power of attorney, probably more important than a will.
02:09Well done for Mr. Angela for listening, although maybe listen to Angela next time.
02:12Indeed, indeed. And there are also some people who decided to make it official, like this coming from Karen.
02:18After watching your recent shows and after living together for nearly 40 years, we've decided to get a civil partnership to ensure we don't have issues when one of us dies.
02:27The added security of a civil partnership is a no-brainer.
02:31Oh, my God.
02:33I've had so many messages like that.
02:35I reckon I may be responsible for more marriages or civil partnerships in the registry office, to be honest.
02:40Look, I mean, the inheritance tax benefits, the security in a whiff, you don't have a will.
02:45You know, the ease of divorce as well is really important.
02:48If you think of marriage, I don't like the baggage.
02:50It's a paternalistic or an overly religious institution.
02:52Civil partnership, exactly the same legal rights.
02:55And it's worth looking at if you're a long-term couple.
02:57Yeah, now, ahead of tonight's subject, the cost of rising bills.
03:00Diane's got a question for you.
03:01Evening, Diane.
03:02Oh, dear.
03:03Where?
03:04Oh, it was a tweet.
03:05Oh, my goodness.
03:06I thought Diane was in the audience.
03:07She's not.
03:08She's on my screen.
03:09Diane's saying, Martin, can you...
03:10It's going beautifully so far, everyone.
03:11Sorry, I thought Diane was here.
03:12Nobody noticed.
03:13I apologise.
03:14Well, cut it out in the edit.
03:15Diane said, Martin, can you please tell me how much worse off I'm going to be in April with all the amount of bills going up?
03:20My hubby and I are OAPs.
03:22So, look, I'm talking about all the actions you need to take, which mostly tend to be about negative things tonight by definition.
03:28But let's remember, you know, the state pension is going up 4.1%.
03:31Benefits are going up 1.7%.
03:33I'll talk about those later.
03:35National minimum wage is going up for those on low incomes.
03:37And many people do get an annual uprated pay rise in April.
03:41So you have to balance off the increase in your potential income.
03:44Not everyone will get that.
03:45I'm well aware of that.
03:47Against all the bills.
03:48But the bills are going up a lot.
03:50I mean, above inflation in many cases, which will, of course, push up inflation.
03:54And many of them are linked to inflation.
03:55So they'll push up the amount the bills go up next year.
03:57It's a vicious cycle.
03:58Let me get on to my big briefing and talk you through it.
04:01OK.
04:04So, remember, we're talking cash ices later and we're talking tax deadlines.
04:08Here's some of the big bill rises coming.
04:11It is not... Look, you're shaking your head.
04:13It's not pleasant reading, is it?
04:14Water is the big one.
04:16All of these are happening around the 1st of April.
04:19Some of them a little bit later.
04:20What I'm going to do is I'm going to talk you through these four now
04:22and those four at the end of the show so that I'm splitting the two of them up.
04:26But this is important stuff going on here.
04:28You've got something for me.
04:30We've got a question here on water.
04:31It's coming from Christina on the Virtual War.
04:33Christina, good evening.
04:34Hi.
04:35Hi, Martin.
04:36Hello.
04:37Hi.
04:38My water bill has gone up over 30% this year.
04:41We earn too much overall to get any assistance for our bills.
04:44How can we challenge these increases if we can't switch companies?
04:48What do I do?
04:49Well, no.
04:50I mean, it is a real issue that we have privatisation but not competition,
04:54which some might argue, including me, would be the worst of both worlds in this case.
04:57But there are things you can do.
04:59Watch this.
05:00I'm going to come back to you in a moment as I talk you through it.
05:02Let me go to my water page.
05:03Here we are.
05:04So, water bills and water meter charges are going up.
05:08Those are the price rises for all the different firms.
05:12They're going up an average of 26%.
05:14Only one company, those in Surrey and South London and Kent, some of you, will see any drop.
05:21But look, all the rest, from 19% up to those in the Southern Water District, up 47%.
05:26And your personal rates may be higher.
05:29Because water firms can decide how much, where they're splitting it between those on bills and those on meters and those,
05:35and the amount of water you use and the amount of sewerage you use.
05:37So, yours might be higher or lower than those individual figures.
05:41So, this is really worth focusing on.
05:42Now, my first thing, and Christine, this applies to you.
05:45Yeah.
05:46So, first question.
05:47Do you have more or the same number of bedrooms in your home than people?
05:52So, here's Jeanette at my house.
05:54They put me in a pinny and she's up in a huge bedroom.
05:56Huge bedroom, that's not bad.
05:57So, three bedrooms, two people.
06:00We have more bedrooms than people.
06:02If so, a free water meter is likely to cut your costs.
06:06Go on to ccw.org.uk, Q and Schumer Council for Water.
06:09Use their calculator.
06:11What's the situation in your house?
06:13We've got four people and three bedrooms.
06:16So, the likelihood is it won't work.
06:18I'd still go on the calculator anyway, because if you're light water users, it may well be beneficial.
06:23The way it works is your build-based, roughly, it's a proxy for rateable values, but on the value of your house.
06:29If you've got a very big house and there aren't many in you, you'd be better off being metered for the amount of water and sewerage that you use.
06:34It makes sense.
06:35So, that's a no for you.
06:37If fitting a meter is not practical, then you can ask for an assessed charge.
06:42This will be people in flats.
06:43What they do is they then assess what they think you would pay if you were on a water meter.
06:47So, again, if you're in that situation, it'll probably be lower and you'd save money and there's no risk of you using more.
06:51Also, check for freebies at savewatersavemoney.co.uk.
06:55I'm going to be honest with you, there's not much you can do.
06:59And you'll be one of many people in that situation you can go and try, but I think you may well be better off sticking on bills.
07:05So, you've asked the question, it's worth a check.
07:09I would spit and swear a little bit, to be honest.
07:11Yeah.
07:12I mean, I did ring and I tried to be calm, but it was very frustrating.
07:17I was basically told it's because they're being told by the government they've got to put money into their infrastructure and they're passing it on to everyone and there's nothing they can do.
07:30The rises are governed by the regulator off what, which is allowing them to put up bills by an average 36% over the next five years.
07:37They're meant to invest some in infrastructure, but there are lots of questions out there of money to go to shareholders and other issues out there at the same time.
07:43But you're in the same boat as everyone else. I get the frustration, but for many of you, you can save by going to a water meter.
07:48The other thing, and this won't apply to you from what you said at the beginning, there are 5.7 million eligible homes missing out on water discounts.
07:55There are social tariffs for those on lower incomes. Roughly, it depends on each water company, under £21,000 a year.
08:01And those on benefits, you may be able to pay up to 90% less.
08:05Check out your social tariffs of your water company. Go onto their website, check it out, or go and get local advice agency support.
08:11If you've got a medical condition, Crohn's disease, where you use more water, you might be able to use the WaterShore scheme.
08:16If you've got three plus children, you're on benefits, and that will cap your bills.
08:19So check those out too. Not everyone can save, but there are things that you can do.
08:24Success from Rodney on just this. I remembered seeing this on the show.
08:28My water rates were due to go up from April. I asked about switching to a water meter.
08:32They said I could do this right away. My bill is now going down from £73 a month to £20 a month.
08:38That's some saving for you. Thanks.
08:41Great.
08:43So look, this is the forgotten utility. That's £600 a year. It won't work for everyone.
08:48But it's absolutely worth trying and checking.
08:51We're going to go onto mobiles next. So much to get through tonight.
08:54This is coming from Gary. Now, Gary's asking,
08:56My father is 83, relies on his mobile. He's coming to the end of his contract with his provider, who have pushed him up to a new rate of £24 a month. This is too much for him. He wants to keep his number, but switch ASAP. Is it easily done and how he's worried?
09:11It's very easy to do. You have your phone. That's the handset you pay for. But you have the SIM in the back of your phone, which is what gives its identity and dictates the tariff that you're going to be on.
09:21And you can just swap your SIM to a new provider or the same provider if you're going to hang on. Let me get onto it. Keep that one up for me, if you would, Jeanette.
09:28OK, so mobile contracts are rising. Roughly 6% or about £2 a month, depending. Now, this applies to broadband, too.
09:36I've spoken before about how they've banned mid-contract inflation-linked price hikes, but that is only for people on new contracts, depending exactly when.
09:44If you've got a new contract this year, that may be you, in which case they would have told you when you signed up, in pounds and pence, how much it was going to increase at that point.
09:52Yet many, probably most people, are on existing contracts. And if you're on an existing contract from before that time, you can still have the inflation-linked price hikes this year.
10:01So that's happening to many people. My big message, and this includes you, Gary, 14 million of you are out of contract, free to ditch, switch, move or do whatever you like or make them pay for your business.
10:12First thing, text INFO for free to 85075 to check. If you're on 3ID mobile or Smarty, then it'll reply back and you'll need to confirm your date of birth.
10:21Don't worry about that. Just do it. What it will then tell you is whether you have any early termination or cancellation charges.
10:27You need those to be zero. That means you're out of contract and you can ditch and switch for free.
10:31What should you do? Don't go direct to the mobile companies. They'll always charge you more.
10:36The best deals are always on comparison sites where they do short-term promo offers.
10:41I'll put the equivalent prices in. Basically, that's where some of them have vouchers, some of them have bill credit.
10:45I factor all those in and average it over a year. Look at these prices at the moment. Just look at these.
10:50£24 a month. You've got a Labara SIM on Vodafone's signal, depending on which site you go to.
10:55Equivalent between £2 or £5 a month over a year. And it's a one-month contract. You can break it.
11:00£24 a month? £2 a month. Ridiculous.
11:04Smarty. Unlimited minutes. They all have unlimited minutes, unlimited texts.
11:09Unlimited data on 3signal as low as £10 a month. £24 a month. I bet that isn't unlimited.
11:16So most people are massively overpaying. SIM prices have gone down every year.
11:21Five years ago, a 50 gig SIM was £13 a month. Now the cheapest are £3 a month.
11:26But every year, you've got above-inflation price hikes if you're on a contract. Switchers get the best deals.
11:32Before you go any further, Martin Lewis, have a look at this.
11:36Lisa says, how do I stay with the same mobile company but change to a SIM-only deal?
11:40I have mine and my daughter's phone on my account. Both are out of contract.
11:43And we're currently paying £150 each month for both phones.
11:48Horrendous. Lisa, the question is, what do you mean stay on the same mobile phone?
11:52Do you want to stay with the same network? In which case you're probably going to need to haggle
11:55or look at what deals they've got for you? You're out of contract, they'll have cheaper deals than that.
11:59That's horrible. Or do you want the same signal? Important to remember,
12:02there are only four mobile phone companies in the UK. EE, O2, Vodafone and 3.
12:08Every other one is piggybacking on their signal, like Labara's on Vodafone or Smarties on 3.
12:14So what you can do on some of the good comparison sites is you can tell it what signal you want
12:18and it will find you the cheapest provider on that specific signal.
12:21There may be other differences, but the signal will be coming from the same place.
12:25That's probably what you're worried about. You may be able to get it far cheaper.
12:28Final thing, if you go back to Gary, I'm really going on this one.
12:31Gary, Gary, want to keep your number. Keeping your number dead easy.
12:36Once you're ready to switch, text PAC to 65075.
12:41You'll get a code, you give that to your new provider.
12:43That way you keep your existing number.
12:46I should also note they will also often try and keep you and give you a decent deal
12:49to keep you to stay if you're looking to switch.
12:51And you can haggle. I'll talk more about how to do that in a moment
12:53if you want to stick with your existing provider.
12:55OK, we've got a success on just this. It's coming from Steve.
12:58I was paying £71 a month. I took your advice and swapped to another provider on SimOnly.
13:03Paying 65p a month for nine months, then £9.90 for the last three.
13:09Making an average of £2.97 for 12 months. This will save me £816 a year.
13:15I'm a pensioner, so thank you.
13:18That'll be on a deal like this. That's a similar structure deal.
13:22You know why that happens? You sign up for a mobile phone with a handset.
13:26You're paying off the handset. You pay that off for two years.
13:30Your handset's paid off and the mobile companies go,
13:32we're going to keep charging you the same thing until you notice,
13:35even though your handset is now paid off.
13:37It should be banned. It isn't banned. That's why people get in those situations.
13:40Know when your handset is paid off on your contract,
13:43and then you want that price to plummet.
13:46OK, we're going from mobiles now to broadband.
13:49Have a look at this from Linda.
13:51I really don't know where to begin regarding my broadband contract.
13:54My contract ends next month and is increasing from £28.50 to £43 a month,
13:59which is ridiculous. What are my options?
14:01Well, we can easily beat that. Let's go through it.
14:03It's very similar to mobile in reality.
14:05Again, you've got those mid-contract price heights
14:07or those standard rates going up.
14:09There's a host of different providers that I've put up there.
14:12Seven million of you are out of contract.
14:14Many of you can halve your costs and double your speed.
14:16I don't know what speed Linda is on,
14:17but we can definitely get close to halving the cost.
14:19These are just a couple of examples.
14:21Again, it's promo deals on comparison sites, not direct. Why?
14:24Because direct, they have to offer it to existing customers.
14:27Rather than reducing the tariff, they put marketing spend in.
14:30They'll give you a £100 bill credit
14:32or they'll give you a £100 MasterCard,
14:35a prepaid MasterCard you can spend on.
14:37That's how you get the big discounts on these.
14:39You don't get those generally going direct
14:41or you get extra ones comparisons.
14:42Just a couple of examples.
14:44There's a Virgin 132 Meg fibre deal.
14:46You pay £24 a month and then they tell you
14:48the price is going to go up in April 2026.
14:50It's on an 18-month contract.
14:51You get £55 automatic bill contract.
14:53You add all that up, it's equivalent to £22 a month.
14:56That's £43 a month.
14:58There's a Sky 500 Meg deal.
15:00Factor it all in with the prepaid MasterCard.
15:02£28.50 a month.
15:03There's one thing I need to tell you about Sky.
15:05You know I said they have to tell you pounds and pence before you sign up?
15:08There's an opt-out for them on that.
15:10If they don't and they put the price up mid-contract on a new contract,
15:14you can then leave penalty three within 30 days.
15:17None of them are doing it except Sky,
15:20which means in a way this is artificially cheap over the next two years.
15:23It will probably put its prices up and you'll be able to leave,
15:26but as it's a cheap contract you probably won't want to.
15:28So in reality that may be a quid or two higher,
15:31but it's 500 Meg at that type of price.
15:33And that's super fast.
15:34All these are postal dependent.
15:36Also check the alt net deals.
15:38Those are local community type deals that are much quicker.
15:41Community Fibre in London is about 20 quid for nearly a gig.
15:44Double that speed.
15:45Nearly a gig of speed.
15:46You know, go and check it out.
15:47Get yourself on a comparison site.
15:48Do that.
15:49Finally, because they're winding me up.
15:50I'm already running over a new award in this programme.
15:53If you're on universal credit or pension credit,
15:55check if your provider has a social tariff.
15:57Four million people are missing out on those.
15:59That's where you get a constant price,
16:01not a short-term deal like these.
16:03A constant price, not the quickest speed,
16:05but much cheaper, 13 to 20 quid a month.
16:08Go and see if that's available for you.
16:11If you are on universal credit or on pension credit,
16:13it can be much cheaper.
16:15And to finish, if you want to stick with the provider you're with,
16:18as many people do,
16:19find your best price.
16:21Remember, they're postcode dependent,
16:22so find the cheapest that you can get on a comparison site
16:24in your area.
16:25When you're out of contract,
16:26take it to your existing provider,
16:27ask them to match it.
16:29If they won't,
16:30say you'd like to go through to disconnections.
16:32Disconnections is what is internally known as customer retentions.
16:35The people who have the power to keep you,
16:37and see if they'll give you a better deal.
16:39If not, you might want to leave,
16:40or you might want to say,
16:41I'm going to check with my husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend,
16:44Peb Pidgeon, just before I leave,
16:46and I'll call you back if I do want to leave.
16:47In other words, if they call you bluff,
16:48there's a way to get out of it.
16:50Jeanette.
16:51We're moving from this now onto energy next, aren't we?
16:53So let's take a look now at Steven P's question.
16:55Steven P is saying,
16:56I fixed my energy supply for gas and electric for 12 months last April.
17:01I have a £100 exit fee if I switch early.
17:03The prices are expected to rise in April.
17:05What is the best action for me to take, and when?
17:08So I think the question's wrong.
17:10I'm going to split this into two.
17:12You say you have a £100 exit fee.
17:14I don't believe you do.
17:16If you are in the last 50 days of your switch,
17:19so day 49 of your fix, day 49 to when your fix ends,
17:23they cannot legally charge you an early exit fee.
17:26So by the look of that, if it's ending in April,
17:29they can't charge you an early exit fee.
17:31You are free to leave.
17:32Whether you should or not is a different question.
17:34Time for the graph.
17:35Here we are.
17:37You've all seen it before.
17:38This is where we are right now.
17:39This is the energy price cap that dictates the price two-thirds of homes in England,
17:44Scotland and Wales pay for energy.
17:46It's the default tariff.
17:48So when Stephen comes off his fix,
17:51he will move on to the energy price cap if he does nothing.
17:54It's the default.
17:55If you've never switched or you come off a fix, it's what you go to.
17:58Now, we know that is rising 6.4% on the 1st of April.
18:02That is announced.
18:03It's fixed.
18:04It's locked in.
18:05That's going to happen unless you're on a fix,
18:06unless you're not on the standard tariff.
18:08That's happening to you.
18:09Here's the predictions afterwards.
18:11There's a range of them.
18:12They've got better.
18:13The situation with a potential bet improvement in Ukraine
18:17has brought down the predictions.
18:19As you can see now,
18:20it's predicted it will come down around 6% or 7% in April.
18:24This one's more firm,
18:25although it can still change and then go up a little bit after.
18:28But the price you'll be paying after April,
18:30if this is right and the further out you go,
18:32the more crystal ball glazing,
18:33is roughly what you're paying right now.
18:35So it'll go up and it'll come down to where it is right now.
18:37But let's have a look at where the cheapest fix is.
18:40The cheapest fix on the market is 7% below current prices.
18:4513% below April prices.
18:47So you can lock in on a cheap fix now.
18:50You will save substantially in April.
18:53And if the predictions are right and things can change,
18:56well, you will continue to save throughout the year,
18:58just not as much.
19:00Now a few things I need to point out on that.
19:03Fixes are available for almost all payment methods,
19:06even if you don't have a smart meter unless you're on smart prepay.
19:09The volatile Ukraine situation could still mean that this moves,
19:12that's because what's happening in the Middle East.
19:14If you're worried that things might get a lot cheaper,
19:16therefore you would be wrong to lock in,
19:18then you could get a no exit penalty fix.
19:21It's more expensive.
19:22It's about 1% below the current price cap.
19:24But that way at least you would save now,
19:27you would save in April,
19:29and then if things did get substantially cheaper then,
19:32because the world has changed,
19:33you'd be able to leave without any early exit penalties
19:35and go and get a different deal at that point.
19:36So that's your sort of if you're nervous route.
19:38But have a look at that.
19:40Don't get that price rise happen in April
19:41without doing something when you can still fix cheaply.
19:43OK, that was chunky.
19:44There's lots to get through on the show.
19:46But next, there's lots of tax rebate deadlines.
19:49Claim now or you can miss out on hundreds or thousands of pounds.
19:52And still to come,
19:53how to boost your savings interest with urgent top cash icers.
19:56We'll see you in four.
20:10Welcome back.
20:11Last show before we go on a bit of a break.
20:12Lots coming in online as usual.
20:14But Martin, you've got loads to get through.
20:15So where are we going next?
20:16Yeah, 17 things to get through.
20:17I just want you to picture the back at the start of the pandemic.
20:20It's about five years ago.
20:21And that's important in tax terms too.
20:23To try and jog your memory, this was number one.
20:27Here we are.
20:29You may not be blinded by the light,
20:30but you need to say goodbye to 2020-21.
20:33There are rules in tax that you can only claim back four tax years.
20:37When this tax year ends on the 5th of April,
20:39you lose the ability to claim back anything that happened in 2020-21.
20:43So 6th of April 2020 to the 5th of April 2021.
20:46Remember that date.
20:47Everything I'm about to talk about is about claiming back to then.
20:50Let me get straight through with this then.
20:52So the first one, marriage tax allowance.
20:54You need to be married or in a civil partnership.
20:56Just cohabiting, even with kids, doesn't count.
20:59This is where the non-taxpayer can give 10% of their tax-free allowance
21:04to the 20% rate taxpayer.
21:0640% rate, it doesn't count.
21:08And therefore they have more income that they can earn without paying tax on it.
21:12It's worth about 250 quid a year.
21:14You can back claim four years.
21:15So that's about 1250 quid.
21:17But if you were eligible four years ago in 2020-2021,
21:22you need to claim now or you're about to lose the ability to back claim to that tax year.
21:27It's a big subject.
21:28I covered it in detail in the show on the 13th of February.
21:30Watch that back.
21:31Trying to get 17 subjects today, so I've got to do some of them pretty quick.
21:34Next, did you get a PPI payout in that year?
21:37It was a big year for PPI payouts.
21:39Check right now.
21:40Many unnecessarily had tax deducted from their payouts.
21:45Tax was deducted automatically.
21:47It's the same tax as savings.
21:49It was taken off you.
21:50But most people can earn £1,000 a year of interest in savings without paying tax,
21:54so shouldn't have been paying it.
21:56If so, you can claim the tax back via the Government R40 form on gov.uk.
22:01It's easy to do it yourself. Don't pay anyone.
22:04You may need some help, in which case there are free PPI payout reclaim games.
22:08Guides online that you can read that will take you through it.
22:11You're stopping me. Yep, go for it.
22:12I am stopping you.
22:13Just before you go any further, I have to read this success from Michelle.
22:16I got a little over £4,000 in PPI and tax back on that PPI.
22:20Wouldn't have got anything had I not seen your programme.
22:26So to put it in context, I mean there's lots of variables,
22:28but someone who got £4,000 in PPI would expect to get about £300 in tax back.
22:32So that's the amount on top you're talking roughly if we go there.
22:35Do you wear a uniform to work?
22:36It could be a branded T-shirt. It could be a full uniform.
22:39If you do and you wash or repair it yourself,
22:42then you can claim a tax rebate.
22:44It's the P87 form on gov.uk.
22:46You do not need to pay anyone to do this for you.
22:48Now the allowance, you get a £60 a year allowance.
22:50If you're a basic rate taxpayer, you save 20% tax on that.
22:52That would be £12 a year.
22:53Higher rate taxpayer would be double that because you're paying 40% tax.
22:56So it's not huge.
22:57It would be £60 going back this year and four previous years,
23:00or £24 going back that way.
23:02But it's worth checking out.
23:03The uniform tax rebate.
23:05Couple more for you.
23:07Tax codes.
23:08Urgently check if yours is correct,
23:11but more importantly for the backdating,
23:13was correct in 2020-2021.
23:16Your tax code tells your employer or pension provider what tax to take from you.
23:20It would normally look something like this.
23:21This is the typical one.
23:22There we go.
23:23Just so you know what that means.
23:24Add a zero to the end.
23:27There we are.
23:28And a pound at the beginning.
23:29That's your personal allowance.
23:30How much you can earn tax-free each year.
23:32That's what the tax code is saying.
23:34Now, millions of them are wrong.
23:37And the crucial thing here,
23:39it is not HMRC's responsibility.
23:41It is not your employer's responsibility.
23:43It is your responsibility to ensure it's right.
23:46Now, you may have overpaid hundreds or thousands of pounds in 2020-2021.
23:51This is your last opportunity to check if that's right.
23:54So go online to a tax code calculator,
23:56which will help explain what it meant,
23:57and check if it is right.
23:59Because if not,
24:00you're going to miss the opportunity to get the money back if you're overpaid.
24:02If you're underpaid, by the way, funnily enough,
24:04they have longer to come back and reclaim the tax back off you.
24:07That's the way it works.
24:08Oh, you've got another one here.
24:09Yeah, we have.
24:10It's come from Will.
24:11Will is asking,
24:12well,
24:13I've done this year,
24:14and it's made me think my previous tax code has been wrong
24:15for the last four years.
24:16What can I do?
24:17Well, it's very simple.
24:18You need to do exactly the thing.
24:19Assuming you were in the same job four years ago,
24:21it's pretty simple.
24:22You need to get in touch with HMRC
24:23and put in a claim to try and get the tax repaid.
24:26I mean, if you're struggling,
24:28be very nice to the people who work in payroll at your firm
24:30who tend to understand this a little bit better
24:32and see if they could help you with it.
24:33But there's free help online
24:35that should enable you to do this yourself.
24:36Obviously, you've got an accountant,
24:37and they should be doing it with you.
24:39Right, should I move on?
24:40Yes, please.
24:41Okay.
24:42If you've been watching the show,
24:43you'll all know about this.
24:44If you haven't, you need a heads up.
24:45If you're aged 40 to 73,
24:47can you boost your state pension by tens of thousands of pounds?
24:50This is a much bigger deadline than the last four years.
24:53This is your last chance to buy any missing national insurance years
24:56from 2006 to 2019.
24:58Thirteen years disappear on the 5th of April.
25:01It is a must check if you're of those age.
25:04Now, we did a full special on it on the 4th of March.
25:06It's on ITVX.
25:07If you don't know about this,
25:08you need to go and watch that if you're the right age group.
25:11This is absolutely massive.
25:12To prove it, I've got my biggest success,
25:14and I gave it to you.
25:15You can read it out.
25:16This is amazing.
25:17It's coming from Tracy.
25:18Right, so thank you so much for bringing this to my attention.
25:20I've now paid an additional 18 years of missing Class II
25:23National Insurance contributions,
25:25which cost me £2,968.25.
25:29This has increased my state pension from £69.52 per week
25:33to £183.28 per week.
25:36As it stands, I reckon this has given me an additional £5,915.52 pension per year.
25:45If I live 20 years, that's an incredible
25:48£118,310.40 extra.
25:52Wow, unbelievable.
25:58Let me repeat.
25:59It is a must-check if you're age 40 to 73.
26:03Watch the full programme on the 4th of March.
26:06It's absolutely crucial, it's urgent, and then it disappears.
26:09We won't be talking about it again.
26:10Now, I want to change topics again quickly,
26:12and I've been wanting to ask you this question for a couple of weeks.
26:14Let's try and squeeze it in here.
26:16It's coming from Jay.
26:17Jay.
26:18Now, Jay is saying,
26:19I purchased a new iPhone 6 months ago.
26:23I took it back after five months as the charging port was not working.
26:27They said that they won't repair the phone under the warranty as the port is corroded.
26:31Saying that it's my problem and that it's not covered, I didn't take out the extended cover.
26:36What are my rights?
26:37Uh-oh.
26:38I've been waiting to pick this up for a few weeks now.
26:40Here we go.
26:44Let's be very plain.
26:45A warranty is a contractual thing that they give you when you buy stuff from the manufacturer that might give you some extra rights.
26:53But I say warranty, shmarranty.
26:55Remember that.
26:56Warranty, shmarranty.
26:57Because when you buy an item from a retailer, you have statutory rights, legal rights whenever you buy it that says the item must be of satisfactory quality as described, fit for purpose and last a reasonable length of time.
27:10If I bought a £1,000 phone and the charging point goes after five months, as long as I have not broken it, that is not fit for purpose.
27:17That did not last a reasonable length of time.
27:19You go back to them and say, I don't care about your warranty.
27:22Warranty?
27:23Warranty.
27:24Well done.
27:25I don't care about your warranty.
27:26Under the Consumer Rights Act, I have a legal right with you, the retailer.
27:30There may also be the manufacturer if he bought it from the same store, but it doesn't matter.
27:33You have to, because I haven't taken it back within a month, either give me a repair or a replacement.
27:40That is my legal right.
27:41And if you don't do it, I'm going to call Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline.
27:44And if you still don't do it, I'm taking you to court under the Small Claims Court.
27:47Warranty, shmarranty.
27:52OK.
27:54Next up, how savings tax works and whether you should or shouldn't use an ISA.
28:00We'll see you after this.
28:01Hello, welcome back.
28:13I've done nine of my 17 must-dos before April hits, although we were talking something separate.
28:18Warranty, shmarranty, before the break.
28:19By the way, it tends to be the big overseas tech companies who ignore UK rights and talk about their warranty as if that was the law.
28:25It isn't.
28:26UK rights trump it.
28:27Don't let them get away with it.
28:28Jeanette, what's going on?
28:29Indeed, we've had lots of you asking about a rumoured cut in the cash ISA allowance.
28:33I promise I'll put those to Martin in a moment.
28:36But for now, let's get into the basic introduction in the next big briefing.
28:39OK, so cash ISAs. Use them or lose them by the 5th of April. A cash ISA is just a savings account where the interest is never taxed. It's no more complicated than that.
28:50You can put £20,000 in per tax year in a cash ISAs in general. Go quickly, though, as if you need to fill this year's, while the deadline is the 5th of April, in practice many of the product providers close earlier for admin reasons.
29:05So just get on with it and sort it out now. Now, the important thing to understand is once your money's in the cash ISA, it's tax-free year after year.
29:11Let me explain it this way. So you could put, if you were lucky enough to have the money, you could put, if you haven't used your ISA this year, £20,000 in now.
29:18That's this tax year. And it will stay in a cash ISA.
29:21Then, on the 6th of April, you get another £20,000 that you can put in. So now you've got £40,000 in. If things don't change, and we'll come on to that in a moment, the year after, you could put in another £20,000.
29:33So that's £60,000 plus interest in. And another, and another, and another. Which is why some people have hundreds of thousands of pounds in cash ISAs.
29:40And it's why you need to beat the deadline. Just in case you have the money to put in next year's, you don't want to not use this year's.
29:46You max out when it is appropriate for you to do so. So that's the start on cash ISAs.
29:51And just before you carry on with that, Martine, I just want to ask you this. Susan's tweeted in, is 80 too old to take out a cash ISA?
29:58Well, unlike other ISAs, there's no age limit on cash ISAs. Great.
30:01But as I'm assuming you're a pensioner, actually, whether you would pay tax on savings anyway is the other question.
30:08Cash ISAs protect you from tax, but do you pay tax on savings? I've never tried to do this in detail before on the show. I'm going to try now.
30:15So there are three things most people need to know about. The first is the main one, your tax-free personal allowance.
30:21The amount everybody can earn, and it does vary depending on factors, each year in earnings and interest on savings that you don't pay tax on.
30:30The standard figure is £12,570 a year. You all know about that, yeah? OK.
30:35There's also the personal savings allowance. If you are a 20% or 40% rate taxpayer, you are allowed to earn a certain amount of interest separately tax-free.
30:46Let me show you. So, if for basic rate taxpayers it's a grand a year, for higher rate taxpayers it's £500 a year, why?
30:53You both get a £200 benefit, 20% of £1,000 and 40% of £500 is £200.
30:58So, in the top easy access savings account at the moment, at 4.75%, to earn £1,000 you'd need about £21,000.
31:05For a higher rate taxpayer you'd need £10,500 to earn £500.
31:09So, if you have substantially less than this and there's no foreseeability of you having more, you don't really need to use a cash ISA because you're not going to be taxed on your savings anyway, yeah?
31:17OK. Now, let's do the one I don't normally talk about. I hope I can make this make sense.
31:22For lower earners, there's also a thing called the starting savings rate that is not commonly talked about, that can let you earn up to £5,000 of extra interest tax-free in savings.
31:34I've tried to design this graphic, let's have a go. So, imagine someone has £6,000 of savings interest a year.
31:42Well, clearly, if that's all they had, all of it would be tax-free because of your tax-free personal allowance.
31:47So, we could also add in earnings of £7,570, that's £12,570, all that would be tax-free, that's your personal allowance.
31:56Now, let's say we move this up.
32:00So, now, your earnings take up all of your tax-free personal allowance.
32:05Well, the starting savings rate said, in this circumstance, you can have £5,000 of savings tax-free in savings interest tax-free on top of your earnings,
32:17plus your personal savings allowance, that £1,000, we talked about it, so that's £6,000.
32:21So, that would mean you would have £18,570 of combined earnings and savings interest totally tax-free.
32:30Now, we get to the tricky bit.
32:32For every pound you earn, earnings, work earnings or other earnings, above the personal savings allowance, let's say you go up £1,000,
32:41you lose a pound of your starting savings allowance.
32:45So, you go £1,000 above that in earnings, you lose £1,000 of the tax-free here,
32:51so now only that £4,000 is tax-free of the starting savings allowance and that £1,000 of your personal savings allowance.
32:57Does that make sense? Earnings above there takes it away from here.
33:01So, if that continued up, so now you're earning £17,570, you would lose all the starting savings allowance
33:10and that's gone from that point onwards.
33:12But, because you're still a basic rate taxpayer, you would keep your personal savings allowance.
33:17So, if I go back to my main page, the starting savings rates only applies to lower earners who have substantial savings.
33:24That's who it's really good for, which is often pensioners, exactly as we were just being asked the question.
33:28And the final thing to say is cash ISAs. They're not just tax-free.
33:31But any interest you earn in a cash ISA doesn't count towards these allowances.
33:35It's totally separate. So, you can have it on top. It's an extra allowance if you need it.
33:40So, you could have £18,570 with the starting savings allowance of earnings and savings interest and cash ISA interest on top of that
33:48and it would all still be tax-free. Make sense?
33:51Yes.
33:55OK, so, on me, bear with me. There's a lot of numbers in this one.
33:59I've just gone over the protected £85,000 in a one-year fixed cash ISA with the interest paid.
34:05And it's now a flexible ISA paying 2.15%. Do ISA rules allow me to transfer it to a better-paying ISA?
34:13Also, I will have another £20,000 to invest before April.
34:17Can I open a new ISA with the £20,000 and transfer the unprotected amount over £85,000 into it?
34:23So, what he's asking is, I'm protected up to £85,000. I want to put more money in and I'm above the £85,000.
34:28So, could I have it in a separate account so everything is protected because it's £85,000 per institution?
34:32Yes.
34:33Simple answer, yes. You can now transfer both past and current year ISAs partially.
34:38So, you don't have to move all of it in one go. That's since 2024 you've been allowed to do current year ISAs.
34:42So, yes, you can do what you want to do, but I wouldn't because that is a pants rate.
34:49So, I wouldn't want to keep my money in that old ISA.
34:52What I would want to do in your circumstance is I'd want to move everything above the £85,000 and the new money into one new cash ISA
34:58and then I'd apply to another cash ISA elsewhere with a better rate and transfer all that across too.
35:02So, I'd be doing two transfers and up your interest rates, which brings me nicely onto what are the best players.
35:06And this gets complex, folks.
35:08OK. Use them or lose them. All of these accept new money and allow transfers in.
35:12You transfer in not by taking money out, but by applying on the application form to transfer money in and let them move it for you.
35:18And they've all got full UK saving safety.
35:20Easy access. So, these are all variable rate.
35:23This has changed seven times today because they're fighting to be top of the best buys because I think they probably know I'm doing this program
35:31and I'm putting this information out elsewhere, to be absolutely honest with you.
35:33Often going up by 0.01%.
35:35These four, Plum Moneybox Chip and the one that, when I started the show at least, was top, Trading 212.
35:41But these are all short-term bonus rates. They're sort of playing the market for the best buy tables.
35:45So, the underlying rate here is 4.5%.
35:47But you get a three-month, three-quarter of a percent newbies bonus taking up to 5.25%.
35:52But it will drop quickly. All of these work in exactly the same way.
35:54This one has the best underlying rate. Trading 212.
35:57You want a straight rate. Tembo. 4.8% is the top straight rate.
36:01But remember, they're variable. They can drop the rate any time. That's what variable means.
36:05If you want a big name, there's a post office at 4.4%.
36:08Now, 3.15% of that, percentage points of that, is a one-year bonus.
36:13Two ways to look at that. It's going to be pants in a year because the rate will drop.
36:17But you're guaranteed a minimum 3.15% for the first year.
36:20So, you might want to put the money in there, get that guarantee,
36:23and then you're going to have to transfer it in a year's time to go somewhere else.
36:26Now, let's contrast those to the top normal savings.
36:31Well, for the last six months we've had this position, cash ices are beating normal savings.
36:35So, even if you don't need the tax advantage, you may as well open one of these
36:42because the interest rates are better, even if you don't need it for tax.
36:45And in fact, if you did need it for tax, look at this, the top 4.75%,
36:49well, you'd only be earning 3.8% after basic rate tax and left after the other tax.
36:53So, that one needs 25 grand in, that one just needs 1k in,
36:56and then you've got the same post office does the same in savings.
36:58Fixed rate cash ices, it's the opposite. Normal fixed rates pay more at 4.6%
37:03if you're not paying any tax than the fixed rate cash ices.
37:08But with these, you can access your money during the term.
37:12You can take your money out, you'll pay a big interest penalty.
37:14So, in an emergency, you could get your money, you can't in these.
37:17But again, if you were paying tax, well, 4.6% after 20% tax is 3.68%.
37:22I mean, it's pants compared to what you get over there.
37:24So, then the cash ices is definitely better.
37:26In summary, if you're not paying tax, or you're paying tax,
37:30easy access cash ices win.
37:32If you are paying tax, fixed normal savings...
37:37Sorry, if you are paying tax, fixed cash ices win.
37:40If you're not paying tax, fixed normal savings win.
37:42I hope that made sense.
37:43She's given me one minute and I know we've got more to get through.
37:45You've got a question indeed. It's coming in from Debbie.
37:48And Debbie, this is around the rumours, isn't it?
37:50Around the cash ices. Debbie's in the studio.
37:52What's your question for Mark?
37:53Rachel Reeves is on about taxing cash ices, which are currently tax-free.
37:58And is she also on about minimising it to £4,000 instead of the £20,000 a year?
38:04So, if that's the case, what is the best thing to save in
38:07to protect your interest from tax?
38:09I haven't heard anything about taxing cash ices.
38:11The only rumour I've heard is dropping the future allowance
38:13from £20,000 to £4,000.
38:15Apparently, it's not coming in the spring statement.
38:17I don't have that confirmed. That's other people's reports.
38:19But it might come in the autumn budget.
38:21It's still being considered. No decision's being made.
38:23Now, if that's right, and I haven't spoken to the Chancellor on this,
38:27so I don't know. I just know everything I've read on it.
38:29Let's just make it plain for everyone.
38:31Some people are saying taking money out of cash ices.
38:32That would be bonkers. Bonkers. Right, look.
38:34Remember my jumping before?
38:36What it would mean is you could put £20,000 in this year.
38:39You could put £20,000 in next year
38:41if she doesn't drop it on the 6th of April.
38:42I've now got £40,000.
38:43But it may be that the year after, I can only put £4,000 in.
38:47So I've only got £44,000 protected.
38:49I wouldn't take money out of those. They're still protected.
38:51I think it would be very unlikely they change that.
38:54It's just about...
38:55The rumour is talking about being able to put less in cash ices in future
38:58in order to try and encourage people to invest.
39:00I don't think that will work
39:01because I think people who want to save want to save
39:03and people who want to invest are different.
39:05So I think it's a false equivalence.
39:07But if they do it, they're talking about lowering the amount
39:09you can put in a cash ices.
39:11So don't let that stop you putting money in a cash ices now.
39:14In fact, you should be putting more in a cash ices.
39:16I'm going to have to interrupt you.
39:18After the break, what you can do about the rise in cancel tax,
39:21stamp duty and an important note for anyone with an EV car.
39:24We will see you soon.
39:25Thank you. It's the final countdown.
39:38Sorry for going so fast, but there's so much I wanted to tell you
39:41before the series ends.
39:42Just one quick thing about ices.
39:44Of course, it's not just the cash ices that year that's ending.
39:46If you've got a junior ISA and you're putting savings away
39:48for your child tax-free until they're 18,
39:50that's got a 5th of April deadline.
39:52If you're a first-time buyer saving in a lifetime ISA,
39:56which can give you up to a grand a year free from the state
39:59towards your first property under £450,000,
40:02that's got a 5th of April deadline.
40:04And the stocks and shares ISA, if you're going to invest,
40:07just because I don't talk about investing
40:08doesn't mean I don't think it's a good idea.
40:10It's not my subject, but over a long term,
40:12it can easily outperform saving.
40:14That's got a 5th of April deadline.
40:15Remember, the total you can have in ISAs in the year is £20,000.
40:18So you could have £20,000 in the cash ISA,
40:20£20,000 in the stocks and shares ISA,
40:22or put £10,000 in the stocks and shares ISA,
40:24and £10,000 in the cash ISA.
40:25Can't put £20,000 in both.
40:27Anyway, that was a quick summary.
40:28We're going fast tonight. Jeanette?
40:30There is so much coming up.
40:31Final furlong of this show now.
40:33We normally do news you can use here.
40:35Bit different tonight, but we'll call it that anyway.
40:37OK, let's cheat.
40:40Yeah, it's April news you can use.
40:42More April stuff happening.
40:43Three tax changes on the 1st of April.
40:45Stamp duty.
40:47The tax you pay when you buy a house.
40:49Will cost more in England and Northern Ireland.
40:51It's staying the same in Scotland and Wales.
40:53So, look, I mean, this is the one I really can't beat.
40:55Unless you're in the process now
40:56and you could complete by the end of the month,
40:58you're not going to be able to go into the line.
41:00You're probably going to pay more if you're doing it next year.
41:02Let's just have a look at what the changes are.
41:04So, if you're not a first-time buyer,
41:07currently you don't pay stamp duty on the first £250,000.
41:10From the 1st of April, that drops to £125,000.
41:13You'll then pay 2% and up to £250,000,
41:16and it stays the same above that.
41:18What that means is everybody buying a house over £250,000
41:21will pay £2,500 more.
41:23That's the maths. That simple.
41:25First-time buyers, it's a little bit more complex.
41:27Currently, you don't pay to £425,000.
41:30That's dropping to £300,000.
41:32You'll then pay 5% up to £500,000.
41:35After that point, it was £625,000.
41:39You're no longer a first-time buyer.
41:41So, you need to look at that one.
41:42If you're a first-time buyer
41:43borrowing a property over £500,000,
41:45because this one doesn't exist for you.
41:47You only get it on that amount.
41:48I mean, it basically means your powerhouse,
41:50stamp duty's a lot bigger.
41:52OK. Next one.
41:54Council tax bills are rising.
41:55Two options to try and cut costs.
41:57Again, you see what I'm doing in this show.
41:59I did a full special on this on the 12th of November.
42:01A whole hour on it.
42:02ITVX, lots of details about how you check
42:04and how you challenge.
42:05I'm going to summarise it here,
42:06but you need to watch that before you do anything,
42:08because if you get it wrong,
42:09your price and your neighbours may go up.
42:10Is your band too high?
42:11Compare yourself to neighbours
42:12in identical properties.
42:14You can view bands at gov.uk and saa.gov...
42:17saa.gov.uk.
42:19That link is wrong.
42:20In Scotland.
42:21Wales has re-banded since.
42:22If you go on there and you find that
42:24you're in a higher band in neighbours in similar properties,
42:26please watch that show.
42:27Don't do anything more.
42:28But just to summarise,
42:29then you'd go and use online tools
42:31to find your house's $19.91 value,
42:33which determines the band you should be in.
42:35An only challenge if you pass both those cheques.
42:38If you just pass one, you could get it wrong.
42:40It could be everybody else is in two lower bands
42:42and they put them all up.
42:43Separately, are you eligible for a discount?
42:45If you live alone or with under-18s or with students,
42:48you may be able to have a single person's discount.
42:50If you're a student in an all-student household,
42:52you shouldn't be paying.
42:53If you have a disability, depending,
42:55you may be eligible for a discount
42:56or to change the banding of your house.
42:58If you're a living carer,
42:59there may be not definitely a discount.
43:02And if you have a severe mental impairment,
43:04I've long campaigned about this,
43:05could be something that impairs your social functioning,
43:08could be severe dementia,
43:09could be a very severe Parkinson's or stroke,
43:12then you are disregarded a bit like a student is
43:15for council tax in a similar way.
43:17So you might be entitled to the 25% single person discount
43:20or if both of you in the household have this
43:21or it's just you,
43:22you might pay no council tax at all.
43:24It needs some reading.
43:25I haven't got time to go through it, but do that.
43:26Yes, you...
43:27Just a very quick success on council tax from Yvonne.
43:29She's been in touch.
43:30Following your show last year,
43:31I contested my council tax band rating
43:33and last December, it was lowered from band G to F.
43:36I received a refund covering the last 30 years
43:39overpayment of £8,856.
43:42A good win.
43:47Yes, I probably should have technically mentioned
43:49you don't just get your band lowered,
43:50you get a backdated payout from when you moved in
43:52as far back as 1993.
43:54A final one.
43:56Have you got an electric vehicle?
43:58If so, you will start to pay duty on it,
44:00typically 200 quid a year from the 1st of April.
44:03But, if you go on to gov.uk now
44:06and you retax it now while it's free,
44:08that will last a year.
44:10And you can do that even if it isn't a year
44:12since you last taxed it,
44:13even if it was two months since you last went and taxed it.
44:16So, regardless of your expiry,
44:19if you've got an electric vehicle,
44:21go and tax it now and you'll, in fact,
44:23extend the time at which it's tax-free.
44:25My director, Richard, is telling me,
44:28because we did it on the show about six weeks ago,
44:30he's done it already and it works.
44:32Thank you, Richard.
44:33Well done, Richard.
44:35OK, some quickies.
44:37Let me move on as the clock is ticking down.
44:39Very quickly.
44:40I've got some quickies for you.
44:41On the 1st of April, important one this,
44:43check now if your child's eligible for free school meals in England.
44:45Rough rule of thumb, very low incomes here.
44:47Under £7,400, not counting any benefits.
44:51This is why, if you apply by the 31st of March,
44:53you'll get free school meals for the whole phase of education.
44:56So, if you're in primary, for the whole primary,
44:59if you're in secondary, for the whole of secondary.
45:02If you apply afterwards, a rule change means,
45:05well, at first I thought it was you'd have to reapply every year,
45:08but they won't confirm exactly what the rules are,
45:10which is very frustrating,
45:11but you'll have regular eligibility checks,
45:13so you're better to apply sooner.
45:14There's a pensions and benefits rise.
45:16I've already mentioned them.
45:17New state pension up to £230.25,
45:19but more people are on the old pension,
45:20which is going up to £176.45.
45:22Benefits also up by 1.7%, many of them,
45:25which is inflation, last September's inflation.
45:27There's been big benefits announcements today.
45:29I've been working on this.
45:30I haven't gone into detail yet.
45:31I will be doing so.
45:32I know many people are quite concerned about that.
45:35And finally, stamps.
45:38First class standard letter stamps only going up 5p,
45:40but large letters are going up by 21%, up to 3.15.
45:44The fact is, if your stamp says first class on it,
45:46it's valid in future, whatever price you paid from it.
45:48So if you're going to need stamps in future, buy them now.
45:51Stock up all you'll need in future,
45:53and they're inflation proofs.
45:54There's a wind-up over there.
45:56Jeanette, you've been wonderful.
45:57Thank you so much for our amazing team.
45:58Thank you to the audience here.
46:00We'll see you in May,
46:01and then back for a full series in October.
46:02Bye-bye, and thank you for watching.
46:04Thanks, Martin.
46:10And don't forget, if you missed any of that,
46:12you can re-watch it on STV Player.
46:15Next up here, it's Coronation Street.
46:34We'll see you next time.
Be the first to comment
Add your comment

Recommended