Jessica Beard

Oct 26, 2024 | dailymail.co.uk | Jessica Beard

It seems that Treasury civil servants tasked with steering the Chancellor through the Budget have been whispering suggestions into her ear that she should exclude their pensions from her whopping tax raid. And is it any wonder, when they and other public sector workers are sitting on Britain's most gilded pension schemes? Civil servants receive a retirement income that is six times larger than private sector workers for every £1 they set aside during their careers.

Oct 23, 2024 | dailymail.co.uk | Jessica Beard

A huge chasm between generous public sector pensions and squeezed private sector pensions could be blown even wider next week. Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to protect public sector workers from a raid on employers’ pension contributions in the Budget. Plans to charge a new National Insurance levy on the contributions that employers pay into workers’ pensions are expected to raise £15.4billion.

Oct 22, 2024 | dailymail.co.uk | Jessica Beard

Ruby Robinson always looks forward to putting her feet up in front of a film at the end of a long day in her job as a credit analyst. So when a text message popped up on the mother-of-two’s phone in March that appeared to come from the jobs website Reed advertising work as a freelance movie reviewer, she was instantly intrigued. Ruby, 38, had signed up to the site and updated her status to ‘looking for part-time work’ at the beginning of the year to make extra income outside her office hours.

Oct 21, 2024 | dailymail.co.uk | Jessica Beard

Savers are making a final dash to protect their hard-earned money from the tax-grabbing clutches of Chancellor Rachel Reeves ahead of the Budget. Record numbers of people have been piling money into tax-friendly Individual Savings Accounts in recent months to avoid the potential impact of a rise in capital gains tax. It comes as it emerged a cap of £500,000 was previously floated by the now Chancellor in a column she wrote for The Independent in 2016.

Oct 15, 2024 | dailymail.co.uk | Jessica Beard |Rachel Rickard Straus

Labour’s manifesto promises are already starting to unravel. Although the party won an election pledging not to increase National Insurance, income tax or VAT, it is looking increasingly likely that it will wriggle out of at least one of these promises. Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said she has to find £22billion this year to plug a hole in public finances. But Labour has promised not to raise the three taxes that bring in the most money – and so may find ways to bend the rules it has created.