As 2025 begins, how positive you feel about your finances will depend a lot on the stage of life you have reached. Hopes of sharp interest rate cuts have receded as inflation has started to rise again, which is bad news for borrowers but good news if you have money in the bank. The triple lock means a healthy increase in the state pension in April, while other benefits lag behind. Here are some of the important dates to look out for in the first months of the year:January1st The latest price cap on household gas and electricity prices comes into force, and at £1,738 for typical usage it’s 1.2% higher than that for the last three months. The headline figure is for direct debit customers using 2,700 kWh of electricity and 11,500 kWh of gas in a year – if you use more or pay in arrears you will spend more than that. The cap is £190 a year lower than in January 2024, but for many pensioner households the loss of the winter fuel allowance will more than cancel that out.The cap on bus fares for journeys in England goes up from £2 to £3, where it will be fixed until the end of 2025. The government says that without the cap, which applies to single fares, a bus journey from Newcastle to Middlesbrough would cost £8, while travelling from Leeds to Scarborough would cost £15. The limit does not apply everywhere – Manchester, for example, will retain a £2 cap, while in London fares are capped at £1.75.VAT is now payable on private school fees, charged at a rate of 20%. The tax will apply to fees paid in advance since 29 July 2024 if they relate to 1 January 2025 onwards. Schools do not have to pass on the full amount to parents, or whoever is footing the bill, but some, including Eton, have announced that they will.17th A ban on inflation-linked mid-contract price rises on phone, broadband and TV comes into force. From this date, the regulator, Ofcom, says contracts must include details of any future price rises in pounds and pence, so that consumers know what to expect from the deal they have signed up to.31st The deadline for filing self-assessment forms online for 2023-24.Also the deadline for websites to share sales data with HMRC under a new regime designed to pick up people who are trading on platforms such as eBay, Vinted and Airbnb. If you have sold at least 30 items or earned roughly £1,700 in 2024 the platform must give this information to the revenue. You have a £1,000 trading allowance on which you do not need to pay tax, but must declare sales above that. HMRC has an online calculator you can use to find out what, if anything, you will need to pay.February1st New rates of duty on alcoholic drinks come into force. Some were announced in the budget, while some were announced previously but delayed. Duty on draught products will be cut by 1p, while that on other drinks rises in line with the RPI measure of inflation. Duty on wine will from now on depend on its alcohol content, with higher ABVs (alcohol by volume) attracting more tax
Gio. Gen 9th, 2025
