The Cost of Living
The Government’s plan to help people with the cost of living
You may have seen that the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak has announced the government’s plans to help people with the cost of living. The plans bring together measures to provide support for people on low incomes whilst raising tax revenue from the profits made by the oil and gas sector.
The key measures announced on Thursday are:
- A one-off non-taxable Cost of Living Payment of £650 will be made in two instalments from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) (and HMRC for Tax Credits customers) to provide additional support to more than 8 million people in receipt of income-related benefits. The DWP will make a separate additional payment of £150 in September to claimants of certain disability benefits. On top of this, pensioner households will receive a one-off £300 Pensioner Cost of Living Payment to help them stay warm this winter.
- A temporary Energy Profits Levy surcharge of 25% on the extraordinary profits the oil and gas sector is making. The levy will include a new ‘super-deduction’ style relief to encourage firms to invest in oil and gas extraction in the UK.
- A doubling of support to £400 for household energy bills through an expansion of the Energy Bills Support Scheme. The full £400 payment will now be made as a grant which will not be recovered through higher bills in future years.
If you have any questions regarding the information above then please do get in touch.