Budget 2017 case studies: impact on self-employed, families, students and those in retirement

The father-of-one from Wishaw, whose wife Michelle is expected their second baby in the coming months, will be impacted by the tax changes.

“The increase in National Insurance stood out for me, but if the Government is taking money from my pocket and putting it to good use then it’s not going to bother me,” said Mr McCann, whose annual income is in excess of £50,000.

“It’s not a great deal out of my income and I’m okay with it being spent on things for the public good such as the health service.

“But it’s typical Tories. All their tax rises seem to be driven by ideological concerns instead of what’s best for the people.

“I see that yet again they’re not going after big businesses when they bring in tax rises, but small self-employed earners like taxi drivers, electricians, plumbers and van drivers. They always say these are the people they want to support, but what they say and what they do are often two different things.”

Mr McCann added that the Budget failed to help hard-working families but said moves to shore up the oil industry was welcome “but a bit too late”.

“The downturn has been going on for a while and there should have been plans put in place five to 10 years ago to help,” he said.

“And there should have been a fund put in place to help people retrain when they are laid off. There have been a lot of job losses and these guys have a lot of transferable skills that could be put to use in sectors such as renewables. But there’s been no foresight.”

How does the budget affect you? Budget table.pdf

Ruth McKay with husband Malcolm and seven-year-old son Ollie at their Edinburgh home. Picture: Gordon Terris

There’s nothing in it to help families or small businesses

BUSINESSWOMAN and mother-of-two Ruth McKay, of Edinburgh, who runs digital advertising company Uniq Marketing and Design, has an income of around £32,000.

Her Budget verdict: there’s not much for families to be cheery about. 

She said: “I would have expected something in the Budget that would have gone some way to helping families, but there was nothing. 

“Theresa May has spoken about the JAM group of people – the families who are Just About Managing – and there are families who are struggling out there. But I didn’t see anything in the Budget that would help them.

“As the owner of a small business, overall I can’t say it was a good Budget. The increase in National Insurance for the self-employed will mean we have to take a hit, and my colleagues and others I have spoken to agree. Small businesses are the backbone of the country and it seems counter-productive to be hitting them in the pocket.

“We are the businesses that are employing key groups of people the Government wants to see in work, so it is not great to see more pressure being put on us.

“We employ students, people leaving education and the unemployed and get them into work, but the Government just seems intent on punishing 
us for our success even when we contribute so much to the economy.”

She added: “Once again we are not seeing the Government go after the huge companies that are taking advantage of tax loopholes to pay less tax.

“It does seem to go against Conservative rhetoric to penalise self-starters who have set up their own businesses and are working hard to make them a success and provide for their families.”

How does the budget affect you? Budget table.pdf

Andrew McMorrine: ‘National Insurance cuts will be a blow.’

‘As pensioners we are pleased there is no retreat on promises’

RETIRED art teacher Andrew McMorrine, 69, worked in the Outer Isles and on Skye.

With teachers’ pensions and some savings, he and his wife Jan say they are far from well-off but comfortable.

“As pensioners we are pleased there is no retreat from previous promises on the OAP,” he said. “But I know there are others who depend on savings who have been having a rough time with low interest rates. The Chancellor has said Guaranteed Growth Bonds will be offered, paying interest of 2.2 per cent. But this has been described as underwhelming when the cost of living will be going up by about the same figure. Where is the encouragement to be canny?”

Mr McMorrine said he always regretted increased duty on beer, wine and spirits, “but we should manage to live with 36p on a bottle of whisky”. He thinks more should be done to help pubs because of their importance to the Scottish tourist industry.

He took issue with the Chancellor charging the self-employed more. He said: “There are a lot of self-employed people in the Highlands and Islands, many of them young people trying to grow their businesses, from fishing to tourism, or people who have lost their jobs. Charging them more on NI payments will be a bit a blow, the more so when the Tories promised not do so.”

How does the budget affect you? Budget table.pdf

Jenna Mitchell, with her five-year-old daughter, welcomed the £5m fund targeting mothers.

‘It’s good there will be support for helping mothers get back to work’

STUDENT Jenna Mitchell is working her way through a health and social care course at Dundee and Angus College and is also mother to five-year-old Poppy. She welcomed the £5 million fund to help mothers back to work.

As well as being a student, Ms Mitchell also works part-time but doesn’t qualify for working tax credits because she doesn’t clock up enough hours.

She said: “It is good that they are giving mothers money to help them back into work after giving birth because, at the moment, childcare is very expensive. Most mothers wait until their child has started school to go back to work so they don’t have to pay for day care.”

She also said care funding should receive a significant slice of the £350m in extra cash that was announced for Scotland and it should be better channelled, in particular to students and also their support workers.

She said: “More needs to go on social care, especially mental health around students.

“The mental healthcare around students at the moment is absolutely atrocious.

“I’m a student worker and there is no support around mental health issues for students to access.”

Ms Mitchell, vice-president of the Students’ Association, said: “Across the board a lot of the student officers drop out due to mental health and the lack of support .

“I’m not allowed to give help when it comes to mental health. All I can do is take them to student services and signpost them to different places. But there is such a lack of support.

“I’m a single working parent. I study as well. In October my little brother also had a heart aneurysm and a stroke and I was off college and I got no support whatsoever.

“Sometimes you need someone on campus so that when you are having that moment there is someone you can sit down with, like a mental health officer. At the moment you have to be referred and it all takes weeks and weeks.”

How does the budget affect you? Budget table.pdf

Stuart and Jo Chidley said business rates are a concern and will impact on their company.

‘There’s nothing there that gives us business or consumer confidence’

IT WAS a “non-event” Budget that will not make any difference to people’s confidence in the economy.

That’s the view of Stuart Chidley, commercial director of Glasgow-based health and beauty company Beauty Kitchen, who had hoped there would more support for the economy in “very uncertain” post-Brexit times.

The father-of-one, from Wishaw, Lanarkshire, together with his wife, Jo, had hoped that there would be more encouragement for business as they look to expand their 17-year-old luxury beauty products enterprise.

But Mr Chidley, 40, said: “The big thing is there is nothing in there that gives us consumer or business confidence.

There’s no major gesture, no pouring water on the flames. It’s just a case of letting it simmer for a bit longer.”

He did welcome the Chancellor’s announcement that sugar-filled soft drinks will see a tax rise in April 2018 in an attempt to combat rising levels of obesity, and he supported extra duty on beer, cider, wine and spirits. in line with RPI inflation.

He said: “We are massive supporters of sugar tax and any other health- related tax. So if I want to drink beer or wine or smoke, then fair enough I should pay more tax.”

A package of measures designed to ease the burden of business rates, amounting to a giveaway of £435m over the next five years, only applies to England and Wales, and Mr Chidley said more needs to be done to tackle rapid rises in Scotland. as they look to expand.

“Business rates is a general concern. We don’t pay rates and we are looking to open a new site, and we have questions over the implications for business rates.We are looking at opening an innovation experience centre in Glasgow, but we haven’t identified a site yet. I am assuming the business rates increase will impact on where the site will be – and also whether we actually go ahead with it.”

How does the budget affect you? Budget table.pdf