Pensions, wages and taxes: Test your money knowledge
Significant changes to wages, taxes and pensions all take effect on 1 October. Eventually millions of people will see a difference in their pay packet. So, how aware are you of the changes?
1.) Multiple Choice Question
How much per hour is the new level of the national minimum wage for workers aged 21 and over?
2.) Multiple Choice Question
No such luck for those aged under 21. The minimum wage for them has been frozen. So, how much is it still for 16 and 17 year-olds?
- £3.68 an hour
- £4.98 an hour
- £2.65 an hour
3.) Multiple Choice Question
It is not just wages that face new rules. Tax regulations are changing too. VAT will be levied on which of the following?
- Pasties, on the shelves and cooling down
- Hot rotisserie chickens
- Cycle helmets
4.) Multiple Choice Question
We move now from chickens to pensions. There is a radical reform that means many workers will be signed up to a pension run by their workplace. At what age will workers start to be automatically enrolled?
5.) Multiple Choice Question
Eventually, automatically enrolled workers will be paying a minimum of 4% of their pensionable earnings into a workplace pension. How much will their employer put in?
- 4% of pensionable earnings
- 3% of pensionable earnings
- It is £6.19 an hour. The minimum wage rises by 11 pence from £6.08 on 1 October, which is slightly below the rate of inflation, which reflects the rising cost of living.
- It is £3.68 an hour. It is £4.98 for those aged 18 to 20. Apprentices will get at least £2.65 an hour, a rise of five pence.
- It is hot rotisserie chickens. Pasties had originally been earmarked for VAT until a government U-turn. CE-marked cycle helmets are exempt from the tax.
- It is 22, but younger staff will be able to opt in even though they are not signed up automatically.
- An employer will eventually be obliged to pay in 3%. An extra 1% will come through tax relief. Employees can choose to pay in more than the 4% minimum.
0 - 1 : Befriend an accountant
2 - 3 : Start reading the small print
4 - 5 : Take a pay rise