New Isa rules need to be publicised more

More should be done to publicise the changes to the rules surrounding individual savings accounts (Isas), one financial expert has claimed.

According to Moneyfacts, the introduction of changes to the rules in the new tax year from April 6th, which are anticipated to attract more customers to the product, need to be more widely publicised outside of the trade press.

Michelle Slade, spokesperson for Moneyfacts, said: “They probably should do something more to advise customers out there what is going on.”

“The fact that they can now put in an additional £600 and it’s tax free… Obviously that’s the first port of call for anybody who’s going to take out savings,” she added.

In the new tax year, beginning April 6th, the rules for Isas are changing. There will no longer be distinctions between mini- and maxi-Isas:

Now all Isas will have an overall limit of £7,200, of which £3,600 can be saved in cash (under present rules there is a £3,000 cash limit).

Tags: spokesperson, press, tax, ISA, introduction

Consumers expected to spend £2.7b more this Christmas

An estimated £2.7 billion more is to be spent this Christmas by consumers compared with last year, according to a survey by Sainsbury’s Bank.

People intend to spend £11.85 billion more on shopping in the last week before Christmas than in 2006.

The findings also show that 18 per cent of this figure, approximately £2.1 billion, will be paid by credit card.

Donald MacLeod, head of cards, Sainsbury’s Bank, said: “I was surprised at…the fact that people were going to spend more this year than last year. All the press comment at the moment has been about there being a squeeze on [spending], but this doesn’t appear to be the case.”

He added that buying gifts during the build up to Christmas can benefit consumers as some retailers are already offering discounts. Unfortunately the risk is that some goods may already be out of stock.

Mr MacLeod also said that credit cards are “a very convenient way of doing your Christmas shopping”, as using them does not require consumers to carry cash.

Tags: year, press, sainsburys, Sainsbury, buying gifts, Mr MacLeod, Retailing, week before christmas