Helen Nugent

Energy hikes, tax bills and a surge in pub revenues thanks to Euro 2016

A levy could be added to bills to ensure that consumers do not lose out if their energy supplier goes bust under proposals put forward by Ofgem.

With more than 40 firms now offering gas and electricity deals, the energy watchdog has warned of the danger of one becoming insolvent. At present anyone who is in credit with their energy supplier could lose out. The watchdog wants the cost of a safety net to be paid for by customers, which would have ‘a small impact on bills’. Ofgem’s senior partner for consumers and competition, Rachel Fletcher, said: ‘We are proposing a safety net to protect customers’ credit balances in the unlikely event of a supplier failure.’ Taxing times

Employees are paying an average £1.25 an hour in direct and indirect tax with the daily contribution to the Government amounting to more than £30, new analysis from MetLife shows. But only 69p an hour of the average worker’s tax bill is due to direct deductions from earnings including income tax and National Insurance with the rest mounting up from  charges including VAT on spending, council tax and duty on a range of daily essentials.

Indirect taxes cost the average person nearly £5,000 a year – or 56p an hour – while income tax and National Insurance cost around £6,000. The average direct and indirect tax bill adds up to more than £11,000 – the equivalent of 40 per cent of average earnings, the analysis of Government data shows.

The daily tax bill peaks at £35 – nearly £1.50 an hour – for employees aged 40 to 49 while those aged between 18 and 21 only need to pay £6.47 a day or just 27p an hour. Employees aged 60-plus see their tax bill drop to around £23 a day.

Euro 2016

UK pubs recorded an estimated 26 per cent surge in revenues over the opening weekend of Euro 2016, compared to an average weekend in June, as all three of the qualifying Home Nations took to the field.

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