Money blog: Nike to roll out cheaper trainers as sales slow; NatWest and Lloyds hikes some account fees (2024)

Morrisons is offering shoppers a free jacket potato with Heinz Cheesy Beanz for the next fortnight.

The supermarket chain has joined forces with Heinz to bring back the popular "ask for Henry" initiative which began in 2022 to help people with financial costs during the cost of living crisis.

The complimentary dish is available every day at Morrisons cafes across the country and allows a customer one free jacket potato and beans per day.

There is also no minimum spend required.

But customers will need to use the discrete phrase "ask for Henry" in order to receive it.

The offer ends on 14 July.

Nike plans to launch a cheaper trainer line in an effort to boost sales.

The sporting company's new range will be priced at around £79 or less and will be available in stores across the world, according to Reuters.

Nike has seen sales growth slow as it battlescompetition from Adidas, as well as the likes of On and Deckers'Hoka brand.

Last Thursday the company reported a sales decline in itslatest quarter.

Nike shares also slumped last Friday, ending the day down 19.98%, the biggest one-day percentage drop in the stock's history.

"This is likely a bid to secure some more price-sensitive consumers," GlobalData analyst Neil Saunders said.

Some NatWest customers with paid-for accounts have experienced a big change to their current account fees in the last few days.

The bank hiked the fee for its Reward Black account from £31 to £36 per month as of 28 June - an extra £60 per year.

Perks of the account include UK and European car breakdown cover, access to more than 1,000 airport lounges and worldwide family travel insurance.

For those with a Reward Platinum account, the fee has gone up to £22 from £20, equating to £24 extra throughout the year.

NatWest said increasing insurance costs were one of the drivers behind the fee increases, as well as the claim rate being reported by third-party providers.

It said it had previously frozen the cost of the accounts for five years.

People who hold silver or platinum club accounts with Lloyds are also experiencing a change to their fees from this week.

Club Lloyds Silver now costs £11.50 a month, up from £10 previously, while the platinum account has gone up from £21 to £22.50 a month.

Anyone looking to avoid the fee hike can downgrade their account to a free account or one with a lower payment. There's also the option to switch to another bank.

Basically… income tax is a levy on the annual earnings of a person or business.

It's the single most important source of revenue for the Treasury, accounting for about a quarter of total tax revenue.

The tax was first introduced by former prime minister William Pitt in 1799 to help pay for the Napoleonic wars.

It was abolished in 1816 but reinstated in 1842 – and has remained a part of the British tax system ever since.

What do I pay income tax on?

If you're employed, you'll pay tax on your annual income if you meet the earnings threshold (more on that later).

Self-employed people pay income tax on their profits, including from services sold through websites or apps.

Income tax can also be levied on other earnings including:

• Some state benefits
• Most pensions, including state pensions, company and personal pensions and retirement income
• Rental income, unless you're a live-in landlord
• Job benefits
• Income from a trust
• Interest on savings over your savings allowance

How much do I have to pay?

The amount of income tax you pay each year depends on how much of your earnings is above your personal tax allowance, and how much falls within each tax band.

Currently, the personal allowance sits at£12,570- that's the amount of income youdon'thave to pay tax on.

The threshold has been frozen since April 2022 and is set to remain at the current level until 2028 under plans announced by the Conservatives (Labour have not made any noises about changing this).

Combined with inflation, frozen tax thresholds can lead to something called "fiscal drag" - sometimes referred to as a "stealth tax" - when more people are dragged into paying tax for the first time or paying a higher level of tax.

We've more on that in a previous post from our Basically series...

Different tax bands determine what proportion of your income will be taken as tax each year (these are for England, Wales and Northern Ireland):

• Personal allowance- if you earnup to £12,570you'll paynoincome tax
• Basic rate- you pay 20% tax on earnings between£12,571 and £50,270
• Higher rate- for earnings between£50,271 and £125,140, it's40%
• Additional rate- income of£125,141 or moreattracts a45%tax rate

Scottish income tax bands differ slightly, with the addition of a starter rate, intermediate rate and top rate. Outside of the basic rate, the proportions also differ. You can read more about these on the Scottish government websitehere.

How is the tax paid?

The majority of people will pay income tax through PAYE (Pay As You Earn) - the system employers and pension providers use to deduct income tax and national insurance contributions before wages hit bank accounts. This money goes directly to HMRC.

The amount paid is determined by a tax code - more on those in our explainer here...

If you're self-employed earning more than £1,000, or you're a very high earner, you'll likely have to pay tax through self-assessment which is done once a year.

Self-assessments are also needed if you earn over £2,500 from other untaxed income, such as tips or renting out a property.

What does the government spend income tax on?

As we mentioned previously, income tax is the biggest sources of revenue for the government, with the Office for Budget Responsibility predicting it'll raise a whopping£302.7bnin the 2024-25 tax year - up from £279.2bn the previous year.

It's not known exactly how the income tax portion of its revenue is spent, but overall, about two-thirds of the government's "day-to-day" spending goes on public services, such as the NHS, schools and prisons.

Around a quarter of all spending is on social security, such as Universal Credit and the state pension.

Read other entries in our Basically series...

We feature a lot of data on the changing prices of houses in the UK, but how do they compare to the rest of the world?

New data shows the UK ranked 37th for house price growth out of 56 countries analysed by Knight Frank for the Global House Price Index.

At 1.6% up over the year to the end of March, the UK underperformed (with the global average at 3.6%) but outstripped its European neighbours.

Only 11 countries saw prices fall, eight of which were European, with France (-5.2%) and Germany (-3.9%) feeling the effects of slower economic growth and high recent inflation.

Across all 56 markets, 82% saw annual price growth in the first quarter of the year - the strongest showing since the last quarter of 2022.

"Many markets are suffering from a lack of properties to sell as well as slow new-build delivery, leading to relatively healthy demand pushing prices to new highs," said Liam Bailey, Knight Frank's global head of research.

"In the longer term, however, only lower debt costs will sustain price growth."

With a 52% price increase, Turkey was at the top of the table by a huge margin - 36 percentage points - but there's more to this figure than meets the eye.

Consumer Price Index inflation in Turkey has risen 50% in the year to March, meaning in real terms house prices have actually fallen by 9.9%.

Recently we reported on how Barcelona had cracked down on tourism by planning to abolish short-term holiday lets.

The Spanish city has now gone further in its war on overtourism by banning the display and sale of "offensive" souvenirs.

It says sexist and hom*ophobic messages on some souvenirs are tarnishing Barcelona's image.

The ERC's deputy spokesperson Jordi Coronas said the ban included products such as "penises with the Barcelona brand, T-shirts with sexist or hom*ophobic comments, or simply comments that, when displayed on these products, devalue Barcelona".

Ahead of our Q&A, switching service Uswitch provided us with a list of what it considers the cheapest energy tariffs on the market right now.

It's worth reading the advice from Which? in our Q&A below (see 15.02 post) before deciding to switch from a standard variable tariff (that's what most households are on) - but if you're aware of the risks, then cheaper energy is available...

A big thanks to all those who submitted a question for our Q&A on the day the energy price cap fell - and sorry if we didn't get to yours.

A big thanks also toEmily Seymour, Which? energy editor, andKate Mulvany, a principal consultant at Cornwall Insight, for tackling 10 of your questions so thoroughly.

Scroll down to read through their answers.

Kate Mulvany, a principal consultant at Cornwall Insight, says..

The outlook for the upcoming winter appears promising, with strong gas reserves across Europe providing a healthy buffer to seasonal demand.

While a very cold winter would increase the need for gas for heating across Europe, the UK's ability to secure gas and electricity from multiple sources keeps the risk of disruption to the flow of energy relatively low.

Quite a few things would need to go wrong at the same time for there to be an increased risk of a widespread blackout.

However, short-term blackouts would still be possible - as indeed at any time of year - due to storms or other weather incidents, as well as through localised network issues.

It's worth mentioning that ministers have claimed the UK faces blackouts without new gas-fired power stations...

The bigger risk for homes in the UK is the pressure on energy bills. Although electricity and gas supplies appear healthy, affordability remains a concern, as seen in recent winters - particularly 2022-23.

Emily Seymour, Which? energy editor, says...

As we said in one of our previous answers, there isn't a "one size fits all" for the best deals out there as it will all depend on individual circ*mstances.

However, there are some tariffs available that are cheaper than the current price cap and might be worth considering.

When Which? last checked, Ecotricity and Ovo both had fixed deals available for cheaper than the July price cap.

However, Ecotricity's deal requires a smart meter - or you to agree to have one fitted - and Ovo's is only available if you also buy annual boiler cover, so you'll need to weigh up if this is right for you. Both also come with exit fees if you want to leave early.

Tracker tariffs change in price relative to the price cap every three months when the price cap is reset to offer slightly cheaper rates than you'd be paying otherwise, and could be worth considering. They're currently available from E.ON Next, Scottish Power and Fuse Energy.

Consumers can use switching services - like Which? Switch Energy - to keep an eye on the best fixed deals available and compare deals to see what's cheapest for them.

We'd always recommend checking the exit fees on fixed deals so you're not tied into a tariff if something better becomes available.