* Thresholds for stamp duty double to £120,000. * Pensioners to get council tax refund of £200, free local bus travel everywhere from next year and a rise in pension credit to 13 per cent by 2008. * The £260,000 inheritance tax threshold rises
YORK MP Hugh Bayley said the Budget was "good news" for families, pensioners and first-time buyers in York. "This is a budget for hardworking families, and it shows Labour's long term commitment to improving the quality of life for pensioners in
A WISTFUL Laura Herbert looks again at the property market in York. Could Chancellor Gordon Brown have given the 22-year-old fresh hope of ever living in her own home? Mr Brown doubled the threshold of stamp duty from £60,000 to £120,000. Given
FREE bus travel for pensioners? "That'll suit me fine," says recently widowed Vera Clint, who travels by bus three times a week from her home in Shipton-by- Beningborough to do her shopping. At the bus stop opposite the Theatre Royal in St Leonards
Tax rates For the sixth consecutive tax year, income tax rates remain at 10%, 22% and 40%. The special rules for savings income and dividends continue to apply. Comment It seems likely that Labour will fight the forthcoming General Election with
National Insurance Contributions (NICs) There is no change in the rates of NIC. Action point Although employees' NICs only become payable once earnings exceed £94 per week in 2005/06, it is still the case that earnings between £82 and £94 per
VAT thresholds The VAT registration limits increase with effect from 1 April 2005 as follows: * the threshold for compulsory registration is £60,000. * the threshold for voluntary deregistration is £58,000. Avoidance scheme disclosure rules
Corporation tax rates The corporation tax rates continue to be a 0% starting rate, a 19% small companies rate and a main rate of 30%. The profits limits used to determine the appropriate rate of tax are reduced for a company that is part of a group or
Capital gains tax (CGT) annual exemption The annual exemption for 2005/06 is £8,500. For most trusts the exempt limit is increased to £4,250. CGT rates of tax For individuals capital gains continue to be treated as the top slice of income. For
Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) residential threshold The threshold for residential transactions is being raised from £60,000 to £120,000. This means that no SDLT will be payable where the purchase price of a property does not exceed £120,000. Above
Tax rates For the seventh consecutive tax year, income tax rates remain at 10%, 22% and 40%. The special rules for savings income and dividends continue to apply. Comment Income tax rates stay put for a further
National Insurance Contributions (NICs) There is no change in the rates of NIC. Action point Although employees’ NICs only become payable once earnings exceed £97 per week in 2006/07, it is still the
Corporation tax rates A starting rate of corporation tax of 0% was introduced in 2002 and applies to companies with taxable profits of £10,000 or less. Companies with profits between £10,000 and £50,000 enjoy a marginal relief from the small companies
Capital gains tax (CGT) annual exemption The annual exemption for 2006/07 is £8,800. For most trusts the exempt limit is increased to £4,400. CGT rates of tax For individuals capital gains continue to be treated as the top slice of income.
VAT thresholds The VAT registration limits increase with effect from 1 April 2006 as follows: the threshold for compulsory registration is £61,000 the threshold for voluntary deregistration is £59,000. Annual accounting scheme
Tax schemes In 2004 new disclosure rules were introduced in relation to certain tax schemes. Broadly the rules require ‘promoters’ to provide details of their schemes to HMRC shortly after the scheme is sold. The government now intends to:
Online filing Lord Carter’s review of HMRC online filing services has been published. HMRC have confirmed that in line with the report’s recommendations they will only implement the new measures when the IT systems that will allow efficient online
ONE pound every second - that's the staggering amount well-wishers are raising for the air ambulance that rushed Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond to hospital. In the wake of Wednesday's horrific 280mph smash at Elvington Airfield, internet users
TRIALS have unearthed the next set of York schoolboys who will be flying the football flag for their city over the coming season. The representative teams take on their hand-picked equivalents from across Yorkshire, the Midlands and the North-East
SILVERWARE is already in the Lady Lumley's School locker after the Under-12s boys' football team won their area and district cup final by beating hosts Scarborough 6-4 in extra time. The key to the triumph was the creativity of Sam Asquith in midfield
LADY Lumley's U15 netball girls played their first matches and won two of their opening three games. However, the U16s were a shade unlucky to lose all of their three opening matches in the inaugural Inter-League school competition.
YORK Phoenix Volleyball Club are planning to expand the outfit by bringing in more ladies and forming a men's team. The club's successful ladies' team has seen numbers dwindle over the past year - but rather than let the situation worsen, club chiefs
GOLFING buddies Dominic Bell and Alex Beattie were both green for go in the Forest Park Golf Club junior championship. Dominic captured the title of junior champion after a glorious gross round of 87. Such has been his recent progress capped by
NEW Earswick Swimming Club are holding a fun day next Saturday to promote the club and their activities. The open day will include free swimming and free lessons by Amateur Swimming Association-qualified teachers, swimming demonstrations, a tombola
FORMER Barnsley coach Eric Winstanley has been placed in charge of York City's juniors, initially on a one-month basis. Winstanley, 63, has taken up the reins after temporary appointment Neil Richardson stepped down following Ian Kerr's resignation
NOT even an Issy Rowe hattrick could inspire York City Ladies to a win at Morley Spurs. Rowe changed the game last week after coming on as a sub and was again the key presence in City's North East Regional Women's League premier division clash.
TWO seasons of treble-winning success at Poppleton Junior Football Club yielded a brace of silverware for two of the club's mainstays. Adam Ferguson and Mark Nelson have been involved with the club for the last five years and, as manager and coach
EIGHT goals from six scorers put Copmanthorpe Under-14s on the road to another big season in the British Sugar Minor League Trophy. Copmanthorpe beat Poppleton 80 in the first round of the League Trophy to book a home tie against Brooklyn - 8-1 winners
NO-ONE could deny that Malton and Norton Rugby Union Club Under-12s are on the right track. They are now looking smart in brand new livery after local train operator TransPennine Express bought entire new kits for the 30-strong Malton and Norton U12s
HEWORTH Amateur Rugby League Club's Emerging 8s became the youngest team ever to represent the club when they played their first game at Birstall Victoria. The youngsters gave a good account of themselves in an enjoyable game. Five tries from Arron
THERE is to be a link day for Under12s by Pocklington RUFC's junior section at Percy Road tomorrow. The club is looking to recruit and develop its team at school year 7 level and club youth development officer Phil Drew will be at Percy Road at 10.30am
POCKLINGTON Rugby Union Club Under-17s produced an excellent comeback to celebrate their first home Yorkshire League game with a 22-17 victory over Rotherham. The U17s trailed by 12 points at one stage but stormed back to win thanks to tries by centres
As hundreds of Nestle Rowntree workers lose their jobs, Charlotte Percival looks back at happier times. ROWNTREE didn't only make chocolate in the 1960s and 1970s - it produced plenty of laughter too. For Mollie-Marie and Brian Summers, their days
HOW do you make holy water? Boil the hell out of it. Boom! Boom! If you can take further punishment from the Little Sisters of Hoboken, New Jersey, they are putting the ho-ho into Hoboken tonight at Mount St Helen's School Chapel (here played by the
SIMON RITCHIE and family go back to nature during a visit to Center Parcs at Sherwood Forest. THE mean-looking swans moved towards us like Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator. They had us trapped. Our only route to the safety of the villa was blocked
ALTHOUGH the garden is starting its slow collapse into autumn there are still small pockets of new life that take us by surprise on their discovery. Clearing away mildewed leaves of pulmonaria and hacking back a clump of overgrown geum a few days ago
Mike Laycock has a taste of what life was like aboard an 18th century man o'war. WHAT AND WHERE? The Grand Turk, Whitby harbour. WHY? It's an excellent re-creation of an 18th century man o'war, built of mahogany and oak by craftsmen in Turkey almost
YOU may think you know Yorkshire's magnificent coastline. Whether it's the sands of Bridlington bay, the grandeur of Flamborough Head or the wild, rugged coast around Ravesnscar and Whitby, we all have our favourite spots. Never will you have seen
SWEET or short, flaky or crisp, there are few foods in the world so satisfying as pastry. Filled with melt-in-the-mouth beef steak or spicy pork, or crammed with tart apple or sweet cherries, pies are the ultimate comfort food - and darn convenient
I HAD a brush with the spirits on Monday night. I was in a rickety upstairs room in the Royal Oak and my friend Adrian was telling a ghost story. This was after he'd performed the Dance of Death, which had reached such a crescendo, what with all the
I CAN just imagine a game of Call My Bluff where the word Wrattonbully comes up. So is it Frank's old naval weapon, Tim's disease of sheep or is it Sandi's Australian wine region? I'd plump for the later, if only because I need to recommend a couple
WHEN Dr John Sentamu was installed as Archbishop of Y ork, I was sceptical. I thought his may have been a politicallycorrect appointment, and that he was not the right man for the job, even though I am not particularly religious. Now, he has settled
I SEE with great delight that a lottery grant has been given for a 600-year-old stained glass at York Minster to be removed for vital restoration work. At long last money is being given from the lottery fund, which the British people pay into, to places
AFTER reading of the experience of Mrs Hope on the ftr bus (Passenger grilled by conductor after bus issues ticket 26 years out of date, September 19), at the hands of one of the ticket inspectors employed by First York, it would be interesting to know
DAVID Levett, of the National Secular Society, has got it wrong. (Secular solutions, Letters, September 18). The majority of us may not be practising Christians, but our cultural inheritance is deeply Christian. While many of us have come of age
IT isn't just council parking attendants who make errors (Too many errors, Letters, September 21). I was issued a ticket at York Hospital when my wife was in intensive care. I arrived at 11am and went into intensive care with the intention of asking
DAVID Quarrie says York has potential, but has to change (York is great, so let's tell the world, Letters, September 21). While I agree with him that the Minster would look beautiful floodlit and that parking charges are too high, we should beware
POOR old Mr Rowntree would be turning in his grave if he could see what is happening to his beloved factory. I love the smell of chocolate as you reach the area near Rowntree's (I still refuse to call it Nestl) and to see the busy factory churning
AT ONE time brands such as KitKat and Smarties were as British as the Queen, but sadly, York has taken another major blow to its already flagging economy. Joseph Rowntree must be turning in his grave to see what the giant Swiss corporation has done
JASON Golden and Scott Rhodes were the big winners at last night's York City Knights awards ceremony. The event, again held at York Racecourse, was packed out as usual with more than 300 people attending, despite the club's relegation from National
INJURY-HIT Malton and Norton Golf Club professional Steve Robinson has been denied a tilt at finishing the season with a flourish. The well-respected pro has never known a year like 2006 in which for the first time he has been laid low by not one,
FULFORD Golf Club's Jamie Miller added another York Union of Golf Clubs' accolade to his locker. The former professional, who returned to the amateur ranks just over two years ago, won the York Union of Golf Club's Issott Trophy to add to his York
ACOMB 'A' are the unlikely leaders after the opening games in the newly handicapped York Conservative Clubs' Carlsberg UK Snooker League. They defeated their 'B' team 6-1 with wins by Jeff Meek, Ian Gillies, Marcus O'Boyle, Peter Lawson, Richard Harris
YORK teenager Steve Gregson took his snooker career up a gear when he played in the first tournament of the Pontin's International Open Series this week. This is the stepping-stone to qualifying for top-flight snooker, with the best eight at the end
GLISTENING, who failed by a whisker to win the Ebor Handicap at York last month, heads to Ascot tomorrow in search of compensation. Luca Cumani's four-year-old goes for the £50,000 Grosvenor Casinos Cumberland Lodge Stakes - one of three races to be
NINE wins from 13 junior events were among York City Rowing Club's highlights en route to becoming the most successful club at the Bradford Autumn regatta. The Ouse-based club earned the prestigious Victor Ludorum at the picturesque Shipley course.
I'M WAITING to hear back from the European Court of Human Rights. I've drafted out a case for unfair regional prejudice under the working title of 'Congratulations Sussex - for being good at weather'. Sussex yesterday tickled the tummies of Nottinghamshire
AFTER Yorkshire had earlier virtually made certain of avoiding relegation, it was opponents Durham who yesterday attempted their own Houdini act on the third day of the final Championship match of the season at Headingley. Nottinghamshire's capitulation
HEAD coach Mick Cook reckons his three new signings could be key players in York City Knights' bid to bounce straight back up to National League One. The Knights have agreed terms with speedy Hunslet full-back George Raynor, forceful Halifax front-rower
YORK City's recently-appointed commercial director Rob McGill has one main priority in his new role - to ensure his grandchildren and future generations of supporters continue to have a club to support. McGill has watched City for 51 years from all
NESTLE Rowntree has strongly defended its decision to axe 645 jobs after the Archbishop of York urged it to remember the cost in human misery. The company said it "very much welcomed" Dr John Sentamu's comments, and took the concerns he had raised
IT HAS got to stop. That's the message given to landlords today as council chiefs cracked down on an "illegal" pub poker craze in York. City licensing chief John Lacy has moved to warn licensees that they are breaking the law - and could lose their
HOORAY for pig power! Brilliant teenage York pupil Duncan Turnbull plans to use pork profits to help fund himself through university. Duncan Turnbull, aged 17, divides his time between his A-level studies at St Peter's School and building up Yorkshire
A HAUL of fake DVDs, sunglasses and car accessories worth £30,000 has been seized at a car boot sale near York. Five people were arrested when City of York Council's trading standards team seized the fake goods from Rufforth car boot sale. The bust
THOUSANDS of motorhomes rolled into York for the annual show on Knavesmire. An estimated 4,000 vehicles have been arriving in the city for the Northern Motorcaravan Show, which runs until tomorrow. Event organisers and City of York Council said
YOUNG chefs cooked up a treat for VIP guests, as the York Festival Of Food And Drink got underway in style. The ten-day culinary extravaganza started yesterday, with a series of events across the city. Topping the bill was the Primary Do event at
A CROOKED payroll supervisor who conquered baby blues by stealing £182,000 in illegal wages has been jailed for two-and-a-half years. Natalie Sissons, the wife of a professional online gambler, gave herself 29 new identities as she fiddled the payroll
WHEN preacher Steve Leah read from the Bible, he didn't just deliver a short extract - he read the entire New Testament! The Methodist local preacher was taking part in a sponsored Bible-read to raise money for a medical charity helping Palestinians
CRIME has fallen by more than a third in less than six months in part of York, after a special scheme was set up to tackle the problem. Following the launch of a dispersal zone in Huntington and New Earswick on April 1, crime fell by 37 per cent, compared
THE chairman of governors at a Selby school has called on planning bosses and developers to decide over its future. The Rev Keith Jukes of Selby Abbey Primary School, was speaking following last week's decision by district council planning bosses to
