The new tax year is fast-approaching and we would just like to draw your attention to some of the compareandsave.com tools which we feel will help you at this time of year.

Firstly, from 6 April you will get your £3,600 ISA allowance (this may change when the Government announces the 2009 Budget on April 22);
INSERT INTO `module_blog_posts` VALUES and will therefore be able to save £3,600 tax free until 5 April 2010, and you will be able to open a new ISA offering more competitive interest rates.

Another option that will become available on 6 April is to transfer funds from your old ISA, which will have seen its interest rates slashed because of the cuts to the UK base rate, to a new one offering a better rate (without losing your 2009/10 allowance).

To help you with your ISA decisions, you may benefit from reading Section 10 of our Guide to Savings Accounts – Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs), and could get your savings on track by using our Savings Calculator.

Secondly, the start of the new tax year means that the amount you can earn before you pay any tax will be going up to £6,475 (the tax-free allowance) and you won’t pay National Insurance until you earn £110 a week, up £5 from 2008/09.

However, the ‘upper earnings limit’ (at which the rate of National Insurance you pay drops from 11% to 1% on any additional income) will go up from £770 a week to £844 per week. This means you will pay more National Insurance at 11% instead of 1%.

If you are interested in working out how much you will be paying in tax and National Insurance over the next tax year, why not use our Salary Calculator. Be sure to use this from 6 April when the calculator will work out your net (after tax) pay based on figures for the 2009/10 tax year.

Finally, at this time of year it is ideal to compare ISAs and our ISA Savings Accounts page will help you with this. If you start your comparisons now, you will be ready to get your ISA when the new tax year starts and will therefore be ready to start your tax-free saving.

[More]

The Barclays MoreForMore Savings Account has recently been added to our comparison tables.

You can earn between 0.50% and 1.25% AER (variable) on your savings. The interest rate you receive will depend on how much you save in the savings account, so the more you save, the more you earn.

If you open more than one ‘MoreForMore’ accounts, the balances in all of the accounts will be added together and this could help to push you into a higher interest bracket.

You will have instant access to your account via branches of Barclays Bank, or through internet or telephone banking, and you will receive your interest on a monthly basis.

Plus, you can open your account with just £1 and there are no restrictions on withdrawals.

Click the link for more information on the Barclays MoreForMore Savings Account

[More]

You can now include Simple Travel Insurance in your comparisons when you look for holiday cover on compareandsave.com.

Simple offers a range of travel insurance policies, including Budget, Standard and Premier, plus you can choose to add additional cover to suit your needs, circumstances and the type of holiday you are going on –you can choose extra cover for your baggage, for golf or for winter sports.

With your Simple policy you will receive cover for cancellation (up to £1,000);
With your Simple policy you will receive cover for personal money (up to £100);
With your Simple policy you will receive cover for baggage (up to £750) and medical care (up to £5 million).

Please bear in mind that Simple only provides travel insurance if you are less than 71 years of age.

If you apply online, you should receive your quote within 15 seconds.

Click the link for more information about Simple Travel Insurance

[More]

You can now apply for the ING Direct Cash ISA on compareandsave.com, and get a competitive interest rate of 3.00% AER.

This AER is equivalent to 2.96% gross per annum (variable) and includes a 1.47% gross per annum bonus fixed for the first 12 months from the date you open your account.

A Cash ISA is a type of savings account which allows you to save up to £3,600 per tax year (from April 6 to April 5 the following year). Any interest you earn on your savings in an ISA will be tax-free and you will therefore not have to give any of it to the tax man. This will mean a basic-rate taxpayer will keep the 20% of the interest that is usually paid in tax, and a high-rate taxpayer will keep an extra 40% of the interest earned.

The ING Direct Cash ISA is an instant access savings account and so you can take out money from it whenever you need to, without incurring penalties or extra charges. However, because you have a £3,600 limit per tax year, if you have used all of this allowance and withdraw money from the account, you won’t be able to put it back during that same tax year.

You need to be at least 18 years of age to open this savings account

Click the link for more information about the ING Direct Cash ISA.

Want to know more about ISAs? Click the link to view our ISA guide

[More]

If you buy a Tesco Pet Insurance policy, not only will you receive a multi-pet discount of 5% if you insure more than one pet, but you will also get a 20% discount if you buy your policy online.

What’s more, you will also receive a 12 month Pet Protect membership with the Missing Pets Bureau and there is no maximum age limit for the pets you want to insure.

You will have a choice between Standard and Extra levels of cover and can choose from other forms of additional cover for added protection.

Plus, Tesco will help you to find an emergency vet and advice, should you ever need them, and put you in touch with someone to give you support if your pet passes away.

You can even use your Tesco Clubcard vouchers to save you even more money and the conditions of your pet insurance policy will not change as your pet ages.

Click the link for more information about Tesco Pet Insurance.

[More]

If you are 25 and over and have a minimum annual income of £75,000, you can now apply for the NatWest Black Credit Card on compareandsave.com.

First things first, you are likely to be alarmed when you see the typical APR of 51.8% (variable) so we thought we’d explain this to you before going into the features of the card.

NatWest has explained to us that the typical APR has been calculated under the Consumer Credit Act regulations, which require the bank to use a £1,500 ‘notional’ credit limit.  This £1,500 limit, when coupled with the £250 fixed annual card fee distorts the advertised APR. In comparison, the APR on your credit card agreement reduces to 16.8% (variable) when calculated using the minimum credit limit of £15,000.

With the NatWest Black, you will automatically be given a minimum credit limit of £15,000 and £1,000 worth of benefits.

What’s more you will have access to exclusive offers and will be given home emergency cover, roadside assistance cover, card and purchase protection, annual worldwide travel insurance and access to airport lounges with a Priority Pass card.

Plus, you will be given 1.25 NatWest YourPoints for every £1 you spend on the card.

Click the link to find out more about the NatWest Black Credit Card

[More]

You can now apply for the FirstSave Fixed Rate Bond Savings Account on the site and get a competitive interest rate of 3.60% AER.

However, because this savings account has limited availability you will need to apply for it quickly.

With this account you can choose to invest your money for between one and three years, but will need to invest at least £1,000 to receive annual interest or £5,000 to get your interest on a monthly basis.

Please be aware that, because this is a fixed-rate bond savings account, you won’t be able to withdraw your money until the end of the investment period when it is said to have reached ‘maturity’.

Click the link for more information about the FirstSave Fixed Rate Bond Savings Account.
 

[More]