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Five Semiconductor Investments to Buy at Reduced Prices Amid Putin’s Predatory Policies

Five semiconductor investments to buy at reduced prices offer products that not even the predatory policies of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin should…

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Five semiconductor investments to buy at reduced prices offer products that not even the predatory policies of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin should be able to torpedo.

The five semiconductor investments to buy after recent pullbacks in their share prices should be protected from financial distress due to strong demand from growth industries such as electric vehicles, consumer electronics and data servers. However, supply chain problems due to COVID-19 outbreaks, shipping challenges, rising costs and Putin’s deployment of 150,000 troops to attack neighboring Ukraine have posed recent challenges.

The premier semiconductor manufacturer is Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. (NYSE: TSM), of Hsinchu, Taiwan, said Bob Carlson, a pension fund chairman who also leads the Retirement Watch investment newsletter. The biggest risk, outside of normal business and market issues, is that China might be encouraged by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and take military action against Taiwan, he added.

Chinese Threats May Affect Five Semiconductor Investments to Buy at Reduced Prices

Taiwan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu said on Jan. 13 that military threats voiced against it from China was not just rhetoric. China’s leaders in Beijing have beefed up their country’s military and openly discussed “invading” Taiwan. He mentioned that Chinese military aircraft in 2021 had flown more than 900 sorties — a French word for military missions — that passed over Taiwanese territory.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aired a video in its native language during July 2021 that warned Japan of a nuclear response and “full-scale war” if the island nation interferes with the world’s most populous country’s plans to annex Taiwan. The video, aired on a channel that is approved by the CCP, named Japan as the one exception to China’s policy to not use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear powers.

In response to the growing threat, Wu said Taiwan has acquired new weaponry and is preparing for possible military action from China.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturer Shows Success Formula Rivals Seek to Emulate

“TSM is rapidly building facilities around the globe, including in the United States,” Carlson said. 

Taiwan Semiconductor is a marketplace leader and typically a top holding in industry funds, Carlson commented. Company officials describe it unabashedly as the “world’s largest and best semiconductor foundry.”

Bob Carlson, head of Retirement Watch, speaks with columnist Paul Dykewicz.

The company has developed its own semiconductor design ecosystem and collaborated with its customers and partners to offer innovations. Roughly 85% of worldwide semiconductor start-up product prototypes were enabled by TSM.

In addition, Taiwan Semiconductor reported that it has built 12,302 different products with 291 unique process technologies to serve hundreds of customers with more than 13 million 12-inch-equivalent wafers in 2021. The company claims to have 26% of semiconductor market share.

Five Semiconductor Investments to Buy at Reduced Prices in Anticipation of Rebound

Taiwan Semiconductor has achieved a 17.5% cumulative average growth rate (CAGR) in revenue and 17.1% in earnings since its initial public offering in September 1994 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Its management announced that it is targeting revenue CAGR of 15-20%, gross margin of 53% or higher and return on equity (ROE) above 25% between 2021 and 2026.

The company boosts of having the semiconductor industry’s highest credit rating of AA- with the S&P and Aa3 with Moody’s. Another strength is that Taiwan Semiconductor has relied only on its own internally generated funds to finance its organic growth, company officials indicated.

The company’s two largest U.S. clients are Cupertino, California-based Apple (NYSE: APPL), a global multinational technology company, and Chicago’s Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE: ADM), which combined to account for more than 36% of Taiwan Semiconductor’s revenue from this business segment. With Apple and Archer-Daniels-Midland, a Chicago-based multinational food processing and commodities trading business founded in 1902, their sales reflected a 24% jump in the past year and a 64% increase in its share of the U.S. computer chip market, company officials reported.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

iShares MSCI Taiwan Is One of Five Semiconductor Investments to Buy at Reduced Prices

For investors wary about buying shares of TSM with its share price hitting 52-week lows, an alternative way to take a sizeable position in the company with less all-or-nothing risk is to buy iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF (EWT). TSM composes more than 21% of the exchange-traded fund (ETF), while technology companies make up 58% of EWT. It’s a low-cost, diversified way to capture this opportunity.

The fund slid 8.67% in the past month and 9.89% so far in 2022, while rising a modest 4.96% in the past year. However, the stock price remains vulnerable with the Fed raising interest rates, inflation rising, supply chain challenges and Russia’s continuing onslaught of Ukraine that has caused the deaths of thousands of people on each side since Putin’s invasion began on Feb. 24.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

SOXX is the Second of Five Semiconductor Investments to Buy at Reduced Prices 

A global way to invest in semiconductor is iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX). The fund tracks the ICE Semiconductor Index. Top holdings recently were Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO), Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD), Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM), NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Intel (NASDAQ: INTC). It owns 30 stocks, and 60% of the fund is in the 10 largest positions.

SOXX also has endured a share price plunge in recent months. The fund is down 9.50% for the past month and 22.49% so far this year, while climbing 5.04% in the past 12 months. 

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Invesco’s PSI Is the Third of Five Semiconductor Investments to Buy at Reduced Prices

A more volatile but potentially more rewarding fund is Invesco Dynamic Semiconductors ETF (PSI). The fund tends to invest in smaller companies than SOXX and those selling at deeper values, Carlson continued. 

PSI also invests in companies with higher standard deviations than the index. The fund is actively managed and looks for high-quality stocks, with lower financial leverage and solid returns on equity.

PSI’s top holdings recently were Texas Instruments (NASDAQ: TXN), Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO), Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT), NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM). It also owns 30 stocks but has 46% of the fund in the 10 largest positions. The fund has sunk since the start of the year, giving new investors a chance to pick up shares for a relative bargain. The fund has fallen 9.05% for the past month and 24.56% so far this year, while nudging up just 0.12% in the past year.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

More semiconductor fabrication facilities are becoming established in the United Sates to add to its independence — “just like oil,” said Michelle Connell, CFA, president and owner of Portia Capital Management, of Dallas, Texas.

Michelle Connell, CEO, Portia Capital Management

 NVIDIA Is the Fourth of Five Semiconductor Investments to Buy at Reduced Prices 

Connell told me she likes NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA), a Santa Clara, California-based pioneer of graphics processing unit GPU-accelerated computing that went public on January 22, 1999. Graphics processing is one of the most important types of computing technology, both for personal and business computing. Designed for parallel processing, the GPU is used in a wide range of applications, including graphics and video rendering. Although they’re best known for their capabilities in gaming, GPUs are becoming more popular for use in creative production and artificial intelligence (AI).

Even though GPUs originally were designed to accelerate the rendering of 3D graphics, they later became more flexible and programmable, enhancing their capabilities. This allowed graphics programmers to create more interesting visual effects and realistic scenes with advanced lighting and shadowing techniques. Other developers began to tap the power of GPUs to dramatically accelerate additional workloads in high performance computing (HPC), deep learning and more.

NVIDIA focuses on products and platforms for the large, growing markets of gaming, professional visualization, data center and automotive industries. The company’s creations are used by demanding gamers, designers and scientists. Thus, NVIDIA’s work is at the center of consequential technology mega-trends.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Lam Research Is the Fifth of Five Semiconductor Investments to Buy at Reduced Prices

Lam Research Corp. (NASDAQ: LRCX), a Fremont, California-based supplier of wafer fabrication equipment and related services to the semiconductor industry, has slid throughout the last year. It is down 18.12% for the past month, 32.29% so far in 2022 and 8.37% for the last year.

That drop now positions the stock to rise upward of 35%, Connell predicted. She called it a buy at the currently depressed price of its shares. 

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Despite Putin’s continued aggression against Ukraine, amid protests in Russia that included a journalist showing an anti-war sign on a national news broadcast and claiming the country’s government-controlled media was lying, demand for advanced semiconductors remains on the rise.

COVID-19 Cases Exceed 461 Million Worldwide and Near 80 Million in America

COVID-19 remains a factor for businesses worldwide and China is suffering its worst outbreak since the virus emerged in Wuhan. COVID cases also are climbing in European countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

COVID-19 deaths worldwide exceeded 6 million to total 6,051,011 on March 15, according to Johns Hopkins University. Cases across the globe have soared to 461,461,685, up more than 11 million in the past week alone.

U.S. COVID-19 cases, as of March 15, hit 79,586,694, with deaths rising to 966,386. America has the dreaded distinction as the nation with the most COVID-19 cases and deaths.

As of March 15, 254,681,134 people, or 76.7% of the U.S. population, have obtained at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, the CDC reported. Fully vaccinated people total 216,767,955, or 65.3%, of the U.S. population, according to the CDC.

The five semiconductor investments to buy at reduced prices should start to recover in the months ahead, as Putin’s war is likely to prove pitfall-prone and China may delay any invasion of Taiwan and other Asian nations after watching much of the world condemn Russia’s actions and combine to apply stiff economic stations on the predatory military machinations. The stronger the fight and resolve of the Ukrainian people to fend off Putin’s forces to preserve their freedom and their democracy, the less eager China may be to follow the path of Russia to become the next international pariah.

Paul Dykewicz, www.pauldykewicz.com, is an accomplished, award-winning journalist who has written for Dow Jones, the Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, USA Today, the Journal of Commerce, Seeking Alpha, GuruFocus and other publications and websites. Paul, who can be followed on Twitter @PaulDykewicz, is the editor of StockInvestor.com and DividendInvestor.com, a writer for both websites and a columnist. He further is editorial director of Eagle Financial Publications in Washington, D.C., where he edits monthly investment newsletters, time-sensitive trading alerts, free e-letters and other investment reports. Paul previously served as business editor of Baltimore’s Daily Record newspaper. Paul also is the author of an inspirational book, “Holy Smokes! Golden Guidance from Notre Dame’s Championship Chaplain,” with a foreword by former national championship-winning football coach Lou Holtz. The book is great as a gift and is endorsed by Joe Montana, Joe Theismann, Ara Parseghian, “Rocket” Ismail, Reggie Brooks, Dick Vitale and many others. Call 202-677-4457 for multiple-book pricing.

The post Five Semiconductor Investments to Buy at Reduced Prices Amid Putin’s Predatory Policies appeared first on Stock Investor.

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Buried Project Veritas Recording Shows Top Pfizer Scientists Suppressed Concerns Over COVID-19 Boosters, MRNA Tech

Buried Project Veritas Recording Shows Top Pfizer Scientists Suppressed Concerns Over COVID-19 Boosters, MRNA Tech

Submitted by Liam Cosgrove

Former…

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Buried Project Veritas Recording Shows Top Pfizer Scientists Suppressed Concerns Over COVID-19 Boosters, MRNA Tech

Submitted by Liam Cosgrove

Former Project Veritas & O’Keefe Media Group operative and Pfizer formulation analyst scientist Justin Leslie revealed previously unpublished recordings showing Pfizer’s top vaccine researchers discussing major concerns surrounding COVID-19 vaccines. Leslie delivered these recordings to Veritas in late 2021, but they were never published:

Featured in Leslie’s footage is Kanwal Gill, a principal scientist at Pfizer. Gill was weary of MRNA technology given its long research history yet lack of approved commercial products. She called the vaccines “sneaky,” suggesting latent side effects could emerge in time.

Gill goes on to illustrate how the vaccine formulation process was dramatically rushed under the FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization and adds that profit incentives likely played a role:

"It’s going to affect my heart, and I’m going to die. And nobody’s talking about that."

Leslie recorded another colleague, Pfizer’s pharmaceutical formulation scientist Ramin Darvari, who raised the since-validated concern that repeat booster intake could damage the cardiovascular system:

None of these claims will be shocking to hear in 2024, but it is telling that high-level Pfizer researchers were discussing these topics in private while the company assured the public of “no serious safety concerns” upon the jab’s release:

Vaccine for Children is a Different Formulation

Leslie sent me a little-known FDA-Pfizer conference — a 7-hour Zoom meeting published in tandem with the approval of the vaccine for 5 – 11 year-olds — during which Pfizer’s vice presidents of vaccine research and development, Nicholas Warne and William Gruber, discussed a last-minute change to the vaccine’s “buffer” — from “PBS” to “Tris” — to improve its shelf life. For about 30 seconds of these 7 hours, Gruber acknowledged that the new formula was NOT the one used in clinical trials (emphasis mine):


“The studies were done using the same volume… but contained the PBS buffer. We obviously had extensive consultations with the FDA and it was determined that the clinical studies were not required because, again, the LNP and the MRNA are the same and the behavior — in terms of reactogenicity and efficacy — are expected to be the same.

According to Leslie, the tweaked “buffer” dramatically changed the temperature needed for storage: “Before they changed this last step of the formulation, the formula was to be kept at -80 degrees Celsius. After they changed the last step, we kept them at 2 to 8 degrees celsius,” Leslie told me.

The claims are backed up in the referenced video presentation:

I’m no vaccinologist but an 80-degree temperature delta — and a 5x shelf-life in a warmer climate — seems like a significant change that might warrant clinical trials before commercial release.

Despite this information technically being public, there has been virtually no media scrutiny or even coverage — and in fact, most were told the vaccine for children was the same formula but just a smaller dose — which is perhaps due to a combination of the information being buried within a 7-hour jargon-filled presentation and our media being totally dysfunctional.

Bohemian Grove?

Leslie’s 2-hour long documentary on his experience at both Pfizer and O’Keefe’s companies concludes on an interesting note: James O’Keefe attended an outing at the Bohemian Grove.

Leslie offers this photo of James’ Bohemian Grove “GATE” slip as evidence, left on his work desk atop a copy of his book, “American Muckraker”:

My thoughts on the Bohemian Grove: my good friend’s dad was its general manager for several decades. From what I have gathered through that connection, the Bohemian Grove is not some version of the Illuminati, at least not in the institutional sense.

Do powerful elites hangout there? Absolutely. Do they discuss their plans for the world while hanging out there? I’m sure it has happened. Do they have a weird ritual with a giant owl? Yep, Alex Jones showed that to the world.

My perspective is based on conversations with my friend and my belief that his father is not lying to him. I could be wrong and am open to evidence — like if boxer Ryan Garcia decides to produce evidence regarding his rape claims — and I do find it a bit strange the club would invite O’Keefe who is notorious for covertly filming, but Occam’s razor would lead me to believe the club is — as it was under my friend’s dad — run by boomer conservatives the extent of whose politics include disliking wokeness, immigration, and Biden (common subjects of O’Keefe’s work).

Therefore, I don’t find O’Keefe’s visit to the club indicative that he is some sort of Operation Mockingbird asset as Leslie tries to depict (however Mockingbird is a 100% legitimate conspiracy). I have also met James several times and even came close to joining OMG. While I disagreed with James on the significance of many of his stories — finding some to be overhyped and showy — I never doubted his conviction in them.

As for why Leslie’s story was squashed… all my sources told me it was to avoid jail time for Veritas executives.

Feel free to watch Leslie’s full documentary here and decide for yourself.

Fun fact — Justin Leslie was also the operative behind this mega-viral Project Veritas story where Pfizer’s director of R&D claimed the company was privately mutating COVID-19 behind closed doors:

Tyler Durden Tue, 03/12/2024 - 13:40

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Association of prenatal vitamins and metals with epigenetic aging at birth and in childhood

“[…] our findings support the hypothesis that the intrauterine environment, particularly essential and non-essential metals, affect epigenetic aging…

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“[…] our findings support the hypothesis that the intrauterine environment, particularly essential and non-essential metals, affect epigenetic aging biomarkers across the life course.”

Credit: 2024 Bozack et al.

“[…] our findings support the hypothesis that the intrauterine environment, particularly essential and non-essential metals, affect epigenetic aging biomarkers across the life course.”

BUFFALO, NY- March 12, 2024 – A new research paper was published in Aging (listed by MEDLINE/PubMed as “Aging (Albany NY)” and “Aging-US” by Web of Science) Volume 16, Issue 4, entitled, “Associations of prenatal one-carbon metabolism nutrients and metals with epigenetic aging biomarkers at birth and in childhood in a US cohort.”

Epigenetic gestational age acceleration (EGAA) at birth and epigenetic age acceleration (EAA) in childhood may be biomarkers of the intrauterine environment. In this new study, researchers Anne K. Bozack, Sheryl L. Rifas-Shiman, Andrea A. Baccarelli, Robert O. Wright, Diane R. Gold, Emily Oken, Marie-France Hivert, and Andres Cardenas from Stanford University School of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Columbia University, and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai investigated the extent to which first-trimester folate, B12, 5 essential and 7 non-essential metals in maternal circulation are associated with EGAA and EAA in early life. 

“[…] we hypothesized that OCM [one-carbon metabolism] nutrients and essential metals would be positively associated with EGAA and non-essential metals would be negatively associated with EGAA. We also investigated nonlinear associations and associations with mixtures of micronutrients and metals.”

Bohlin EGAA and Horvath pan-tissue and skin and blood EAA were calculated using DNA methylation measured in cord blood (N=351) and mid-childhood blood (N=326; median age = 7.7 years) in the Project Viva pre-birth cohort. A one standard deviation increase in individual essential metals (copper, manganese, and zinc) was associated with 0.94-1.2 weeks lower Horvath EAA at birth, and patterns of exposures identified by exploratory factor analysis suggested that a common source of essential metals was associated with Horvath EAA. The researchers also observed evidence of nonlinear associations of zinc with Bohlin EGAA, magnesium and lead with Horvath EAA, and cesium with skin and blood EAA at birth. Overall, associations at birth did not persist in mid-childhood; however, arsenic was associated with greater EAA at birth and in childhood. 

“Prenatal metals, including essential metals and arsenic, are associated with epigenetic aging in early life, which might be associated with future health.”

 

Read the full paper: DOI: https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.205602 

Corresponding Author: Andres Cardenas

Corresponding Email: andres.cardenas@stanford.edu 

Keywords: epigenetic age acceleration, metals, folate, B12, prenatal exposures

Click here to sign up for free Altmetric alerts about this article.

 

About Aging:

Launched in 2009, Aging publishes papers of general interest and biological significance in all fields of aging research and age-related diseases, including cancer—and now, with a special focus on COVID-19 vulnerability as an age-dependent syndrome. Topics in Aging go beyond traditional gerontology, including, but not limited to, cellular and molecular biology, human age-related diseases, pathology in model organisms, signal transduction pathways (e.g., p53, sirtuins, and PI-3K/AKT/mTOR, among others), and approaches to modulating these signaling pathways.

Please visit our website at www.Aging-US.com​​ and connect with us:

  • Facebook
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Click here to subscribe to Aging publication updates.

For media inquiries, please contact media@impactjournals.com.

 

Aging (Aging-US) Journal Office

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Orchard Park, NY 14127

Phone: 1-800-922-0957, option 1

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A beginner’s guide to the taxes you’ll hear about this election season

Everything you need to know about income tax, national insurance and more.

Cast Of Thousands/Shutterstock

National insurance, income tax, VAT, capital gains tax, inheritance tax… it’s easy to get confused about the many different ways we contribute to the cost of running the country. The budget announcement is the key time each year when the government shares its financial plans with us all, and announces changes that may make a tangible difference to what you pay.

But you’ll likely be hearing a lot more about taxes in the coming months – promises to cut or raise them are an easy win (or lose) for politicians in an election year. We may even get at least one “mini-budget”.

If you’ve recently entered the workforce or the housing market, you may still be wrapping your mind around all of these terms. Here is what you need to know about the different types of taxes and how they affect you.

The UK broadly uses three ways to collect tax:

1. When you earn money

If you are an employee or own a business, taxes are deducted from your salary or profits you make. For most people, this happens in two ways: income tax, and national insurance contributions (or NICs).

If you are self-employed, you will have to pay your taxes via an annual tax return assessment. You might also have to pay taxes this way for interest you earn on savings, dividends (distribution of profits from a company or shares you own) received and most other forms of income not taxed before you get it.

Around two-thirds of taxes collected come from people’s or business’ incomes in the UK.

2. When you spend money

VAT and excise duties are taxes on most goods and services you buy, with some exceptions like books and children’s clothing. About 20% of the total tax collected is VAT.

3. Taxes on wealth and assets

These are mainly taxes on the money you earn if you sell assets (like property or stocks) for more than you bought them for, or when you pass on assets in an inheritance. In the latter case in the UK, the recipient doesn’t pay this, it is the estate paying it out that must cover this if due. These taxes contribute only about 3% to the total tax collected.

You also likely have to pay council tax, which is set by the council you live in based on the value of your house or flat. It is paid by the user of the property, no matter if you own or rent. If you are a full-time student or on some apprenticeship schemes, you may get a deduction or not have to pay council tax at all.


Quarter life, a series by The Conversation

This article is part of Quarter Life, a series about issues affecting those of us in our 20s and 30s. From the challenges of beginning a career and taking care of our mental health, to the excitement of starting a family, adopting a pet or just making friends as an adult. The articles in this series explore the questions and bring answers as we navigate this turbulent period of life.

You may be interested in:

If you get your financial advice on social media, watch out for misinformation

Future graduates will pay more in student loan repayments – and the poorest will be worst affected

Selling on Vinted, Etsy or eBay? Here’s what you need to know about paying tax


Put together, these totalled almost £790 billion in 2022-23, which the government spends on public services such as the NHS, schools and social care. The government collects taxes from all sources and sets its spending plans accordingly, borrowing to make up any difference between the two.

Income tax

The amount of income tax you pay is determined by where your income sits in a series of “bands” set by the government. Almost everyone is entitled to a “personal allowance”, currently £12,570, which you can earn without needing to pay any income tax.

You then pay 20% in tax on each pound of income you earn (across all sources) from £12,570-£50,270. You pay 40% on each extra pound up to £125,140 and 45% over this. If you earn more than £100,000, the personal allowance (amount of untaxed income) starts to decrease.

If you are self-employed, the same rates apply to you. You just don’t have an employer to take this off your salary each month. Instead, you have to make sure you have enough money at the end of the year to pay this directly to the government.


Read more: Taxes aren't just about money – they shape how we think about each other


The government can increase the threshold limits to adjust for inflation. This tries to ensure any wage rise you get in response to higher prices doesn’t lead to you having to pay a higher tax rate. However, the government announced in 2021 that they would freeze these thresholds until 2026 (extended now to 2028), arguing that it would help repay the costs of the pandemic.

Given wages are now rising for many to help with the cost of living crisis, this means many people will pay more income tax this coming year than they did before. This is sometimes referred to as “fiscal drag” – where lower earners are “dragged” into paying higher tax rates, or being taxed on more of their income.

National insurance

National insurance contributions (NICs) are a second “tax” you pay on your income – or to be precise, on your earned income (your salary). You don’t pay this on some forms of income, including savings or dividends, and you also don’t pay it once you reach state retirement age (currently 66).

While Jeremy Hunt, the current chancellor of the exchequer, didn’t adjust income tax meaningfully in this year’s budget, he did announce a cut to NICs. This was a surprise to many, as we had already seen rates fall from 12% to 10% on incomes higher than £242/week in January. It will now fall again to 8% from April.


Read more: Budget 2024: experts explain what it means for taxpayers, businesses, borrowers and the NHS


While this is charged separately to income tax, in reality it all just goes into one pot with other taxes. Some, including the chancellor, say it is time to merge these two deductions and make this simpler for everyone. In his budget speech this year, Hunt said he’d like to see this tax go entirely. He thinks this isn’t fair on those who have to pay it, as it is only charged on some forms of income and on some workers.

I wouldn’t hold my breath for this to happen however, and even if it did, there are huge sums linked to NICs (nearly £180bn last year) so it would almost certainly have to be collected from elsewhere (such as via an increase in income taxes, or a lot more borrowing) to make sure the government could still balance its books.

A young black man sits at a home office desk with his feet up, looking at a mobile phone
Do you know how much tax you pay? Alex from the Rock/Shutterstock

Other taxes

There are likely to be further tweaks to the UK’s tax system soon, perhaps by the current government before the election – and almost certainly if there is a change of government.

Wealth taxes may be in line for a change. In the budget, the chancellor reduced capital gains taxes on sales of assets such as second properties (from 28% to 24%). These types of taxes provide only a limited amount of money to the government, as quite high thresholds apply for inheritance tax (up to £1 million if you are passing on a family home).

There are calls from many quarters though to look again at these types of taxes. Wealth inequality (the differences between total wealth held by the richest compared to the poorest) in the UK is very high (much higher than income inequality) and rising.

But how to do this effectively is a matter of much debate. A recent study suggested a one-off tax on total wealth held over a certain threshold might work. But wealth taxes are challenging to make work in practice, and both main political parties have already said this isn’t an option they are considering currently.

Andy Lymer and his colleagues at the Centre for Personal Financial Wellbeing at Aston University currently or have recently received funding for their research work from a variety of funding bodies including the UK's Money and Pension Service, the Aviva Foundation, Fair4All Finance, NEST Insight, the Gambling Commission, Vivid Housing and the ESRC, amongst others.

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