Some good news on the finance front…we are getting some money back!

That is because new tax measures coming into force this month mean nearly 22 million of us will receive a tax rebate of around £60.

This is due to the U-turn done by the Chancellor Alistair Darling on his plans to scrap the lowest 10p tax band. The new measures will mean us basic rate taxpayers see a tax saving of £120.

If you are one of those people, then you will have £60 less taken from your September pay packets and will then see your net pay rise by £10 per month for the rest of this tax year.

The effective cash-back comes because personal allowances for basic rate taxpayers go up by £600 to £6,035 from 7 September.

If you are a self-employed taxpayer, you will not feel the benefit until you start paying tax from January 2009. But so far the tax changes only apply for this financial year.

The critics of Chancellor Alistair Darling's U-turn say that these tax rebates will also benefit middle-income taxpayers as much as those on smaller incomes.

It will also put a £2.7 billion hole in the national finances as we face up to a deep economic downturn (recession).

Chris Jones of tax advisers Lexis Nexis commented on the situation:

"When the chancellor put this budget together he wasn't expecting to lose £2.7bn, but I'm sure when he re-jigged his numbers, he will take account of this extra money. However, what we need to bear in mind, it could be good news for the economy.

"Taxpayers with another £60 in their pocket may well go out and spend it. That could increase High Street profits. So it could in some way balance it [the cost of the rebate] out, but probably not to the full amount."

For many of us though, the extra £60 will come in handy with the recent increases in our energy costs, so Mr Chris Jones, it is very unlikely that it will make it to the high street!

But any money coming back from the Government is something to be happy about right now isn’t it?