The Key Points from todays budget are:
- Personal tax-free allowance will be increased to £10,800 in April 2016, and to £11,000 in April 2017.
- Beer duty to be cut for the third year running, with 1p off the price of a pint. Cider duty to be cut by 2%. Duty on scotch whisky and other spirits to be cut by 2%. Wine duty to be frozen.
- Pension pot lifetime allowance to be reduced from £1.25m to £1m from next year, saving £600m annually.
- National Minimum Wage will rise by 20p an hour to £6.70 from October.
- Corporation tax to be cut to 20% in two weeks’ time.
- “Help to buy ISA” will be launched for first-time buyers. For every £200 saved for a deposit, the Government will top it up with £50.
- Personal savings allowance to be launched, taking 95% of Britons out of savings tax altogether.
- Fuel duty increase scheduled for September is cancelled.
- Employers’ National Insurance contributions for under-21s to be abolished from this April, and for young apprentices from April 2016.
- Class 2 National Insurance contributions for the self-employed to be abolished entirely in the next parliament.
- Annual tax return to be abolished altogether.
- “More generous” tax credits for TV and film, expanded support for video games industry and new tax credit for orchestras.
- Trebling in £15m fund for church roof appeals, and extension to £8,000 in automatic gift aid to benefit 6,500 small charities.
- Review on the use of deeds of variation to avoid inheritance tax to report by the autumn.
- Charities for British servicemen and women to receive £75m, funded by Libor fines.
- Up to £600m to clear new spectrum bands for further auctions, improving mobile phone coverage nationwide, including in remote communities.
- Funding for wifi in public libraries and new national plan for ultra-fast broadband to nearly all homes in the country.
- New investment in transport and regeneration across London, and funding to address acute housing shortages in the capital.
- Automotive industry to receive £100m in investment in the race to driverless technology.
- North Sea oil industry to receive £1.3bn in support through four new measures.
- £1m to buy defibrillators for public places, including schools.
- Expanded support for creative industries, including a new tax credit for orchestras.
- Consultation on tax support for local newspapers.
- Measures on tax avoidance and evasion to raise £3.1 billion over the forecast period.
- Legislation next week on diverted profits tax aimed at multinationals shifting profits offshore, with policy to take effect at the start of April.
- The Office for Budget Responsibility says Britain’s economy grew by 2.6% last year.
- Growth forecast for 2015 revised up by 0.1% to 2.5%, with unemployment set to fall by 0.1% from 5.4% to 5.3%.
- OBR revises 2015 inflation forecast down to 0.2%.
- Sale of £13bn of mortgage assets held by the Government after the bailout of Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley is going to be launched. This will be used to pay down the national debt.
- Bank levy increased to 0.21%, raising an additional £900m a year. New banking taxes to raise £5.3bn across forecast period.
- Farmers will be allowed to average their incomes for tax purposes over five years.
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