By Lyndsey Hall
Were you on Budget Watch this lunch time? What did you think of Osborne’s announcements? In case you were too busy to follow our Live Tweeting, here is our breakdown of today’s Budget:
Growth Forecast
- Economy expected to grow by 2.7% in 2014, higher than December forecast of 2.4%
- 2015 growth forecast to be 2.3%, 2.6% in 2016 and 2017
Welfare Cap
- Set at £119bn in 2015-16, rising to £127bn in 2018-19
Tax Avoidance
- 15% stamp duty on properties worth £500,000+ bought by corporations
- Increase in HMRC’s budget for tax avoidance prevention
- New “guilty until proven innocent” approach
Business
- £7bn cut from energy bills for manufacturers
- No employee NI for under 21s
- Increased investment allowance of £500,000 extended to end of 2015
Betting
- Bingo duty halved to 10%
- 25% tax on fixed-odds betting terminals
Alcohol
- 1p off per pint of beer
- Scottish whisky and ordinary cider duty frozen
Tobacco
- Duty to rise by 2% above inflation
Fuel
- Fuel escalator previously set for September abandoned
Childcare
- 20% subsidy on up to £10,000 spent on childcare for families with children under 12 where both parents work and earn under £150k, from 2015
Personal Tax Allowance
- Higher rate tax threshold raised by 1% to £41,865
- No tax under £10,500, up by £500 more than expected
Saving
- Cash and stock ISAs merged and limit raised to £15,000
Pensions
- Tax rate cut from 55% to normal marginal rate of tax, usually 20%
- Amount that can be taken as a lump sum doubled
- 10p rate of saving income abolished
Local Councils
- £140m for flood defences
- £200m for pothole repairs
Housing
- Help to Buy extended to 2020
- 200,000 new homes to be built for families
So that’s the Budget over for another year! Were there any surprises for you? What would you change if you could? Let us know in the Comments.
If you liked this article, you may also like:
