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| Version 8 | Version 9 |
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| Basic rate taxpayers to get £120 | Basic rate taxpayers to get £120 |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| Chancellor Alistair Darling has put up the personal tax allowance by £600 - meaning every basic rate taxpayer will pay £120 less tax this year. | Chancellor Alistair Darling has put up the personal tax allowance by £600 - meaning every basic rate taxpayer will pay £120 less tax this year. |
| Mr Darling, who said the package would cost £2.7bn, added that the 40p rate threshold would change so that higher earners' tax bills would be unchanged. | Mr Darling, who said the package would cost £2.7bn, added that the 40p rate threshold would change so that higher earners' tax bills would be unchanged. |
| The Commons announcement came as part of Mr Darling's package to help those hit by the axing of the 10p tax rate. | The Commons announcement came as part of Mr Darling's package to help those hit by the axing of the 10p tax rate. |
| Tory George Osborne accused Mr Darling of "cynicism" and "total incompetence". | Tory George Osborne accused Mr Darling of "cynicism" and "total incompetence". |
| "Let no-one be fooled why you are making this statement today - not because you wanted to.... but because this divided, dithering and disintegrating government are panicking in the face of the Crewe and Nantwich by-election," the shadow chancellor said. | |
| 'Fairest way' | |
| Vince Cable, the Lib Dems' treasury spokesman said: "I hope this is not just another short-term gimmick." | Vince Cable, the Lib Dems' treasury spokesman said: "I hope this is not just another short-term gimmick." |
| Mr Darling said the change was the "fairest and most effective way" to help those who lost out from the scrapping of the 10p tax rate. | |
| He said it means 22 million people on low and middle incomes will gain an additional £120 this year - with a £60 lump sum in September pay packets, plus £10 a month until the end of the year. | |
| "At a cost of £2.7bn, I will increase the individual personal tax allowances by £600 to £6,035 for this financial year, benefiting all basic rate taxpayers under the age of 65," he said. | |
| Some 4.2m households will receive as much or more than they lost when the 10p starting rate of tax was axed. | |
| Field apology | |
| Mr Darling added: "The remaining 1.1m households will see their loss at least halved. | |
| "In other words, 80% of households are fully compensated, with the remaining 20% compensated by at least half. | |
| "And in addition, 600,000 people on low incomes will be taken out of income tax altogether." | |
| Ex-minister Frank Field, who had led the rebellion against the scrapping of the 10p tax rate, welcomed the announcement and apologised for his remarks about the prime minister in a BBC interview on Sunday. | |
| "Over the weekend I allowed my campaign to become personal. I much regret that and I apologise without reservation," he said. |