Budget 2015: George Osborne to unveil pre-election package
Budget 2015: George Osborne says Britain 'walking tall again'
(about 1 hour later)
George Osborne will say the UK faces a "critical choice" at the election when he delivers his Budget later.
George Osborne has told MPs "Britain is walking tall again" after five years of coalition government.
An increased personal tax allowance, reforms to pensions and scrapping paper tax returns are expected.
The chancellor is setting out his tax and spending plans to MPs in his final Budget before the general election.
Lower-than-expected inflation has generated a £6bn windfall through lower interest payments and a reduction in the annual up-rating of welfare.
He is likely to use stronger growth forecasts to ram home his message that his "plan is working" and warn against a return to "chaos" under Labour.
Labour said the Conservatives were planning "more extreme spending cuts" after the general election.
The Office for Budget Responsibility says the UK economy is growing slightly faster than thought.
Speaking after a morning meeting of Cabinet ministers, Lib Dem Business Secretary Vince Cable said there would be no "spectacular giveaways" in the Budget.
It revised its growth forecast for 2015 upwards from 2.4% to 2.5% and for 2016 from 2.2% to 2.3%, said Mr Osborne.
It would be "totally irresponsible" if it was a "giveaway Budget", he told BBC News.
Setting out his plans in the Commons, Mr Osborne said: "We took difficult decisions in the teeth of opposition and it worked. Britain is walking tall again.
'Truly national'
"Five years ago, our economy had suffered a collapse greater than almost any country.
BBC deputy political editor James Landale said Mr Osborne's task was clear.
"Today, I can confirm: in the last year we have grown faster than any other major advanced economy in the world."
"He will try to use the Budget to end the deadlock in the opinion polls and give the Conservatives the political momentum they need to win another term.
Mr Osborne is expected to use a £6bn boost in the public finances caused by low inflation to ease back on planned spending cuts.
"The chancellor will do that by trying to show voters the recovery is being felt by everyone across the country."
On Twitter, Mr Osborne promised a "truly national recovery".
His statement follows immediately after Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons.
The Budget on the BBC
The Budget on the BBC
The chancellor is expected to say: "The critical choice facing the country now is this: do we return to the chaos of the past? Or do we say to the British people, let's work through the plan that is delivering for you?
The Budget is Mr Osborne's final chance to woo floating voters ahead of 7 May's general election and break the deadlock in the opinion polls, which has seen the Conservatives neck-and-neck with Labour for months.
He will insist that deficit reduction remains his top priority but will also unveil measures aimed at hard-pressed workers, such as raising the personal income tax allowance.
He will also announce plans to scrap annual tax returns and replace them with "digital tax accounts", allowing people to manage their affairs using smartphones or computers.
Other expected measures include:
Some of the plans in Mr Osborne's statement are likely to depend on a Conservative victory on 7 May - whoever wins the election is likely to set out another Budget later this year.
Labour's Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls has accused the Conservatives of planning "extreme" spending cuts and promised to "balance the books in a fair way by reversing the Tories' tax cut for millionaires".
Mr Balls has pledged to raise the minimum wage, reintroduce a 10p tax rate for low earners and cut business rates for small firms, if Labour wins office in May.
Lib Dem Business Secretary Vince Cable said the Budget was a "joint effort" between his party and the Conservatives, which would include no "spectacular giveaways".
But the Lib Dems will unveil their own tax and spending plans for the next five years on Thursday, which are likely to feature greater tax rises than planned by the chancellor.
'Critical choice'
Mr Osborne's sixth Budget statement comes against a backdrop of a strengthening economic recovery, a fresh fall in unemployment and a rosier fiscal picture expected as a result of falling oil prices dragging down inflation.
He is expected to say: "The critical choice facing the country now is this: do we return to the chaos of the past? Or do we say to the British people, let's work through the plan that is delivering for you?
"Today we make that critical choice: we choose the future. We have a plan that is working - and this is a Budget that works for you."
"Today we make that critical choice: we choose the future. We have a plan that is working - and this is a Budget that works for you."
Mr Osborne will announce the independent Office for Budgetary Responsibility's latest UK economic growth and borrowing forecasts for the coming years.
Mr Osborne could have some leeway for pre-election sweeteners, such as easing austerity to counter Labour's criticism that he plans to cut public spending to levels not seen since the 1930s.
It is expected the OBR will report an improved growth forecast and revise down its borrowing figures, meaning the chancellor could have up to £6bn extra to play with.
'Extreme cuts'
Mr Osborne has already promised to further relax pension rules from April 2016 to allow up to five million existing pensioners to swap their fixed annual payments for cash.
It follows a series of pension reforms introduced by the government to change the way people fund their retirement.
Shadow chancellor Ed Balls said the reality was that working families were worse off after five years of the coalition government.
And he added: "The Tories are planning more extreme spending cuts after the election, which go way beyond balancing the books and will put our NHS at risk."
Mr Balls cited analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies which he said showed that tax and benefits changes introduced since 2010 have cost families on average £1,127 a year.
Labour has pledged to raise the minimum wage, reintroduce a 10p tax rate for low earners and cut business rates for small firms, if it wins office in May.
Tax thresholds
The amount of money people can earn before paying income tax has risen from £6,475 to £10,600 since 2010, with both of the coalition partners promising to raise it further, to £12,500, in the next parliament.
However, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has said low-paid workers would benefit more from a lift in the National Insurance threshold, which currently starts at £7,956.
The Lib Dems will set out their own alternative Budget on Thursday to show how they would tax, spend and borrow over the next five years.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, former Chancellor Ken Clarke said while some measures already being trailed were "quite important", most would seem "peripheral in a few days' time".
He said the key thing to get across was that Mr Osborne had "done a good job".
But former Labour Treasury Minister Kitty Ussher said the public was under the impression most of the cuts had already been made, and suggested the chancellor "might actually want to row back a bit and say we're not cutting back so much".
Business calls
Business groups have been lobbying the chancellor over their own priorities - including a freeze or cut in air passenger duty, reductions in charges on North Sea energy firms and moves to use the tax system to encourage research and development.
CBI director general John Cridland urged the chancellor "not to put politics ahead of economic growth and investment".
TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady told BBC News the chancellor should avoid "extreme and unnecessary cuts".
She said: "We want to see a positive vision for Britain that's about investment in decent jobs, fair pay... and doing something about that housing crisis."
What do you hope will be announced in the Budget? You can share your views by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk. If you are available to speak to a BBC journalist, please include a contact telephone number.
What do you hope will be announced in the Budget? You can share your views by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk. If you are available to speak to a BBC journalist, please include a contact telephone number.
