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| Budget 2015 key points: At-a-glance summary | Budget 2015 key points: At-a-glance summary |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| George Osborne has delivered his seventh Budget as chancellor, the first for a majority Conservative government since November 1996. Here is a summary of his main announcements. | |
| Personal taxation and pay | |
| Introduction of a new national living wage for all workers aged over 25, starting at £7.20 an hour from April 2016 and set to reach £9 by 2020 - giving an estimated 2.5 million people an average £5,000 rise over five years | |
| Low Pay Commission to advice on future changes to rate | |
| Inheritance tax threshold will be increased to £1m from 2017 | |
| Personal allowance, at which people start paying tax, to rise to £11,000 next year | |
| The point at which people start paying income tax at 40p to rise from £42,385 to £43,000 next year | |
| Mortgage interest relief for buy-to-let homebuyers to be restricted to basic rate of income tax | |
| Welfare and pensions | |
| Tax credits and Universal Credit to be restricted to two children, affecting those born after April 2017. | |
| Income threshold for tax credits to be reduced from £6,420 to £3,850 | |
| Working-age benefits to be frozen for four years - including tax credits and local housing allowance, but maternity pay and disability benefits exempted | |
| Rents in social housing sector will be reduced by 1% a year for the next four years | |
| Higher-income households in social housing will be required to pay rents at the market rate | |
| Disability benefits will not be taxed or means-tested while state pension triple lock to be protected | |
| 18-21-year-olds will not be entitled to claim housing benefit automatically, with a new "earn to learn" obligation | |
| Employment and Support Allowance payments for claimants deemed able to work to be "aligned" with Jobseeker's Allowance for new claimants | |
| Green Paper published on proposals for "a radical change" to pension saving system | |
| Annual tax relief on pension contributions to be limited to £10,000 a year | |
| The state of the economy | The state of the economy |
| Economy grew by 3% in 2014 | Economy grew by 3% in 2014 |
| 2.4% growth forecast in 2015, 0.1% lower than predicted in March, followed by 2.3% and 2.4% in the two following years | |
| One million extra jobs predicted to be created by 2020 | |
| Public borrowing/deficit/spending | Public borrowing/deficit/spending |
| Deficit to be cut at same pace as during last Parliament - securing a budget surplus a year later than planned in 2019-20 | Deficit to be cut at same pace as during last Parliament - securing a budget surplus a year later than planned in 2019-20 |
| Borrowing set to fall from £69.5bn this year to £43.1bn, £24.3bn and £6bn before hitting a £10bn surplus in 2019-20 | Borrowing set to fall from £69.5bn this year to £43.1bn, £24.3bn and £6bn before hitting a £10bn surplus in 2019-20 |
| Debt as a share of GDP to fall from 80.3% this year to 79.1%, 77.2%, 74.7%, 71.5% and 68.5% in successive years | Debt as a share of GDP to fall from 80.3% this year to 79.1%, 77.2%, 74.7%, 71.5% and 68.5% in successive years |
| 1% public sector pay rise to continue for next four years | 1% public sector pay rise to continue for next four years |
| £37bn of further spending cuts by 2020, including £12bn of welfare cuts and £5bn from tax avoidance | £37bn of further spending cuts by 2020, including £12bn of welfare cuts and £5bn from tax avoidance |
| Alcohol, tobacco, gambling and fuel | Alcohol, tobacco, gambling and fuel |
| No rise in fuel duty with rates continuing to be frozen | No rise in fuel duty with rates continuing to be frozen |
| Major reform to vehicle excise duties to pay for a new road-building and maintenance fund in England | Major reform to vehicle excise duties to pay for a new road-building and maintenance fund in England |
| New VED bands for new cars to be introduced from 2017, pegged to emissions - 95% of car owners will pay £140 a year | |
| Alcohol and tobacco duties not mentioned in statement | |
| Business | Business |
| Corporation tax to be cut to 19% in 2017 and 18% in 2020 | |
| Permanent non-dom status to be abolished - from April 2017, anyone who has lived in the UK for 15 of the past 20 years will pay same level of tax as other UK citizens | Permanent non-dom status to be abolished - from April 2017, anyone who has lived in the UK for 15 of the past 20 years will pay same level of tax as other UK citizens |
| £7.2bn to be raised from clampdown on tax avoidance and tax evasion with HMRC budget increased by £750m | £7.2bn to be raised from clampdown on tax avoidance and tax evasion with HMRC budget increased by £750m |
| Bank levy rate to be gradually reduced over the next six years and a new 8% surcharge on bank profits introduced from January 2016 | Bank levy rate to be gradually reduced over the next six years and a new 8% surcharge on bank profits introduced from January 2016 |
| Cap on charges imposed by claims management companies and an increase in insurance premium tax to 9.5% from November | Cap on charges imposed by claims management companies and an increase in insurance premium tax to 9.5% from November |
| New apprenticeship levy for large employers | New apprenticeship levy for large employers |
| Climate Change Levy exemption for renewable electricity to be removed. | Climate Change Levy exemption for renewable electricity to be removed. |
| National Insurance employment allowance for small firms to be increased by 50% to £3,000 from 2016 | |
| Dividend tax credit to be replaced with a new tax-free allowance of £5,000 on dividend income. Rates of dividend tax to be set at 7.5%, 32.5% and 38.1%. | |
| Health and education | Health and education |
| NHS will receive a further £8bn by 2020 (in addition to the £2bn already announced) | NHS will receive a further £8bn by 2020 (in addition to the £2bn already announced) |
| Student maintenance grants to be replaced with loans from 2016-17, to be paid back once people earn more than £21,000 a year | Student maintenance grants to be replaced with loans from 2016-17, to be paid back once people earn more than £21,000 a year |
| The maintenance loan will increase to £8,200 | The maintenance loan will increase to £8,200 |
| New university professorships to be created to mark the Queen's 90th birthday | |
| Housing/infrastructure/transport/regions | |
| Control over fire services, planning and children's services to be handed to consortium of 10 councils in Greater Manchester | Control over fire services, planning and children's services to be handed to consortium of 10 councils in Greater Manchester |
| Discussions on devolution of services to Sheffield, Liverpool and West Yorkshire | Discussions on devolution of services to Sheffield, Liverpool and West Yorkshire |
| £30m for new body to promote integrated transport - including use of Oyster cards - in the north of England | £30m for new body to promote integrated transport - including use of Oyster cards - in the north of England |
| Rent-a-room relief scheme to rise to £7,500 | Rent-a-room relief scheme to rise to £7,500 |
| Defence | |
| Government to spend 2% of GDP on defence every year, meeting Nato target | |
| Spending on defence to rise in real terms every year during the Parliament | |
| New £1.5bn Joint Security Fund to be created | |
| Measures announced before Budget | |
| The cost of funding free TV licences for the over-75s will be transferred from the government to the BBC between 2018 and 2021 | The cost of funding free TV licences for the over-75s will be transferred from the government to the BBC between 2018 and 2021 |
| The annual household benefit cap will be reduced to £23,000 in London and to a lower level in the rest of Britain. | The annual household benefit cap will be reduced to £23,000 in London and to a lower level in the rest of Britain. |
| Subsidies for social housing will be phased out with local authority and housing association tenants in England who earn more than £30,000 - or £40,000 in London - having to pay up to the market rent | Subsidies for social housing will be phased out with local authority and housing association tenants in England who earn more than £30,000 - or £40,000 in London - having to pay up to the market rent |
| A consultation will take place on changing Sunday trading laws | A consultation will take place on changing Sunday trading laws |
| Recipients of the Victoria Cross and George Cross will see annual pension annuities rise from £2,129 to £10,000, paid for by bank fines | Recipients of the Victoria Cross and George Cross will see annual pension annuities rise from £2,129 to £10,000, paid for by bank fines |