Budget 2015: the main changes
19/03/2015
Chancellor George Osborne announced his annual budget yesterday, which mainly targeted savers, workers and first time buyers.
One of the changes Osborne announced was that the threshold in which workers start to pay tax will be increased from £10,500 to £10,800 next year and £11,000 the year after. He claimed this meant that the typical working taxpayer would be better off by £900 a year, and will effect 27 million people.
The Chancellor also announced that savings for a deposit on a first house will be topped up by the government , £50 for every £200 saved. This move will come into force this autumn. The new Help to Buy ISA accounts will be made available through banks and building societies. He also announced that if the Conservatives get into power in May, the first £1,000 of savings interest would be tax free, meaning 95% of savers would pay no tax.
Other changes included relaxing pension rules from April 2016 which will mean retirees will be able to swap their fixed annual payments for cash, in a move that will benefit five million pensioners. 1p has been cut from beer duty, 2% from cider and whisky and wine and fuel duty has been frozen.
Cigarettes will go up by 16p a pack as earlier planned. Annual paper tax returns are to be scrapped and replaced with “digital tax accounts” , and there will be £1.3bn in tax cuts for North Sea oil exploration.
Labour has hit back at the budget, claiming that Osborne had “failed working families”. Ed Miliband said said:
"This a Budget that people won't believe from a government that is not on their side".
Need financial Advice?
If you have any personal finance questions related to this news article, then please contact our financial advisers. You can get in touch by asking a question online, calling us on 0800 092 1245, or by arranging a visit.
Share this..
Related stories
Barclays cut 3700 Jobs
Barclays has said it will cut 3700 jobs and will close its tax avoidance unit after the latest strategic review from the company. 1800 of the job cuts will be made in the investment banking sector, of which 1600 have already been made, in a move that is aimed at cutting annual costs and improving standards. This comes after the pre-tax profit recorded at Barclays in 2012 fell to £256m, down f...
Read MoreWhich way will the Irish economy move?
Yesterday's news that the 10 year yield on Irish government bonds has reached 6.78% saw a number of investors running for the hills amid concerns that the bailout of Anglo Irish bank could top the $35 billion forecast by credit rating agency S&P. This is a bitter blow for the Irish authorities who have battled all week to contain a situation which has the potential to run out of control fairly qui...
Read MoreIs the FSA giving in to the banks?
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has today confirmed that the supposedly regulations to control banking bonuses and banking remuneration packages in the UK will be delayed for a further two months. The new rules have been expected to come in on 6 November 2009 but now they will come in on 1 January 2010. While the two-month delay may look pretty innocent on the surface, what really is going...
Read MoreLord Mandelson plays an ace for Vauxhall workers
Lord Mandelson has today claimed victory in the fight to secure up to 5000 jobs at Vauxhall's UK plants, following the ongoing takeover of GM Europe by Magna. It would appear that a potential £400 million sweetener, which the UK government will inject into the German authorities £4 billion state funding, may have done the trick.
Only yesterday we saw Magna suggesting that a new v...
Is Greece the only country struggling with national debt?
Last week's announcement that the Greek government was struggling to repay the country's national debt has had an impact upon worldwide money markets and has seen more and more people investigating other national debt situations. The problem for the Greek government is the weak economy which has seen national debt grow and the budget deficit balloon out of control. The actual budget deficit in...
Read More