“The Budget today puts security first. The economic security of a country that lives within its means. The financial security of lower taxes and a new National Living Wage.
“The national security of a Britain that defends itself and its values. A plan for working people. One purpose. One policy. One nation. And I commend this Budget to the House.” – Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne
Every Chancellor loves a little drama; that opportunity to produce a rabbit from a hat and wrong-foot political opponents and leave them floundering. George Osborne took centre stage today, delivering the first Conservative budget since 1996, and in the finest traditions of vaudeville conjurers he kept something up his sleeve, saving the best ’til last – the big finish.
Yes, there was the expected £12bn cut to welfare – although over a longer time frame – and there were small giveaways here and clawbacks there, nothing too remarkable or unexpected. And then …
“In the last five years we’ve taken the tough choices to drive down our borrowing, make our business taxes competitive and reform welfare.
“It’s because we’ve taken these difficult decisions, and overcome the opposition to them, that Britain is able to afford a pay rise.
Because let me be clear: Britain deserves a pay rise and Britain is getting a pay rise.
I am today introducing a new National Living Wage.”
Now you can call it a new National Living Wage if you want, or just an increase to the National Minimum Wage if you prefer, but whatever you choose to call it, it’s a sizeable hike: more than either Labour or the SNP offered in their respective manifestos, the government has set it to reach £9 an hour by 2020.
Working people aged 25 and over will receive it, starting next April, at the rate of £7.20p.
Along with the slashing back of public expenditure through swingeing cuts to the welfare budget, the setting of a compulsory ‘National Living Wage’ is clearly designed to get the message out that this government intends to make work pay. The announcement delighted the massed Tory ranks, with architect of the benefits reforms Iain Duncan Smith (below) particularly enthusiastic. Rarely has the ‘quiet man’ been quite so animated!
Responding for the Labour Party, acting leader Harriet Harman said: “When you’re in opposition, the temptation is to oppose everything the government does – and believe me, I feel that temptation. But we best serve this country by being a grown-up and constructive opposition.
“So while we will fiercely oppose policies that hit working people, and we will expose policies that are unworkable, where the government comes forward with ideas that are sensible we will be prepared to look at them.”
On Scotland, Mr Osborne said very little: “But what really drives this government, is building up other parts of our United Kingdom, as a balance to London’s strength.
“For Scotland, we’re now delivering – as promised – major devolution of tax and welfare powers.
“The Scottish Government will soon have to answer the question; “you’ve got the powers, when are you going to use them?””
And that was it.
Scotland’s Deputy First Minister John Swinney called the Budget a ‘con trick’ which particularly hits low income households and young people.
He said the announced freeze in working age benefits and cuts to tax credits will see the most vulnerable in our society continue to be hit the hardest whilst the revised minimum wage fails to deliver a real living wage.
Mr Swinney said: “The reality is this budget is an attack on the low paid, the young and those entering the jobs market. This budget is a series of con tricks to try and hide the fact that individual households will now bear the brunt of austerity cuts.
“I support a meaningful living wage paid for by business – one that pays what people need to live, not one that fails to compensate for cuts to valuable tax credits.
“The Chancellor has not even promised to meet the current living wage of £7.85 and under 25’s will face the brunt of cuts but receive no increase in wages.
“As the Resolution Foundation – cited by the Chancellor – make clear the real living wage is based on people receiving tax credits and housing benefit so any new living wage must be far higher to compensate for it. The Chancellor’s con trick does not come close to meeting those costs.
“The Chancellor is cutting from the poor whilst paying out to the rich, he is short changing those on low incomes whilst giving tax breaks to the better off.
“There has been no easing up on austerity – he has simply shifted some of the balance from public services to the public themselves. The Scottish Government has faced a 10% cut in our overall budget for the last five years and the Chancellor today said deficit reduction would take place at the same pace in the future. Overall the scale of austerity being imposed by this UK Government remains unchanged.
“Despite revising down productivity and export figures in each of the next four years there was little in this budget to boost productivity or to set out a strategy for growth.
“The reality is that in delivering his emergency budget the Chancellor has simply exacerbated the emergency situation faced by many on low pay and low incomes.”
The Budget in summary:
1. Introducing a new National Living Wage of over £9 an hour by 2020
From April 2016, a new National Living Wage of £7.20 an hour for the over 25s will be introduced. This will rise to over £9 an hour by 2020.
2. The government will run a surplus in 2019-20
The deficit will be reduced by around 1% of GDP (the value of the economy as a whole) on average in each year, which is the same pace as over the last 5 years. This means a surplus (where more tax is raised than is spent) will be achieved in 2019-20, and debt will fall in every year. Included in this is:
- £12 billion by 2019-20 through welfare reforms
- £5 billion by 2019-20 from measures to tackle tax avoidance, planning, evasion, compliance, and imbalances in the tax system
Plans for the remaining savings will be set out in the autumn following the spending review.
3. The tax-free Personal Allowance will be increased from £10,600 in 2015-16 to £11,000 in April 2016
The tax-free Personal Allowance – the amount people earn before they have to start paying Income Tax – will increase to £11,000 in 2016-17.
Increases to the Personal Allowance since 2010, when it was £6,475, mean that a typical taxpayer will be £905 a year better off in 2016-17.
The government has an ambition to increase the Personal Allowance to £12,500 by 2020, and a law will be introduced so that once it reaches this level, people working 30 hours a week on the National Minimum Wage won’t pay Income Tax at all.
4. Protecting defence spending
The Ministry of Defence’s budget will rise by 0.5% (above inflation) each year to 2020-21. Up to an additional £1.5 billion a year will also be available by 2020-21 to fund increased spending on the military and intelligence agencies.
The government will meet the NATO pledge to spend 2% of national income on defence every year of this decade.
5. Reforming the welfare system to make it more affordable
The welfare system will be reformed to make it fairer for taxpayers who pay for it, while continuing to support the most vulnerable. Changes include:
- working-age benefits, including tax credits and Local Housing Allowance, will be frozen for 4 years from 2016-17 (this doesn’t include Maternity Allowance, maternity pay, paternity pay and sick pay)
- the household benefit cap will be reduced to £20,000 (£23,000 in London)
- support through Child Tax Credit will be limited to 2 children for children born from April 2017
- those aged 18 to 21 who are on Universal Credit will have to apply for an apprenticeship or traineeship, gain work-based skills, or go on a work placement 6 months after the start of their claim
- rents for social housing will be reduced by 1% a year for 4 years, and tenants on higher incomes (over £40,000 in London and over £30,000 outside London) will be required to pay market rate, or near market rate, rents.
6. Reforming Dividend Tax
The dividend tax credit (which reduces the amount of tax paid on income from shares) will be replaced by a new £5,000 tax-free dividend allowance for all taxpayers from April 2016. Tax rates on dividend income will be increased.
This simpler system will mean that only those with significant dividend income will pay more tax. Investors with modest income from shares will see either a tax cut or no change in the amount of tax they owe.
7. Taking the family home out of Inheritance Tax
Currently, Inheritance Tax is charged at 40% on estates over the tax-free allowance of £325,000 per person. Married couples and civil partners can pass any unused allowance on to one another.
From April 2017, each individual will be offered a family home allowance so they can pass their home on to their children or grandchildren tax-free after their death. This will be phased in from 2017-18.
The family home allowance will be added to the existing £325,000 Inheritance Tax threshold, meaning the total tax-free allowance for a surviving spouse or civil partner will be up to £1 million in 2020-21.
The allowance will be gradually withdrawn for estates worth more than £2 million.
8. The amount people with an income of more than £150,000 can pay tax-free into a pension will be reduced
Most people can contribute up to £40,000 a year to their pension tax-free. From April 2016, this amount will be reduced for individuals with incomes of over £150,000, including pension contributions.
9. The higher rate threshold will increase from £42,385 in 2015-16 to £43,000 in 2016-17
The amount people will have to earn before they pay tax at 40% will increase from £42,385 in 2015-16 to £43,000 in 2016-17.
10. Corporation Tax will be cut to 19% in 2017 and 18% in 2020
The main rate of Corporation Tax has already been cut from 28% in 2010 to 20%, in order to boost UK competitiveness. It will now fall further, from 20% to 19% in 2017, and then to 18% in 2020, benefiting over a million businesses.
11. The annual investment allowance will be set at its highest ever permanent level at £200,000
The annual investment allowance, which has previously been increased temporarily, will be set permanently at £200,000 from January 2016.
The allowance means businesses can deduct the full value of certain items, including equipment and machinery, up to a total value of £200,000 from their profits before tax. This helps them with cash flow because it means the full tax relief is given in the year items are purchased, rather than over several years.
This permanent increase will help businesses plan their spending on longer-term investments.
12. The Employment Allowance will increase by a further £1,000 to £3,000
Businesses will have their employer National Insurance bill cut by another £1,000 from April 2016, as the Employment Allowance rises from £2,000 to £3,000. The Employment Allowance gives businesses and charities a cut in the employer National Insurance they pay.
This means, next year, businesses will be able to employ 4 people full time on the National Living Wage and pay no National Insurance at all.
13. The standard rate of Insurance Premium Tax will increase to 9.5%
From November 2015 the standard rate of Insurance Premium Tax will be increased from 6% to 9.5%. Households’ insurance prices are falling and the standard rate remains lower than that of many other EU countries.
14. Clamping down on nuisance calls from claims management companies
The amount that can be charged by claims management companies – such as those that encourage claims for payment protection insurance (PPI) or personal injury insurance – will be capped, reducing nuisance calls to potential customers.
15. Restricting tax relief for wealthier landlords
Currently, individual landlords can deduct their costs – including mortgage interest – from their profits before they pay tax, giving them an advantage over other home buyers. Wealthier landlords receive tax relief at 40% and 45%. This tax relief will be restricted to 20% for all individuals by April 2020.
In addition, from April 2016, the ‘wear and tear allowance’, which allows landlords to reduce the tax they pay (regardless of whether they replace furnishings in their property) will also be replaced by a new system that only allows them to get tax relief when they replace furnishings.
16. Ending permanent non-dom status
Non-domiciled individuals (non-doms) live in the UK but consider their permanent home to be elsewhere. The UK rules allow non-doms to pay UK tax on their offshore income only when they bring it into the UK.
Permanent non-dom status will be abolished from April 2017. From that date, anyone who’s been resident in the UK for 15 of the past 20 years will be considered UK-domiciled for tax purposes.
17. Reforming the way banks are taxed
Following increasing bank profits, and to reflect changes in bank regulation, the government is:
- introducing a new 8% tax on banking sector profits from January 2016
- introducing a phased reduction in the rate of the Bank Levy (which is charged on banks’ balance sheets) from 0.21% to 0.1% between 2016 and 2021
- excluding UK banks’ overseas subsidiaries from the Bank Levy from January 2021
18. 3 million new apprenticeships
3 million new apprenticeships will be created by 2020, funded by a levy on large employers. Firms that are committed to training will be able to get back more than they put in.
19. £30 million of funding for Transport for the North
Cities and counties in the North will be given even more control over local transport. Transport for the North (TfN) will be supported by £30 million in funding over 3 years, and will have more responsibility for setting out policy and investments.
20. 30 hours of free childcare for 3 and 4 year olds
From September 2017, working families with 3 and 4 year olds will receive 30 hours of free childcare – an increase from the 15 hours they’re currently offered.
21. Student maintenance grants will be replaced with loans
From the 2016-17 academic year, cash support for new students will increase by £766 to £8,200 a year, the highest level ever for students from low-income households. New maintenance loan support will replace student grants. Loans will be paid back only when graduates earn above £21,000 a year.
22. Road tax will be reformed and the money raised spent on the road network
The road tax system will be revised to make it fairer and sustainable. From 2017, there will be a flat rate of £140 for most cars, except in the first year when tax will remain linked to the CO2 emissions that cars produce. Electric cars won’t pay any road tax at all and the most expensive cars will pay more.
Existing cars won’t be affected – no one will pay more for a car that they already own. The money brought in from road tax in England will be spent on England’s roads from 2020.
The government will extend the deadline for the first MOT of new cars and motorcycles from 3 years to 4 years.
23. Public sector pay will increase by 1%
Public sector pay will increase by 1% a year for 4 years from 2016-17.
24. Making sure individuals and businesses pay what they owe
The government will continue to clamp down on tax avoidance, planning and evasion, as well as increasing resources for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) so they can make sure people pay the tax that’s due. This includes:
- extra investment between now and 2020 for HMRC’s work on evasion and non-compliance
- tripling the number of criminal investigations HMRC can undertake into complex tax crime, concentrating on wealthy individuals and companies
allowing HMRC to access more data to identify businesses that aren’t declaring or paying tax - clamping down on the organised crime gangs behind the illicit trade in tobacco and alcohol
- stopping investment fund managers from using tax loopholes to avoid paying the correct amount of Capital Gains Tax on their profits from the fund (this is known as carried interest)
- making sure international companies pay tax on profits diverted from the UK
- introducing a ‘general anti-abuse rule’ penalty and tough new measures for serial avoiders, including publishing the names of people who repeatedly use failed tax avoidance schemes
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