The Budget March 2015 – how does it affect you?

Tax

• Personal tax-free allowance will be increased to £10,800 in April 2016, and to £11,000 in April 2017.
• There will be a review on the use of Deeds of Variation (also known as Deeds of Family Arrangement) to avoid inheritance tax.
• Annual tax return for the self-employed to be abolished and Class 2 National Insurance contributions for the self-employed to be abolished in the next parliament.
• Farmers will be allowed to average their incomes for tax purposes over five years.

Pension & Wages

• Pension pot lifetime allowance to be reduced from £1.25m to £1m from next year.
• National Minimum Wage will rise by 20p an hour to £6.70 from October. The hourly rate for younger workers will also rise, and for apprentices it will increase by 57p to £3.30 an hour.
• The threshold at which people start paying 40p tax will rise by above inflation from £42,385 to £43,300.

Savings

• A “Help to Buy ISA” will be launched for first-time buyers. For every £200 saved for a deposit, the Government will top it up with £50 (capped at £3,000).
• From April next year, the first £1,000 of interest earned on savings will be tax-free for standard-rate taxpayers. Higher rate taxpayers will get a £500 allowance.

Duties

• Fuel duty increase scheduled for September is cancelled.
• Beer duty to be cut for the third year running, with 1p off the price of a pint. Cider duty to be cut by 2%. Duty on scotch whisky and other spirits to be cut by 2%. Wine duty to be frozen.

Business

• Corporation tax to be cut to 20% in two weeks’ time.
• Legislation next week on diverted profits tax aimed at multinationals shifting profits offshore, with policy to take effect at the start of April.
• Employers’ National Insurance contributions for under-21s to be abolished from this April, and for young apprentices from April 2016.
• There will be “more generous” tax credits for TV and film, expanded support for video games industry and new tax credit for orchestras, and a consultation on tax relief for local newspapers.

Charity & Welfare Spending

• Trebling in £15m fund for church roof appeals, and extension to £8,000 in automatic gift aid to benefit 6,500 small charities.
• Charities for British servicemen and women to receive £75m.
• Up to £600m to clear new spectrum bands for further auctions, improving mobile phone coverage nationwide, including in remote    communities.
• Increased funding for wifi in public libraries and new national plan for ultra-fast broadband to nearly all homes in the country.