Morning:
8°c
The Budget at a glance
Evening Standard 12 Mar 2008
Beer, wine and spirits up
• Wine will rise by 14p a bottle from midnight Sunday, beer by 4p a pint, cider by 3p a litre and spirits by 55p a bottle, a rise of 6% over inflation. Champagne up 18p. Duty will rise by 2% above inflation over each of the next three years.
11p on packet of cigarettes
• Price of a packet of 20 cigarettes rises by 11p from 6pm today. A pack of five cigars goes up by 4p.
Tax break for green cars
• No car tax in first year for new low-polluting vehicles meeting the 130g/km EU standard from 2010. Higher first year car tax for the worst polluting "gas-guzzlers".
Fuel duty rise delayed
• Fuel duty will rise by 0.5p per litre ahead of inflation from 2010 but a 2p rise scheduled for next month is delayed until October.
Borrowing to rocket
• Borrowing will rise to £43 billion next year, or 2.9% of national income, falling to £23 billion or 1.3% by 2012-13.
Boost for child benefit
• Child benefit for first child rises to £20 a week from next April. An extra £50 above inflation added to child tax credit for low and middle-income families. A family with two children on an income of up to £28,000 will get £130 more a year. Family with one child in the lowest income bracket will be £17 a week better off, lifting 150,000 children out of poverty.
No change to non-dom levy
• Non-doms will escape tax on offshore income not brought into the UK. No more changes to the £30,000 non-dom levy for the rest of this Parliament or the next.
Housing help for key workers
• Key workers and first-time buyers will be able to borrow money from new-shared equity scheme from April, with minimum stake cut to 50% from 75%. Stamp Duty will not be levied on shared ownership until owners' share of equity has reached 80%.
Growth forecast down
• Economic growth for year forecast at 1.75% to 2.25%. For 2009, it is 2.25% to 2.75% and in 2010, 2.5% to 3.0%.
ISA allowance rises to £7,200
• Maxi ISA limit raised to £7,200. Cash ISA limit up to £3,600.
Shops face plastic bag ban
• Stores will be banned from handing out free plastic carrier bags if they fail to voluntarily cut their use. A new law imposing a charge on every bag will come into force next year with the money raised going to environmental charities. The move could cut plastic bag use by 90%, equivalent to 12 billion fewer bags.
Green homes scheme extended
• Zero carbon scheme for new homes extended to cover non-domestic buildings by 2019. Extra £26 billion funding for greener homes next year. Target for UK carbon emission reductions raised to 80% by 2050.
Risk of inflation above 2%
• Chancellor reaffirmed inflation target of 2%, but admitted it could rise higher in short-term.
18% flat rate for CGT
• Capital gains tax will change to a flat rate of 18% next month with taper relief, which allowed some people to pay as little as 10%, scrapped. Entrepreneur relief will come in to cover the first £1 million on small business sales.
Treasury savings plan
• Plans to make savings of £30 billion per year on Government spending from 2010.
National debt to grow
• National debt projected to be 38.5% of GDP in 2008/9, 39.4% in 2009/10, 39.8% in 2010/11, 39.7% in 2011/12 and 39.3% by 2012/13.
Extra £10m for science
• £10 million added to funds for the Wellcome Trust and private sector over next five years to create £30 million science fund.
Boost for poor families
• Extra £125 million over next three years for poorer families, £765 million will be spent next year and £950 million in 2010, taking more than 250,000 children out of poverty.
Aircraft emissions duty to rise
• Government supports expansion at Heathrow and Stansted. Revenue from plane duty will be increased by 10% because aircraft emissions are forecast to grow.
£2bn for frontline troops
• The Government will give £2 billion to troops on the front line, including £900 million for military equipment.
New ideas for mortgages
• Further consultation on how to restructure the mortgage market to encourage more long-term home loans after review of housing finance published today.
Return-to-work assessments
• All long-term recipients of incapacity benefit will attend work capacity assessments from April 2010 in order to help them return to work.
New home loans scheme
• Eight million people on lower incomes will be allowed to open accounts with a new Savings Gateway scheme from 2010.
70,000 more homes
• Government committed to building more homes by 2020. In addition to the 40,000 new homes already identified, the Government has identified sites for a further 70,000 more homes to be built.
Spending rise to ease off
• Public spending growth over next three years will average 2.2% per annum compared with average rise of 3.6% in the years between 1997 and 2007. Net investment forecast to rise to £37 million in 2010.
Boost for small firms
• Funds available though the Small Firms Loan Guarantee scheme to rise by £60 million. From next month the scheme will be extended to all small and medium-sized firms. They will also be awarded 30% of all public sector business.
Help with energy bills
• Help for the elderly and vulnerable to pay heating bills to rise from £50 million to £150 million per year.
Funding for road pricing
• New funding to develop national road pricing technology.
