“Yesterday, the Conservative Chancellor George Osborne delivered his Budget, which aims to ‘put the next generation first’ whilst supporting the productive economy that underpins our continued prosperity. As ever with Budgets, the details are tedious but important.
The key items that I feel matter most are:
• Cutting personal taxes. From April next year the tax free personal allowance, below which no income tax is paid, will rise to £11,500, a tax cut for 31 million people. The higher rate threshold will also increase to £45,000, a tax cut of over £400 for middle-income households.
• Cutting taxes for businesses and entrepreneurs. 600,000 small businesses will now pay no business rates at all, an annual saving of up to almost £6,000 per firm, and a further 250,000 small businesses will see a cut to their business rates bill. The Chancellor has also cut Capital Gains Tax to encourage entrepreneurs to invest more, and cut Corporation Tax to support continued business investment and job creation, much of which will take place here in our area.
• Changes to ISAs to encourage savers. The tax-efficient savings ‘ISA’ limit is being raised from just over £15,000 to £20,000. Those under 40 and looking to save for the future will be able to benefit from a completely new ‘Lifetime ISA’. This scheme will mean younger people can save both for their first home, and for their retirement – For every £4 saved, the Government will contribute £1. So a younger person putting aside £4,000 each year will see the government giving them £1,000 every year until they are 50.
With this combination of cuts to Income and Capital Gains Taxes, help for small enterprises, improving further our competitive business environment and encouraging personal saving, I believe this Budget provides practical help and sends out the right signals that Britain is a country open for business, and serious about ensuring its people’s prosperity into the future.”