Pre-Budget Report: Highlights at a glance
DEFERMENT of a 1p rise in corporation tax for small firms and a 0.5% hike national insurance from April 2010 are among the announcements by Chancellor Alistair Darling in his pre-budget report (PBR).
Other key announcements include:
- One-off 50% tax on bank bonuses of more than £25,000
- VAT to return to 17.5% from 15% from 1 January 2010. No other changes to VAT
- Enterprise Finance Guarantee loan scheme extended for another 12 months
- All national insurance rates to rise by 0.5% from April 2011
- Increase in corporation tax for small businesses to be deferred
- £160m investment in low-carbon and renewable projects
- Time to pay scheme extended for as long as is needed
- Empty property relief extended
- Stamp duty holiday on certain properties to end on 1 January 2010
- Under-24s to be guaranteed work or training after six months out of work
- Basic state pension will rise by 2.5% in April 2010
- Child and disability benefit to rise by 1.5% in 2010
- Contributions to public sector pensions to be cut by £1bn a year
- All public sector pay settlements to be capped at 1% for two years from 2011
- Bingo duty to be cut from 22% to 20%
- Economy forecast to shrink 4.75% in 2009, worse than 3.5% forecast in April
- Growth of 1%-1.5% expected in 2010 and 3.5% in 2011 and 2012
- Forecast borrowing of £178bn in 2009, £3bn higher than predicted in April
- Estimated borrowing of £176bn in 2010 and £140bn in 2011, falling to £96bn in 2013
- Budget deficit to be halved by 2013
- Estimated public cost of bank bailouts cut from £50bn to £10bn
- Total spending in 2010-11 to rise by £31bn.
- Current spending to fall by 0.8% between 2011-2 and 2014-5
- £200m extra investment for Warm Front insulation scheme, helping 65,000 households
- Boiler scrappage scheme for 125,000 households
- Electric cars to be exempt from company car tax for five years
- New 50p tax on landline phones to pay for superfast broadband
- New 10% tax on income from patents to boost science development
- Free school meals to an extra 500,000 low income families
- Inheritance tax to be frozen at £325,000 until 2011
- Tax rebates for electric cars and wind turbines
What do you think of today’s announcement? Please leave your comments below.
