George Osborne started by saying:
"Today, I’m going to level with people about the difficult economic circumstances we still face and the hard decisions required to deal with them.
"It is taking longer than anyone hoped, but we must hold to the right track. And by setting free the aspirations of the nation, we will get there.
"This is a Budget for those who aspire to own their own home; who aspire to get their first job; or start their own business; A Budget for those who want to save for their retirement and provide for their children.
"It is a Budget for our Aspiration Nation."
On the ECONOMY Osborne says:
- Compared to this time last year, the OBR now expect 600,000 more jobs in 2013 – and there will be 60,000 fewer people claiming unemployment benefit.
- We’ve seen more people in work than ever before – including a record number of women.
- A quarter of a million fewer workless households than two years ago.
- The employment rate has been growing faster than in the US and three times as fast as in Germany.
- And the unemployment rate is lower than when we came to office.
- Deficit has fallen from 11.2 per cent of GDP in 2009-10, to a forecast of 7.4 per cent this year.
- Public sector net debt is forecast to be 75.9 per cent of GDP this year.
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- Help to Buy. Equity loan worth up to 20 per cent of the value of a new build home – to anyone looking to move up the housing ladder.
- You put down a five per cent deposit from your savings, and the government will loan you a further 20 per cent.
- The loan is interest free for the first five years. It is repaid when the home is sold.
- Only constraint will be that the home can’t be worth more than £600,000 – but this covers well over 90 per cent of all homes.
- Help families who want a mortgage for any home they’re buying, old or new, but who cannot begin to afford the kind of deposits.
- A new Mortgage Guarantee. This will be available to lenders to help them provide more mortgages to people who can’t afford a big deposit.
- Offering guarantees sufficient to support £130 billion of mortgages.
- It will be available from start of 2014 – and run for three years.
- Employment Allowance will work by taking the first two thousand pounds off the employer National Insurance bill of every company.
- 450,000 small businesses – one third of all employers in the country - will pay no jobs tax at all.
- Increase by fivefold the value of government procurement budgets spent through the Small Business Research Initiative.
- Introducing capital gains tax relief for sales of businesses to their employees.
- Double to £10,000 the size of the loans that employers can offer tax free to pay for items such as season tickets for commuters.
- Increasing the rate of the above the line R & D credit to 10 per cent.
- Abolish the schedule 19 tax which is only payable by UK domiciled funds.
- Abolishing altogether stamp duty on shares traded on growth markets such as AIM.
- Reduce the main rate of corporation tax by another 1 per cent.
- Increasing the Bank Levy rate next year to 0.142 per cent.
- Budgets will remain protected – "because our promise to our NHS is a promise we will keep."
- Budgets will remain protected
- Local government and police allocations for 2013-14 have already been set out and will not be affected
- Exempt our military from changes to progression pay
- Further awards from the LIBOR banking fines have gone to good military causes
- Boost our infrastructure plans by £3 billion a year from 2015-16
- I am introducing a generous new tax regime, including a shale gas field allowance, to promote early investment.
- New rules to stop the abuse of partnership rules, corporate tax losses and offshore employment intermediaries.
- First ever General Anti-Abuse Rule.
- Name and shame the promoters of tax avoidance scheme.
- Flat rate pension accessible to everyone and worth £144 a week.
- Bringing forward the introduction of the new Single Tier Pension to 2016.
- Ex-gratia payments of £5,000 to those Equitable Life policyholders; and we’ll make an extra £5,000 available to those on the lowest incomes who are on pension credit.
- Protect savings above £72,000, and we’ll raise the threshold for the means test on residential care from just over £23,000 to £118,000.
- Cancelling this September’s fuel duty increase altogether.
- Scrap the beer duty escalator altogether. And instead of the 3p rise in beer duty tax planned for this year I am cancelling it altogether.
- Cut beer duty by 1p. "We’re taking a penny off a pint."
SEE ALSO:
Osborne adds:
"Ask the British people and they’ll tell you: our problem as a country is not that we’re taxed too little but that the government spends too much.
"I agree with them. So the tax cuts in this Budget aren’t borrowed; they are paid for. That’s our way – and it’s the only responsible way to lower taxes."
He added: "When money is short, we make no excuses for the rigorous financial management we have run across Whitehall."
TAX
From 2014, there will be no income tax at all on the first £10,000 of your salary.
HOUSING
BUSINESS
HEALTH
EDUCATION
LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND POLICE
ARMED FORCES
TRANSPORT
ENERGY
TAX AVOIDANCE
PENSIONS
DUTY
A croaky Osborne finishes:
"We understand that the way to restore our economic prosperity is to energise the aspirations of the British people.
"If you want to own your own home;
"If you want help with your childcare bills;
"If you want to start your own business;
"Or give someone a job;
"If you want to save for your retirement;
"And leave your home to your children;
"If you want to work hard and get on;
we are on your side.
"This is a Budget that doesn’t duck our nation’s problems.
"It confronts them head on.
"It is a Budget for an aspiration nation.
"It is a Budget for a Britain that wants to be prosperous, solvent and free.
"And I commend it to the House."