BUDGET 2014: Key points

March 19, 2014
By

Business

Lending for exporters doubled to £3bn and interest rates on that lending cut by a third

Business rate discounts and enhanced capital allowances in Enterprise Zones extended for three years

Economy

GDP forecast to grow by 2.7% this year and 2.3% next year, then by 2.6% in 2016 and 2017 and by 2.5% in 2018

Borrowing/deficit

Deficit forecast to be 6.6% of GDP this year, 5.5% in 2014-15 then falling to 0.8% by 2017-18 with a surplus of 0.2% in 2018-19

Borrowing forecast to be £108bn this year and £95bn next year, leading to a surplus of almost £5bn in 2018-19

A new charter for budget responsibility to be brought in this autumn

Promises to make permanent £1bn reduction in government department overspends

Housing/infrastructure

Help to Buy equity loan scheme extended to 2020

Support for building of more than 200,000 new homes

£140m extra for flood defence repairs and maintenance

£200m made available to fix potholes

Fuel, Alcohol and Tobacco

Beer duty cut by 1p a pint

Duty on ordinary cider frozen

Fuel duty rise planned for September will not happen

Tobacco duty to rise by 2% above inflation

Taxation

Point at which people start paying income tax will be raised to £10,500

Bingo duty will be halved to 10%

Threshold for 40p income tax to rise from £41,450 to £41,865 next month and by a further 1% to £42,285 next year

Inheritance tax waived for members of emergency services who give their lives in job

Tax on homes owned through a company to be extended from residential properties worth more than £2m to those worth more than £500,000

All long-haul flights to carry lower rate of air duty currently charged on flights to US

Savings

Cash and shares Isas to be merged into single New Isa with annual tax-free savings limit of £15,000 from 1 July

The 10p tax rate for savers abolished

Cap on Premium Bonds to be lifted from £30,000 to £40,000 in June and £50,000 next year

Pensions

All tax restrictions on pensioners' access to their pension pots to be removed, ending the requirement to buy an annuity

Taxable part of pension pot taken as cash on retirement to be charged at normal tax rate, down from 55%

Increase in total pension savings people can take as a lump sum to £30,000

 

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