Chancellor George Osborne's mini budget bring cheers to some and disappointment to some others.
Winners
Stamp duty relief to house buyers:
George Osborne has given relief in stamp duty to house buyers. He claimed that 98 per cent of buyers will pay less. From now on the percentages will only apply on each incremental stage. Under the old rules if you bought a house for £185,000, you would have had to pay 1pc tax on the full amount – a total of £1,850. Under the new rules, for the same property you’ll pay nothing on the first £125,000 and 2 per cent on the remaining £60,000. This works out as £1,200, a saving of £650.
Isas to be passed on to spouses: The tax-efficient benefits of Isas will now be able to be passed on to spouses. It will mean the surviving spouse won't have to start filling in a tax form when they inherit Isa savings from their late spouse. This would benefit 150,000 couples each year. Not only that, the annual limit, raised to £15,000 last year as part of a revamp of the rules, will also see an inflation-linked rise in April, up to £15,240.
More funds for NHS
NHS services would receive an extra £750 mn of this is the reallocation of money within existing health budgets, it still represents a boost for the NHS
Motorists to be spared of rise in duty: Motorists were spared a rise in duty on petrol and diesel.
Employers of apprentices
Business hiring apprentices aged under 25 will no longer be charged national insurance on their earnings.
• Relief to small businesses and shop owners
Small business rate relief will be doubled for another year and the inflation-linked increase in business rates will be capped at 2 per cent. The business rates discount for shops, pubs and cafes is to be increased by 50 per cent to £1,500.
Air tax on children abolished: Air passenger duty will be abolished for children under 12 next year and then for under-16s the following year, trimming the cost of family holidays (for economy class tickets only). This would save £26 for a family of four flying return to Europe and £142 to America. Now airlines will be required to detail extra costs for tickets.
Tax exemption to aid workers: The inheritance tax exemption, as applies to members of the armed forces who die in service, is to be extended to aid workers.
Student loan to cover Postgraduates: For the first time postgraduates will be able to take out a student loan to cover the cost of their studies. The loan of up to £10,000 will be available for masters students starting courses in 2016 and excludes courses such as a PhD or postgraduate diploma.
Allowance raised for income taxpayers: The personal allowance, at £10,000 today, will be raised to £10,600 in April rather than the previously announced £10,500. Higher-rate taxpayers will also feel the benefit. That threshold - £41,865 this year - will be raised by 1.2 pc. The personal allowance is the initial chunk of your income that is not taxed. The increase is worth £120 to a typical basic rate taxpayer and £172 to a typical higher rate taxpayer. A further 430,000 individuals will be removed from income tax, although National Insurance still applies, this year at a rate of 12 pc after your first £7,956.
Losers
Non-doms to pay more: The £30,000 annual charge for being non-domiciled in the UK will be unchanged but those here for 12 of the last 14 years will pay £60,000 a year, or £90,000 if here for more than 15 of the last 17 years.
Top-end property buyers to pay more: The stamp duty overhaul will mean those buying properties costing more than £937,000 will be worse off than under current regime. Buyers of typically high-end properties who choose to own them through a company - a process known as "enveloped" transactions - face a further steep increase in tax.
• Banks ability to curtail losses curtailed
Banks ability to offset losses made since the financial crisis against future tax bills has been curtailed. From April only 50 per cent of losses can be offset. The Treasury sees this raising £3.5bn in the next five years.
• Multinationals face higher tax
Companies will face a new 25 per cent tax on profits from economic activity in the UK that are “artificially shifted” abroad. This is aimed at the likes of Google, Facebook, Starbucks and Amazon
• Pay restraint for Civil servants
Public sector pay restraint and Whitehall cost-cutting are going to continue for several years with cuts of £10bn planned for the next parliament.
