13:34 – That concludes our live Budget blog for this afternoon. We will now start to prepare our Budget briefing note for clients and professional connections. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @informedbudget or tune in for our Budget update webcast at 11.30am on Friday morning.
13:28 – On duties, no further increases to duty on alcohol, tobacco duty up by 2% above inflation. Some measures announced on fuel duty, with a fair fuel stabiliser being introduced which will scrap the planned fuel duty increase this year, cancel the fuel duty escalator and cutting fuel duty by 1p/litre from 6pm tonight.
13:21 – Personal allowance for income tax being increased by £1,000 on 6th April 2011 as planned, and then another £630 to £8,105 from 6th April 2012. Plans to increase personal allowance to £10,000 by end of this parliament remain on track.
13:16 – Some good news for charities with changes to administration of Gift Aid and inheritance tax rate discount from 40% to 36% where people leave 10% or more of their estate to charity.
13:14 – The Government will be introducing a single-tier State Pension of £140 a week for new pensioners in the future.
13:12 – We can expect to see the State Pension age rise even higher than age 68 in the future, as the Budget announces automatic measures to increase the State Pension age in line with rising life expectancy. The Government is accepting the Hutton recommendations for public sector pensions as the basis of consultation with unions.
13:05 – 21 Enterprise Zones in England are to be created, with the first locations announced today. New businesses in these zones will benefit from up to 100% rate relief, superfast broadband and reduced planning restrictions. More locations to be announced in the summer.
13:00 – £250m earmarked for “First Buy” which is a new scheme to help first time buyers with shared purchase of property, aims to help 10,000 families to get onto the housing ladder.
12:58 – It sounds like stamp duty avoidance schemes on high value property is being attacked. Will be interesting to see the detail on how they plan to prevent this as some of the schemes use loopholes created by Sharia finance rules.
12:56 – Some changes to Enterprise Investment Schemes (EISs) with tax relief increased from 20% to 30% in April and maximum investment doubled next April. Entrepreneur’s Relief doubled to £10m for capital gains tax.
12:51 – Corporation tax will be reduced by 2% in April, not 1%. It will continue to fall by 1% in each of the next three years. The Bank Levy will be adjusted to offset this so banks will not benefit from lower corporation tax rates. “Britain is open for business”.
12:49 – As expected, the Government will consult on merging income tax and National Insurance contributions. Reference made to ensuring pensioners are not worse off by having to pay NI contributions. This will be a major consultation and will take years to complete.
12:46 – This Budget is due to remove 43 different tax reliefs and over 100 pages of tax rules.
12:40 – Office for Budget Responsibility revises economic growth forecast down to 1.7% from 2.1% in 2011, then 2.5% in 2012, 2.9% in 2013 and 2014, 2.8% in 2015. Government inflation target will remain at 2% measured by Consumer Prices Index (CPI), despite inflation of 4-5% predicted this year.
12:38 – Osborne is presenting a fiscally neutral budget and a “budget for growth”.
11:50 – Our packed lunches have been assembled and we are ready for the Budget in 40 minutes time. Remember to follow us on Twitter @informedbudget where we are using the hashtag #budget.
Chancellor George Osborne will deliver this second Budget at lunchtime on Wednesday 23rd March 2011 and the team here at Informed Choice will be blogging live throughout the day with news, views and analysis.
You can also keep up with us on Twitter where we have created a special account @informedbudget.
Later in the day on Wednesday we aim to publish a free briefing note with our summary of the main personal finance measures contained within the Budget speech and report.
You can also tune in for our live webcast at 11.30am on Friday morning, where Informed Choice chartered financial planner Nick Bamford will be providing our summary of the Budget and what you need to consider now.
Do use the comments section below this blog to share your thoughts or ask us any questions you have about the Budget and your personal financial planning.
Photo credit: Flickr/bram_souffreau
