George Osborne, following in the footsteps of bushy-browed Alistair Darling, delivered the Budget 2011 yesterday in a speech to the House of commons. His speech, said to have concluded around 1:30pm yesterday contained all the vitals of our fuel, tax and economy.
What were the key points?
Well- Inflation rise in fuel duty planned for next week is to be delayed until 2012. And the Fuel duty escalator that adds 1p to fuel duty on top of inflation each year has been cancelled for the rest of this Parliament.
Tobacco duty rates, however, are to be increased by 2% above inflation, as previously announced. Tobacco duty regime reformed to narrow differential between lower-cost brands and the others.
Tobacco duty rates, however, are to be increased by 2% above inflation, as previously announced. Tobacco duty regime reformed to narrow differential between lower-cost brands and the others.
Osborne confirmed no additional changes to alcohol duty rates but 2% above inflation rise in excise duties for wine, spirits and beer is to go ahead.
The Personal tax allowance is set to rise from £630 to a staggering £8,105 in April 2012 - a real increase of £48 a year or £126 in cash terms. And there are no personal tax increases!
There will be a pay rise of £250 for armed forces, prison, NHS, teachers and civil servants earning under £21,000.
There will be an investment of £200 million in regional railways. (ed-HURRAH- read my last bog)
The government is to consult on a long-term plan for merging the operation of National Insurance and Income Tax.
What Osborne said?
Mr Osborne said "today's measures are fiscally neutral across the period neither raising taxes nor offering give aways".He told the commons he does not need to ask the public for more taxes or more spending cuts.
He continued:"today's Budget was about reforming the nation's economy, so that we have enduring growth and jobs in the future".
Chancellor George Osborne said he would watch fuel prices "like a hawk" to make sure the oil tax was not passed on to drivers.
He continued:"today's Budget was about reforming the nation's economy, so that we have enduring growth and jobs in the future".
Chancellor George Osborne said he would watch fuel prices "like a hawk" to make sure the oil tax was not passed on to drivers.
He said it was "economically smart" to redistribute the money from the oil companies as they saw profits rise as a result of soaring oil prices "into the hands of families".
Defending his Budget - which also saw economic growth forecasts downgraded - in a round of interviews on Thursday morning, Mr Osborne said he would have liked growth to be stronger but Britain was "coming out of the deepest recession in your lifetime, or mine... the biggest banking crisis in our history" and he had created stability and an "entrepreneurial boost" to get Britain back to prosperity.
We wait anxiously to see if Chancellor George Osborne's little box of tricks comes up trumps!
-ZB
1 comments:
Post a Comment