EDELMAN BUDGET 2015 BRIEFING OVERVIEW After a week of press briefings and speculation, this was a carefully constructed Budget appealing to the country, the electorate and the Conservative core vote. After announcing this weekend that this would be a no gimmicks Budget, the Chancellor built on much of the positive work he started last year. Having learnt the lessons from 2012, which was a political disaster and saw the Chancellor’s personal ratings take a nose dive, this was a competent and solid display. With strong economic data to support him, the Chancellor continued to drive a clear wedge between economic competence presented by the blue team and that of incompetence presented by the red one. Supported by strong economic data, with the economy expected to grow by 2.5% this year and 2.3% in 2016, 2017 and 2018, he confidently announced further infrastructure investment and greater devolution through the New City Deal.
This national message was supported with carefully constructed announcements for voters. The Chancellor built on the highly successful announcements of 2014 by extending annuity and ISA reform. In addition, a claim to pull “ten pound off a tank with the Tories,” reductions in beer, cider and scotch whisky, and increases in the personal allowance threshold, set the tone for what he hopes will be an election winning Budget. This was a confident, solid and pragmatic Chancellor. The choice he presented to the country today is simple. Do we want “to return to the chaos of the past or do we choose the future?” With speculation rife that the Prime Minister may go to the Palace sometime next week, the battle lines have been drawn. Let the final stage of this long battle commence!
Gurpreet Brar, Managing Director
BUDGET 2015 AT A GLANCE
Pensions Lifetime pension relief allowance is to be cut from £1.25m to £1m, with this projected to save around £600m.
National Insurance
Class 2 national insurance contributions for the self-employed are to be abolished in the next parliament.
Tax Avoidance
£3.1bn is to be raised from new measures intended to tackle tax avoidance and evasion.
Personal Savings
From April next year the first £1,000 of interest earned on all of an individual’s savings will be completely tax-free.
Tax Free Allowance
The personal tax free allowance is to go up to £10,800 in 2016 and then £11,000 in 2017, with the potential to deliver a tax cut for 27 million people.
Alcohol Duty
Business Tax
Beer duty is to be cut by 1p on a pint. Cider duty is to be cut by 2% and Scotch whisky duty by 2%.
Corporation tax is to be cut to 20% from April, meanwhile the current system of business rates will be reformed with an extensive review.
Devolution Greater Manchester is to be permitted to retain 100% of the extra revenue from increased business rates as it grows. A similar deal will also be offered to Cambridge, with other areas to be granted the same powers in the future.
Tax Returns End-of-year tax returns are to be scrapped in favour of “real-time” online accounts by 2020, with the aim of ending the annual rush to file tax returns.
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