Budget: personal tax allowance to be increased
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INCREASES in personal tax allowances and a reduction in corporation tax are among the measures announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, in today’s Budget.
But he decided to put duty on all tobacco products up by five per cent above inflation from 6pm which is the equivalent of 37p on a packet of cigarettes. The price of a pint is also to go up by 5p.
There will be no change to existing plans on fuel duty but vehicle excise duty will rise in line with inflation. The duty will be frozen for road hauliers.
Mr Osborne, speaking in the House of Commons, said the top rate of tax for people earning over £150,000 a year will be cut from 50p to 45p in April next year.
He is to clamp down on tax avoidance and increase stamp duty to seven per cent for sales of houses over £2 million.
Personal tax allowances will go up to £9205 in April 2013, while corporation tax will fall from 26 per cent to 24 per cent next month and to 22 per cent by 2014.
Other measures include:
• 100 per cent capital allowances to support investment at designated sites, including Nigg in Easter Ross, which have the potential to deliver jobs in the energy industry.
• A package of oil and gas measures to secure billions of pounds of additional investment in the UK continental shelf.
• Investment in infrastructure, including the A82 road between Inverness and Glasgow.
• The correction of certain anomalies in VAT and the closure of loopholes in the system to prevent avoidance.
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