So, what did the Chancellor have up his sleeve? And how does it affect you and your money? Here is Spectator Money’s guide to the major changes.
Income tax
George Osborne stayed true to a Conservative pre-election pledge to increase the threshold for the higher rate of income tax. While reiterating that the goal is to raise the higher rate towards £50,000 by the end of the parliament, he announced an increase in the 40p threshold to £45,000 from next April (£42,385 from this April). This will lift half a million people out of the higher rate and save them £400 a year. And he repeated the aim of boosting the tax-free personal allowance to £12,500 while revealing a rise to £11,500 by next April, calling the combination of these measures ‘social justice delivered by conservative means’.
Savings
The Chancellor reserved one of the biggest surprises of his Budget for savers by announcing the introduction of a Lifetime ISA. This
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