The first Conservative budget since 1996 was announced today with some major announcements being made – here’s a quick summary:

  • ‘National living wage’ of £9.00 an hour to be introduced by 2020, starting at £7.20 from next year
  • Permanent non-dom tax status to be abolished from April 2017
  • Maintenance grants for undergraduate students to be scrapped from 2016/17, to be replaced by loans paid to students with family incomes below £42,000, with the maximum amount available increased to £8,200
  • Corporation tax to be cut to 18% by 2020
  • Public sector pay to be limited to a 1% increase for the next four years
  • Working age benefits to be frozen for four years, including tax credits and local housing allowance (not including maternity pay and disability benefits)
  • Inheritance tax threshold to be increased to £1 million for married couples by 2017
  • Benefit cap to be reduced from £26,000 to £20,000 (£23,000 in London)
  • Sunday trading hours to be devolved to local councils in England and Wales
  • Pensions tax annual allowance to be tapered away to a minimum of £10,000 from 2016
  • Introduction of new Vehicle Excise Duty bands, with the revenue being used to create a new roads fund
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