It’s that time of year again. Not a lot being leaked this time around so we’ll have to wait and see what the Chancellor says.
Coverage:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-26517496
BBC Two, the BBC News Channel and on Radio 5 live
What to expect in the Budget:
Coverage:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-26517496
BBC Two, the BBC News Channel and on Radio 5 live
What to expect in the Budget:
Personal Allowance
The Lib Dems have made it known that they are pushing for the personal tax allowance to be raised from £10,000 to £10,500. But sources admit they are "pushing at an open door".
This idea, first proposed on the front page of the Lib Dem 2010 manifesto, has been accepted with glee by tax-cutting Tories who want to claim credit for its implementation.
Higher rate of tax
The Chancellor has been under pressure to take some of 4.4m people out of the higher rate, 40p, tax bracket. All the indications have been that he won’t do it. When asked about it this weekend he insisted that the personal allowance changes had helped the middle classes as well as workers lower down the income scale.
Childcare
Mr Osborne announced a series of plans to help parents pay for childcare last year – but in this Budget he is being more generous.
Parents will be able to have 20% of their childcare costs covered up to a maximum of £2,000 a year. There is a u-turn on Universal Credit with the Chancellor bowing to pressure from charities to raise the proportion of childcare covered for recipients from 70 to 85%. And a new pupil premium for nurseries in England.
Housing
Another area that has been trailed is plans to help fund the infrastructure to support a new garden city in Ebbsfleet Kent, with its high-speed link to London.
The Chancellor is also extending the first (less controversial) phase of help-to-buy for first time buyers purchasing new-build homes. These policies are designed to drive up supply of housing to help meet a 2016 target of 240,000 new homes a year.
Freeze in the carbon tax
The aim here is to help ease pressure on energy bills. The plan is to freeze the carbon price floor, which provides a disincentive to burning fossil fuels by pushing up the costs.
Exporters
Mr Osborne insisted in a speech in Hong Kong that he wanted this Budget to have a "made in Britain" theme – helping companies producing British goods to sell abroad. The Budget is likely to include resources made available particularly for small and medium sized business in a bid to try to meet a target to grow exports by £1tn by the end of the decade.
Investors
This is another area in which the Chancellor is under pressure to make progress. Investors in infrastructure such as road are keen to see allowances for capital spending increase. They are already extremely generous. One hope is that Mr Osborne will extend or increase a £250,000 annual investment allowance due to end at the start of next year.