Income tax: A cut in the 50p tax rate — from April next year the top rate of tax will be 45 per cent for those earning above £150,000. The direct cost of the change will be £100 million a year.
High earners: Anyone seeking to claim more than £50,000 tax relief in a year will have a cap set at 25 per cent of income.
Low earners: The tax-free personal allowance for the under-65s will rise to £8,105 in 2012-13 and then £9,205 from April 2013.Basic-rate taxpayers will be able to earn up to £41,450 before paying 40 per cent tax in 2013-14.
The increase in the personal allowance will provide a real-terms gain of £170 a year for most basic-rate taxpayers and £42.50 for most higher- rate taxpayers in 2013-14. In total, 23.6 million people earning less than £100,000 a year will benefit, but 1.8 million individuals will suffer an average loss of £185 a year.
Child benefit: Households who receive child benefit where one person’s income exceeds £50,000 will lose 1 per cent of child benefit for every £100 earned over £50,000. Those earning £60,000 and over will lose the benefit completely. The change will affect 1.2 million families, who will lose an average of £1,300 a year. Ninety per cent of families will remain eligible for the benefit.
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In the know: From 2014 taxpayers will get a personal tax statement telling them how much income tax and national insurance they have paid; their average tax rates; and how much was spent on healthcare, education, welfare etc.
Pensioners: The UK population keeps getting older — so there will be an automatic review of the state pension age to ensure it keeps pace with increases in longevity.
Details will be published this summer. Pensioners will also receive a single-tier pension — of about £140 a week — based on contributions. “A single, generous, basic state pension for those who have worked and saved hard all their lives,” the Chancellor said.
Young people: They could receive enterprise loans to start up their own business — similar to a university loan for graduates. The Government is currently “exploring” this option.
Tax evasion: The Chancellor said that tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance are “morally repugnant”. He has upped the numbers fighting it at HMRC, and their resources. The Government will introduce a “general anti-avoidance rule” — legislation will be in next years’ Finance Bill.
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Military families: The Government will double the families’ welfare grant for people deployed overseas and double council tax relief for those serving overseas — they will now receive 100 per cent relief on an average council tax bill.
Booze: No change, but the Government will soon publish a detailed alcohol strategy.
Cigarettes: Duty on all tobacco products rose by 5 per cent above inflation — 37p on a packet of cigarettes — from 6pm last night.
Fuel: The fair fuel stabiliser means above-inflation rises in fuel duty will return only if the oil falls below £45 a barrel.
Vehicle excise duty: Will rise by inflation only. Frozen for road hauliers.
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Stamp duty: From midnight last night, a new stamp duty land tax rate of 7 per cent on properties worth more than £2 million.
Millionaire pads: Properties worth more than £2 million bought through companies will pay stamp duty at 15 per cent. The levy is applicable immediately. The Government is consulting on introducing a “large” annual charge on high-value properties already contained in “corporate envelopes”.
Non-residents: Capital gains tax introduced on residential property held in “overseas envelopes”.
Defence housing: The Government will spend £100 million on improvements to Armed Forces housing.
Housing: An expansion of the Get Britain Building Fund providing finance to construction companies Extra funding will provide 3,000 new homes.
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Getting away . . . by air The Government will look at the South East’s lack of airport capacity and will lay out plans in the summer.
Getting away . . . by road An increasing role for private investment in the road network is envisaged.
Getting away . . . by rail The Chancellor said transport investment in the north of England had been neglected for years. Now, Network Rail will extend the “Northern Hub” by upgrading the Hope Valley line between Manchester and Sheffield — and improve the Manchester- to-Preston and Blackpool and Manchester-to-Bradford lines.
Defence: With British Forces ceasing combat operations in Afghanistan by the end of 2014 — the cost of operations will be £2.4 billion lower over the remainder of the Parliament.
Technology and films: £100 million will be provided for ultra-fast broadband and wi-fi in the ten biggest cities.
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Tech tax credit: A new tax credit for the video games, animation and high-end TV production industries will be introduced so programmes such as Birdsong are not made abroad.
Local government: The Government will support £150 million of tax-increment financing for local authorities to promote development, and will give an extra £270 million to the Growing Places infrastructure fund
London: There will be support for the Mayor, Boris Johnson, on lengthening commuter trains, extending the Underground and exploring new river crossings, and a £15 million grant for improving cycling safety.
Higher learning: £100 million will be made available for new university research facilities.
Growth: The OBR has increased its GDP growth forecast for 2012 slightly to 0.8 per cent, from the autumn estimate of 0.7 per cent. It predicts GDP will grow 2 per cent in 2013, marginally down from the 2.1 per cent it forecast in November.
Debt: Public sector net debt will peak at 76.3 per cent of GDP in 2014-15, and then drop to 74.3 per cent in 2016-17.
Borrowing: The total borrowed by the public sector in 2011-12 is expected to be £126 billion, £1 billion less than forecast in the Autumn Statement. The Government is considering issuing gilts with maturities “significantly longer” than 50 years.
Inflation: The CPI rate is expected to drop sharply over 2012, approaching the 2 per cent target in early next year.
Jobs: Unemployment will peak at 8.7 per cent this year, falling back to 6.3 per cent in 2016. The number of claimants is projected to peak at 1.67 million by the end of the year.
Tax: The cuts to corporation tax will be quicker and deeper, bringing it down to 24 per cent from 26 per cent in April this year. It will be 23 per cent in 2013, and 22 per cent in 2014, giving Britain the lowest corporation tax rate in the G7.
Bankers: The full rate of the Bank Levy will be raised to 0.105 per cent in January 2013, raising at least £2.5 billion a year.
Enterprise: The Enterprise Management Incentive scheme, designed to help SMEs recruit skilled employees, will be expanded.
Environment: Planning regulations will be stripped down when the National Planning Policy Framework is published on Tuesday. It will include a presumption in favour of sustainable development.
Technology: R&D tax credits for SMEs will go up from 200 per cent to 225 per cent in April, and the limit on SME payable credit will be abolished.
Oil and gas: A field allowance of £3 billion will be available for oil companies to open reserves west of the Shetlands.
Gambling: The gambling tax regime will change. A duty of 20 per cent on machines will be introduced in February.
Olympics: Sunday trading laws will be relaxed from July 22 to September 9.