The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, will deliver the next Budget at lunchtime today (Wednesday 16th March 2016).  The speech will set out the Government’s plans for the economy plus tax change proposals for the following financial year.  What might be announced?

Help to Save

The Prime Minister has announced a new “Help to Save” scheme designed to encourage those on low incomes to start their savings habit, this will launch from April 2018.

Public spending cuts

The Chancellor has warned that weaker than expected growth and turmoil in the global markets will lead to deeper cuts in public spending.  The Chancellor has already revealed the cuts would amount to £4 billion, the ‘equivalent to 50p in every £100’ of public spending by 2020.  We do not know yet where the cuts will come from.

Schools

The Chancellor is expected to announce plans to force all schools in England to become academies by 2022 and to allow them to be open for longer hours, to help working parents.

National Minimum Wage

It’s already been announced that the National Minimum Wage for workers over 25 will be £7.20 from April- equivalent to a pay rise of at least £900 a year.  For 21- to 24-year-olds on the minimum wage would also rise 3.7% to £6.95 an hour – equivalent to an extra £450 a year.

Pension taxation

Pension tax relief changes are anticipated, either by cutting it down/removing it for higher-paid workers but allowing people to withdraw all of their pensions tax free on their retirement.

We eagerly await the budget later today so see if these predictions are correct and to get more detail…