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Budget 2008

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  • Budget 2008

    Here are the key points from Chancellor Alistair Darling's 2008 Budget:


    CIGARETTES AND ALCOHOL
    • Cigarettes up 11p a packet of 20 from 1800 GMT; five cigars up 4p.

    • Beer up by 4p a pint, wine 14p a bottle, spirits 55p a bottle and cider 3p a litre by Sunday.

    • Duties on alcohol will go up by 2% above inflation for next four years.

    CARS, FUEL AND ROAD PRICING
    • From 2009, major reform of the vehicle excise duty. For new cars from 2010, the lowest-polluting cars will pay no road tax in the first year. Higher-polluting cars will pay more.

    • Funding set aside for road-pricing proposals.

    • 2p increase in fuel duty is postponed until October this year.

    • For environmental reasons, fuel duty will rise by 0.5p per litre in real terms in 2010.

    HOUSING
    • From April, key workers, such as teachers and nurses, will be able to borrow money from shared equity schemes.

    • Stamp duty on shared ownership homes will not be required until people own 80% of their home.

    • More people should have the chance to have a long-term fixed mortgage, which a report shows can reduce the risks for first-time buyers and can keep them on the housing ladder.

    • Sites for 70,000 more houses have been identified.

    PENSIONERS
    • Winter fuel allowance will go up from £200 to £250 for the over 60s and from £300 to £400 for the over 80s.

    BENEFITS
    • From October 2009, rules for housing and council tax benefit will mean families on benefit are better off in work.

    • From April, 2009, child benefit will be increased to £20 a week.

    • From April 2010, all long-term recipients of incapacity benefit will attend work capacity programmes.

    BUSINESS
    • £60m over three years for equipping people to return to the workplace.

    • Corporation tax will fall from 30% to 28% by April this year, with simpler taxes for small companies.

    • More help for small businesses, with capital gains tax remaining at 10%.

    • Funds available through the small firms loans guarantee will increase by 60% in the next year.

    • There will be a capital fund of £12.5m to encourage more women entrepreneurs.

    AIRPORTS AND AIR TRAVEL
    • New measures at Heathrow and other airports, using biometric technology, to speed up the time it takes to get through security checks.

    ENVIRONMENT
    • Laws will be introduced by 2009 to tax plastic bags if shops do not do more to charge for their use.

    • £26m to help make homes greener.

    • New non-domestic buildings to become zero-carbon from 2019.

    • The government is asking the European Commission for tougher targets on car fuel emissions

    • Consideration is being given to raising the UK target for emissions cuts to 80% by 2050.

    EDUCATION
    • There will be £200m extra for schools to raise GCSE results. By 2011, every school "will be an improving school".

    • There will be a £30m fund to improve science teaching.

    POVERTY
    • Child poverty must be eradicated in Britain. Total of 600,000 fewer children in relative poverty and 150,000 fewer children in absolute poverty.

    • Five million customers on pre-paid meters should get a "better deal". Energy companies should spend £150m on social tariffs.

    • £17 more a week for poor families with one child.

    • A family with two children earning up to £28,000 a year will be £130 a year better off. A further £125m to be spent over the next three years to help families.

    SAVINGS
    • The government will launch the "savings gateway" nationally with the first accounts available by 2010.

    • Cash ISA limit confirmed as £3,600 a year from April.

    ECONOMY
    • Turbulence in global financial markets, starting in the US, has spread across the world - and this poses a major risk to the world economy.

    • The British economy will continue to grow. "This Budget is about equipping Britain for the times ahead...about building a fairer society," Mr Darling said.

    • Britain is more resilient and more prepared to deal with global shocks.

    • The UK's GDP per head has gone from the lowest in the G7 in the 1990s to second highest now.

    • The British economy will this year grow from between 1.75% and 2.25%, down from 3% last year.

    • "There will be no return to the inflation rates of the early 1990s," Mr Darling said.

    • To provide certainty, the chancellor said he is writing to the governor of the Bank of England to keep a 2% target on inflation.

    • Borrowing next year will rise to £43bn, some 2.9% of national income. It will fall to 1.3% by 2012/13.

    • By 2011, investment will have increased by 500%, trebling as a share of national income.

    • Public spending in the coming three years will grow by 2.2% a year.

    ARMED FORCES
    • an extra £2bn will be spent on troops in the frontline, including £900m on military equipment.

    PUBLIC SERVICES
    • Spending on government departments must be matched by reform.

    • The focus for the next decade on the NHS will be creating "world-class services".

    NON DOMICILES
    • The government welcomes the contribution made by people from outside the UK. But non domiciled families should pay a "reasonable charge" after seven years.

  • #2
    Re: Budget 2008

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Budget 2008

      :high5: child benefit up, tax credits up (a bit)
      not sure on the housing and co tax benefit yet...
      cigs up and booze up

      :laugh:
      #staysafestayhome

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