Summary of UK Budget

[mephisto5]

Budget 2012 at a glance: George Osborne's key points

INCOME TAX

From April 2013, the 50p top rate of tax will be cut to 45p.

Personal income tax allowance raised to £9,205 from April 2013, making 24 million people £220 a year better off, including higher rate earners.

But 300,000 more people will be drawn into the higher rate - 40% - tax band from 2013

Comments

[sparkindarkness]

So we take all the benefit cuts we have, the raise in VAT, of course, and the in process gutting of the NHS - all things designed to hit the poorest. But we cut corporation tax and the top rate of tax. We finally have some movement on the personal allowance but it's still below what was promised and coupled with the benefit gutting it's not going to balance the scales

But hey, the Lib Dems wanted that balanced with a wealth tax! Great so we have... a stamp duty hike? Really? That's it? This is the Lib Dem's wealth tax? If soemone sells their £2,000,000 mansion they're taxed - but if they live in it (and maybe own several more) and coin it in they get a hike.

Do we see any taxes on ridiculous bonuses? Why no, it appears not.

Welfare

[ceasetoknow]

The chancellor announced a cut of £10bn in welfare spending in 2016-17 from a forecast bill for benefits, state pensions and tax credits in that year of £229bn.

He said in five years' time welfare would make up a third of all public spending, so to keep cutting spending at the current rate either welfare spending needed to fall another £10bn or other departments including education, health, defence and culture would have to cut spending even deeper.

Cuts to welfare spending will always be politically sensitive, but this £10bn would be on top of about £24bn savings already projected from the recent Welfare Reform Act; in total, the government would have to take £34bn out of the pockets of the most vulnerable people in society in that year.http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/mar/21/budget-2012-welfare-tax-cuts?newsfeed=true... )

Re: Welfare

[maclyn]

through crooked incapacity tests that rule people with terminal cancer fit to work

[the_gabih]

Why are they cutting the 50p tax rate, exactly? There's no need to- if the people paying it are bitching, then they can fuck off elsewhere.

[sparkindarkness]

Because they're Tories