The Budget 2014: What does it mean for you?

It’s budget day and George Osbourne has taken that trusty red box out of its cupboard once again, but how are his plans going to affect you?

GMAIN

by Ellie Henman |
Published on

In the announcement earlier today, along with the news that we’ll be getting a new style of pound coin – oh how we’re quivering with excitement – the Chancellor promised to help 'makers, doers and savers'.

But, if that doesn’t mean much to you – it went right over our heads – check out this quick breakdown of how the measures could affect you.

On Fuel Duty:

Excellent news for all the drivers out there! George has frozen fuel duty again, meaning we won’t be paying more at the pumps.

Images of the new pound coin have been released by the Royal Mint
Images of the new pound coin have been released by the Royal Mint

Your personal taxes:

Your personal tax allowance – the cash you earn that you don’t pay any income tax on – is to be pushed up to £10,000 this April.

But they’ve now announced this will go up to £10,500 by April 2015.

It works out as about £800 extra in your purse, each year!

And, the higher rate threshold is to rise to £41,865 – meaning more people will be out of the 40% tax band.

On Bingo and Booze:

Bingo duty is set to be halved, from 20% to 10%, and they’ve frozen duty on ordinary Cider and Scotch Whisky.

Oh, and they’ve cut beer duty by a penny. WOOHOO.

Shame they’ve not done the same for wine though.

It's good news for those who like a tipple

If you’re parents:

They're introducing a childcare tax break for working parents.

The new scheme, which will replace the old voucher system, is thought to be worth up to £2000 per child.

But, if one of you stays at home to care for your child/children, you won’t qualify.

For everyone trying to save:

From July, the amount we can all save, tax free in our ISAs, has been raised, from £11,520 to £15,000.

Or, if you’ve going to get some Premium Bonds, George is raising the amount you can purchase by £10,000, so you can now buy up to £40,000, if you're feeling flush...

And they’re introducing an extra £1 million monthly prize, on top the existing one!

It could be the perfect time to get an ISA...

For the older generation:

All tax restrictions on pensioners’ access to their pension pots will be removed and the total amount of pension savings that can be taken as a lump sum will increase to £30,000.

And the taxable part of your pernsion pot, taken as cash on retirement, will be charged at the normal income tax rate – 55% less than before!

If you’re a first time buyer:

The Help To Buy equity loan scheme has been extended to 2020.

This should, in theory, help a further 120,000 people get on the property ladder.

Oh, and we're helping out cathedrals with a £20 million cash injection for repair work

On Religion:

If you love cathedrals, then you’re in luck because they’ve pledged a massive £20 million to help with repairs for the historic buildings.

If you don't, maybe ignore this part because it could make you a little angry.

On Smoking:

Bad news for anyone who’s still struggling to pack in the fags – the price of cigarettes is going to rise, by 2% more than inflation!

May as well quit now, eh?

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