The Chancellor made a surprising number of tax announcements.
The personal allowance will increase to £11,500 from April 2017, which the Government claims will deliver a tax cut for 31million people nationwide.
At the same time the 40 per cent higher rate threshold will also rise to £45,000, a move likely to be welcomed by many of Mr Osborne’s own MPs.
In addition there was the announcement that Capital Gains Tax (CGT) will be cut from 28 per cent to 20 per cent and from 18 per cent to 10 per cent for basic-rate taxpayers
Mr Osborne also announced that he would abolish Class 2 National Insurance (NI) contributions for the self-employed from 2018.
Although a fuel duty increase was being considered for this year, Mr Osborne said that any such rise would place an extra burden on families and confirmed the tax would be frozen for the sixth year running. He claimed that the move would save the average driver £75.
Duty on beer, cider and spirits will be frozen, while tax on other alcohol is to rise in line with inflation.
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