Osborne’s statement at a glance

TAX • Reform of residential property stamp duty so that rates fall only to that part of the property price that falls within each band - 0% in first £125,000 then 2% on the portion up to £250,000 then 5% up to £925,000, then 10% up to £1.5 million, then 12% on anything above that, saving £4,500 on average priced home. • UK’s net payments to European Union to fall by about £1 billion this year and next year and decline in real terms over the next five years. • Inheritance tax exemption extended to cover aid workers who die dealing with humanitarian emergencies. • Hospice charities, search and rescue and air ambulance to be granted VAT refunds. • New 25% diverted profits tax on multi-national profits generated in the UK and “artificially” moved out of the country. • Changes to rules on bank profit offsets to raise almost £4 billion. • Clampdown on aggressive tax avoidance to raise £2.8 billion. • Charge for non-dom tax status to rise to £60,000 a year for those resident for 12 of the last 14 years and £90,000 for those in the country for 17 of 20 years. • Annual charge on properties “enveloped” to avoid stamp duty to rise by 50% above inflation on properties over £2 million. • Immediate reduction in oil industry supplementary charge from 32% to 30%. • Air passenger duty for children under 12 abolished in May 2015 and for under 16s in 2016. • Government to legislate to devolve corporation tax to Northern Ireland if the Northern Ireland executive shows it can manage the financial implications. • People who die under 75 to be enabled to pass on annuities tax free. • Limit on saving in New Isas to rise to £15,240 and Isas to be inherited tax free. • National Insurance on young apprentices to be abolished. • Income tax free personal allowance to rise to £10,600 rather than the planned £10,500 next year, giving wage boost of £825 a year. • Higher rate income tax threshold to rise to £42,385 next year. ECONOMY • Office for Budget Responsibility GDP growth forecast for this year is 3%, then 2.4% in 2015, 2.2% in 2016, then 2.4%, 2.3% and 2.3% in subsequent years. • OBR revises down inflation forecast “significantly” to 1.5% this year, 1.2% next year and 1.7% the year after. • OBR forecasts deficit to fall from £97.5 billion last year to £91.3 billion this year, then £75.9 billion next year then £40.9 billion and £14.5 billion in subsequent years before reaching a surplus of £4 billion in 2018/19 and £23 billion in 2019/20. • Deficit as percentage of GDP at 5% this year, falling to 4% next year, then 2.1% and 0.7% before moving into surplus of 0.2% in 2018/19 and 1% in 2019/20. • Debt as a share of GDP 80.4% this year, peaking at 81.1% next year then falling to 80.7%, 78.8%, 76.2% in following years before reaching 72.8% in 2019/20. EMPLOYMENT, BUSINESS and EDUCATION • Half a million new jobs created over the last year, with numbers claiming unemployment benefit falling by 23% and young people on long-term jobless benefit almost halving. • Unemployment forecast at 5.4% next year before settling at 5.3%. • Regular earnings growth is now faster than inflation, at 4% for those in full-time work for over a year. • OBR predicts wage growth above inflation for the next five years. • Expansion of British Business Bank, extension for a further year in the Funding for Lending scheme for smaller firms and new tax break for orchestras and children’s television tax credit. • R&D tax credit increased for small and medium companies to 230% and for large firms to 11%, while small business rate relief is doubled for another year. • Inflation-linked increase in business rates capped at 2% and discount for shops, pubs and cafes increased by 50% to £1,500. • Government-backed loans of up to £10,000 made available for all students undertaking post-graduate masters degrees. INVESTMENT • Mr Osborne confirmed additional £2 billion every year for the frontline of the NHS and a £1.2 billion investment in GP services paid for from foreign exchange fines. • Employment Allowance of £2,000 to be extended to carers. • Tendering for new franchises for Northern Rail and Trans-Pennine Express to replace pacer carriages with modern trains. • Investment of £250 million in new advanced material science institute in Manchester with branches in Leeds, Sheffield and Liverpool. • New sovereign wealth fund to invest proceeds from shale gas resources in the north, in the north of England. PENSIONS AND EFFICIENCIES • Public sector pay restraint in the next Parliament to deliver savings “commensurate” with the £12 billion achieved over the past four years. • Commitment to complete public service pension reforms, saving £1.3 billion a year. • Plan published for a further £10 billion of efficiencies in Whitehall, and Chancellor commits to raising at least £5 billion by cracking down on tax avoidance and evasion. • Universal Credit work allowances to be frozen for a further year, tax credits to be cut when overpayments are certain and unemployment benefit to be ended for migrants with no prospect of work. • Total welfare spending set to be £1 billion lower than Budget forecast and to continue falling as share of GDP.