But he warned world economy is weak.
Advertisement
“He said he’d give us ‘lower taxes on business and enterprise and I think, overall, he mostly delivered”.
150,000 more jobs have been created in the past year than the OBR expected, and it is forecasting 1m more jobs over the course of this Parliament.
Government spending to fall to 36.9% of GDP by 2020.
National debt lower than it was forecast to be this autumn. It will be 82.6% next year, then 81.3%, followed by 79.7%.
“So let’s tax the things we want to reduce, not the things we want to encourage”.
And UK micro-entrepreneurs who sell services online or rent out their homes through the internet will benefit from two new tax-free allowances each worth £1,000 a year.
Commenting on the announcements affecting small businesses, Mike Cherry, Policy Director at the Federation of Small Businesses, said; “The Chancellor has listened to our calls for the tax system to be made simpler for small businesses and the self-employed and taken important action to make Small Business Rates Relief permanent and to take many small firms out of the system altogether”.
The threshold for small business rates will rise from £6,000 to a maximum of £15,000. Removing VAT loopholes for global ecommerce businesses will help the UKs digital firms be much more competitive.
The Government will speed up house building programmes and the path towards 5G technology.
Work agreed to extend the amount of four lane highways on the M62.
He also raised insurance tax by 0.5 percentage points – and said the money will be spent on flood defences.
Knowsley’s Shakespeare North Theatre funding agreed.
As far as education is concerned, Mr Osborne says by 2022 every school will be, or be in process of being, an academy.
Plans to teach maths to 18 years of age for all pupils.
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has announced in the Budget today that a tax on sugary soft drinks will come into force by 2018 to tackle childhood obesity.
Fuel duty has been frozen for the sixth year straight, which should save the average driver £75 a year. Other alcohol duties will rise in line with inflation. The chancellor also froze beer, cider and whisky duty.
Hundreds of thousands of Brummies will get a tax cut after with income tax personal allowance rising to £11,500 next year.
Advertisement
Threshold at which individuals begin paying the higher rate of tax to be raised from £42,385 to £43,000 in April 2016 and to £45,000 in April 2017.
