Budget Summary Newsletter – All You Need to Know
Things aren’t as bleak as forecast last November due to falling energy prices and higher tax revenues that will reduce Government borrowing this year and next by £30bn less than expected. But anyone hoping that we would see major tax cuts will be sorely disappointed. Whilst the economic backdrop is better than expected, the Government faces challenges of persistent low economic growth and public sector pay demands which makes broad relaxation of the tax burden unlikely for the foreseeable future.
Most of the key announcements were directed at getting people into work and keeping them there with changes on childcare and pensions. The changes to pensions were primarily directed at keeping doctors working in the NHS who have been leaving due to the way the pension tax rules penalised them. But the changes will also be of significant interest to people with larger pension funds or who are higher earners. The devil is in the detail and plans should be discussed with your financial adviser before being put into action.
