UK Budget: Summary of main taxation measures
Here are the main taxation measures in the UK government's 2016 Budget:
- New sugar levy to be introduced on soft drinks industry in 2018 to raise £520m for after school activities
- Corporation tax to fall to 17% by 2020 from 20%
- Individual tax free personal earnings allowance to rise to £11,500
- Headline rate of capital gains tax cut from to 20% from 28% and from 18% to 10% for basic-rate taxpayers
- Tax-free Individual Savings Accounts limit to rise to £20,000 from £15,000
- New state-backed savings scheme for low-paid workers, worth up to £1,200 over four years
- Increase in 40p tax threshold to £45,000 from £42,385
- New "lifetime ISA" for those people aged under 40. For every £4 save government will contribute £1, up to the value of £4,000 per year.
- Fuel, beer and cider, whisky and other spirits duties frozen.
- Excise on wine to go up by inflation
- Cigarette duties up 2%, hand-rolled tabacco up 3%
- Insurance premium tax up 0.5% to 10% (making a rise of 66.6% since October 2015)
- Commercial stamp duty 0% rate on purchases up to £150,000, 2% on next £100,000 and 5% top rate above £250,000. New 2% rate for high-value leases with net present value above £5m.
- Anti-tax avoidance and evasion measures to raise £12bn by 2020
- Annual threshold for small business tax relief to be raised to maximum of £15,000 from £6,000
- Supplementary charge for oil and gas producers halved to 10%
- Petroleum revenue tax to be "effectively abolished"
- Plan to raise £9bn by closing corporate tax loopholes and tax minimisation schemes