MARCH 23
Tax on a typical pint of beer will be cut by one penny. Duty rates on spirits and lower strength cider will be reduced by 2 per cent.
MARCH 26
Switching website Gocompare launches a new current account comparison tool as part of the Government’s Midata project. For the first time customers can identify which personal current account could suit them best – based on how they use their bank accounts.
Top flight: Air Passenger Duty for children under 12 will be axed in May
APRIL 6
New pension freedoms are introduced, allowing savers over the age of 55 to withdraw from a defined contribution pension as they like. Any sum withdrawn will be 25 per cent tax free and the remaining three-quarters will be subject to tax at the same rate as any other income.
The 55 per cent tax charge on inherited pensions for beneficiaries of individuals who die before reaching the age of 75 is abolished. Payments under a joint-life or guaranteed-term annuity will also be tax-free.
If a member of a defined contribution pension scheme dies after age 75, the 55 per cent rate is replaced with the beneficiary’s marginal rate of tax, or 45 per cent if funds are taken as a lump sum.
Tax on a typical pint of beer will be cut by one penny
An individual’s personal allowance – earnings before income tax is payable – rises to £10,600. The higher 40 per cent income tax threshold increases to £42,385.
Tax-free Isa allowance increases to £15,240. Junior Isas and Child Trust Fund allowances will be uprated to £4,080.
Married couples and civil partners will be able to transfer up to £1,050 of their income tax personal allowance to a higher earning spouse or civil partner. This applies only to basic rate taxpayers.
MAY
General Election.
Air Passenger Duty for children under the age of 12 with economy-class flight tickets is abolished to help cash-strapped families going on holiday.
Extension of availability of 65+ savings bonds through National Savings and Investments ends on May 15.
JUNE
Premium Bonds investment limit through NS&I increases to £50,000.
SEPTEMBER
New tax-free childcare scheme launches, offering up to £2,000 per child to help with nursery or child-minding costs. This applies to all working parents with children aged up to 12.
Fuel Duty increase of 0.54 pence per litre is scrapped.
Help-to-Buy Isas for first-time buyers to be made available in the autumn.
What a gas: In September, fuel duty increase is scrapped
OCTOBER
Pensioners and those reaching the state pension age before April 6, 2016 can pay extra National Insurance contributions to boost their pension. This scheme will be open for 18 months.
The adult national minimum wage increases by 3.1 per cent to £6.70 an hour. The apprentice rate, for people aged 16 to 18, increases by 57p to £3.30.
2016
MARCH
Air Passenger Duty on flight tickets is scrapped for children up to the age of 16 travelling in economy-class.
APRIL
New flat-rate state pension is introduced for people reaching state retirement age from April 6. This full amount is set to be worth at least £148.40 a week.
Pensioners receiving income from annuities will be able to cash them in by selling to a third party.
The Lifetime Allowance for people saving into a pension is reduced from £1.25 million to £1 million.
Tax-free personal allowance rises to £10,800. Higher rate taxpaying threshold increases.
New Personal Savings Allowance is introduced, exempting the first £1,000 of savings interest from tax for basic-rate taxpayers and the first £500 for higher-rate taxpayers. It does not apply to additional-rate taxpayers.
New system to cap the costs of long-term care comes in. The state will contribute to personal care costs once someone has spent £72,000 of their own funds.
Lump sum payments from a pension bequeathed by an individual who died over the age of 75 will be taxed at the beneficiary’s marginal rate of income tax, rather than at 45 per cent.
2017
New design: A more secure 12-sided £1 coin is introduced to replace the current model in 2017
A more secure 12-sided £1 coin is introduced to replace the current model, which is easier to forge and has allowed for 45 million fake pound coins to circulate in the economy. The design of the ‘tails’ side of the coin was created by 15-year-old competition winner David Pearce and features the four national emblems that make up the UK – a rose, leek, thistle and shamrock.
APRIL
Personal allowance rises to £11,000. Higher-rate taxpayer threshold increases to £43,300.
2018
APRIL
Lifetime allowance for pension savings will be indexed to increase annually by the Consumer Prices Index measure of inflation.
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