Budget 2015: The Leaks So Far
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne will announce the budget to Parliament on Wednesday, 18th March, 2015. This will be his sixth budget since becoming a chancellor back in 2010.
He has said earlier this year budget will be of long term, short on gimmick and giveaways and encourages a national economic recovery by cutting debt cuts.
The leaks that have been buzzing around are:
Tax avoidance measures
With the revelations of HSBC scandal in Switzerland, the chancellor has signalled that he will announce new hefty penalties aimed at bankers, accountants and professional services firms who help their clients to avoid paying their share of UK tax. These measures will be executed solely to control further tax evasion and tax avoidance.
Pensions
The Chancellor, George Osborne plans to introduce new pensions rules that will allow six million people to sell their retirement annuities for cash. However, last year, the reforms allowed over 55’s to cash in pension savings than buying annuity. While some critics have said that such liberty will lure the pensioners to spend away their savings on lavish things, the Chancellor has dismissed it as patronising.
Taxes
The “Google Tax” is expected to be mentioned in the budget. The Chancellor plans to impose 25 percent tax on big tech companies having annual revenues of more than £250 million in the UK. However, it is not sure how it will be imposed.
Beer duty
The tax on beer is going to be cut between 1p and 2p per pint which will make it a third year in a row. With 2% cut for wine and beer, it will help in growth of jobs and contribute to the public finances and the economy of the UK.
Welfare
The Chancellor plans to restrict child benefit to three children for new claimants and reduce the overall welfare to £23,000. If under-25s refuses offers to work, training or education, they could also lose the right to housing and unemployment benefits.
These are just predictions and leaks which have made a round. Will all these will be included on Budget 2015, we have to wait till March 18, 2015.
