The chancellor George Osborne announced yesterday that VAT has been increased to 20% to stop this generation of debt and crazy ass spending. I think it’s ludicrous, my friend Jas summed it up pretty well in a tweet ‘they are taking LIBerties and CONning us’. All the more reason for me to move abroad upon graduation next year. *touch wood* more details on the changes after the cut.
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They’ve also frozen Child Benefits for the next three years and changed a bunch of other things that I dare not comment with my lack of political/law knowledge. Here’s the BBC round-up of the key points in budget.
Council tax: Could be frozen for one year from April 2011 in England, but extra funds will only be offered to councils which keep their own costs down. Worth about £35 per household.
Capital Gains Tax: To rise from 18% to 28% from midnight for higher rate taxpayers. The “entrepreneurs relief” rate of 10% on the first £2m of gains will be extended to the first £5m.
Child benefit: Frozen for the next three years.
Tax credits: Reduced for families earning over £40,000 next year. But low income families will get more Child Tax Credit – the amount per child will rise by £150 above the rate of inflation next year – at an annual cost of £2bn.
Housing benefit: New maximum limit of £400 a week for properties with more than three bedrooms, £250 a week for a one-bedroom flat, £290 for a two-bedroom property and £340 for a three-bed property, to save £1.8bn a year by the end of the Parliament.
The basic state pension will be linked to earnings from April 2011, with the pension guaranteed to rise in line with earnings, prices or 2.5%, whichever is the greater.
Read more on BBC.
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