Budget 2015: The Key Points You Need To Know

Chancellor George Osborne has delivered his pre-election budget. Here are the key points.

Taxes

:: Personal tax-free allowance will be increased to £10,800 in April 2016, and to £11,000 in April 2017.

:: Fuel duty increase scheduled for September is cancelled.

:: Class 2 National Insurance contributions for the self-employed to be abolished entirely in the next parliament.

:: Annual tax return to be abolished altogether.

:: Review on the use of deeds of variation to avoid inheritance tax to report by the autumn.

:: "More generous" tax credits for TV and film, expanded support for video games industry and new tax credit for orchestras, and a consultation on tax support for local newspapers.

:: Farmers will be allowed to average their incomes for tax purposes over five years.

Savings

:: A "Help to buy ISA" will be launched for first-time buyers. For every £200 saved for a deposit, the Government will top it up with £50.

:: A personal savings allowance to be launched, taking 95% of Britons out of savings tax altogether.

Pensions

:: Pension pot lifetime allowance to be reduced from £1.25m to £1m from next year.

Jobs

:: National Minimum Wage will rise by 20p an hour to £6.70 from October.

Business

:: Corporation tax to be cut to 20% in two weeks’ time.

:: Legislation next week on diverted profits tax aimed at multinationals shifting profits offshore, with policy to take effect at the start of April.

:: Employers’ National Insurance contributions for under-21s to be abolished from this April, and for young apprentices from April 2016.

:: Bank levy increased to 0.21%, raising an additional £900m a year.

Alcohol

:: Beer duty to be cut for the third year running, with 1p off the price of a pint. Cider duty to be cut by 2%. Duty on scotch whisky and other spirits to be cut by 2%. Wine duty to be frozen.

Spending and Welfare

:: Trebling in £15m fund for church roof appeals, and extension to £8,000 in automatic gift aid to benefit 6,500 small charities.

:: Charities for British servicemen and women to receive £75m, funded by Libor fines.

:: Up to £600m to clear new spectrum bands for further auctions, improving mobile phone coverage nationwide, including in remote communities.

:: Funding for wifi in public libraries and new national plan for ultra-fast broadband to nearly all homes in the country.

:: New investment in transport and regeneration across London, and funding to address acute housing shortages in the capital.

:: Automotive industry to receive £100m in investment in the race to driverless technology.

:: South West to receive £7bn in transport investment.

:: Eight new enterprise zones across Britain – including Blackpool and Plymouth.

:: North Sea oil industry to receive £1.3bn in support through four new measures.

:: £1m to buy defibrillators for public places, including schools.

:: Sale of £13bn of mortgage assets held by the Government after the bailout of Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley to be launched. This will be used to pay down the national debt.

Growth

:: The Office for Budget Responsibility says Britain's economy grew by 2.6% last year.

:: Growth forecast for 2015 revised up by 0.1% to 2.5%, with unemployment set to fall by 0.1% from 5.4% to 5.3%.

:: OBR revises 2015 inflation forecast down to 0.2%.