Good news for married people, pensioners and those looking to get onto the property ladder, in the Autumn Statement announced today. Bad news for those still working - especially those aged 30 or under, as the State Pension age is to be tied to life expectancy.
The Chancellor George Osborne revealed price freezes, monetary measures and tax allowances - but nothing too unexpected thanks to a series of leaks earlier in the week.
We outline the measures below:
Good News...
- Planned price rises for train tickets and underground travel as well as planned hike in fuel duty have been scrapped
- More banks to offer Help to Buy mortgages for those struggling to purchase a property
- Crackdown on tax avoidance and benefit fraud
- Basic State Pension will increase by £2.95 a week from next April
- Married Couples Tax Allowance to allow a transfer of up to £1,000 of unused tax-free earnings allowance between married couples
- ISA allowances have been raised to £11,880 for ISAs and £3,840 for Junior ISAs and Child Trust Funds from April. No lifetime cap has been announced as rumoured
- Abolition of stamp duty on the purchase of shares in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)
Bad News...
- State Pension age to rise in line with life expectancy. The aim is that nobody spend more than a third of their life in retirement. There are no changes to the current plan to set the State Pension age at 66 in 2020 and 67 by 2028. This is now expected to rise steadily to 70 by around 2055
- Non-UK residents will have to pay Capital Gains Tax when selling residential property in the UK from April 2015