Here are the key points from Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget statement to MPs:
• The basic rate of income tax will be cut to 19p in the pound from April 2023. Will mean 31 million people will be better off by an average of £170 per year.
• The 45% higher rate of income tax is to be abolished.
• It was already announced that April’s National Insurance hike is to be reversed from 6 November – saving money for businesses and 28 million workers. The 1.25 percentage points increase was introduced under former chancellor Rishi Sunak.
• Planned duty rises on beer, cider, wine and spirits cancelled
• Stamp duty to be cut from “today”. Nothing will be paid for first £250,000 of property’s value – double the current amount allowed. The threshold for first-time buyers is to be increased from £300,000 to £425,000. The value of the property on which first-time buyers can claim relief is to also go up from…