July 2015 United Kingdom budget

2015 July (2015 July) United Kingdom budget
PresentedWednesday 8 July 2015
Parliament56th
PartyConservative Party
ChancellorGeorge Osborne
Total revenue£672 billion
Total expenditures£743 billion
Deficit£69 billion (3.6% of GDP)
WebsiteJuly 2015 Budget documents
2016›

The 2015 United Kingdom summer budget was delivered by George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to the House of Commons on Wednesday, 8 July 2015.[1][2]

This was the first fully Conservative budget since that presented by Kenneth Clarke in November 1996.[3][4]

Background

The background to the budget was that of significant economic growth at 3%.

The budget proposes spending of £742 billion and an income of £673 billion in 2015-16; a deficit of £69 billion (almost 10% of UK public spending).[5]

The budget passed with a majority of 30 votes (320 votes for, 290 against with 36 abstentions).[6]

Conservative MPs voted for the budget (with 9 abstentions). The Labour party voted against the bill with 19 MPs abstaining.

Measures

  • £750 million extra granted to HM Revenue and Customs to tackle tax avoidance
  • Income tax personal allowance raised to £11,000[7]
  • Ordoliberal measures to introduce tax incentives for large corporations to create apprenticeships, aiming for 3 million new apprenticeships by 2020
  • A national living wage of £9 an hour to be introduced by 2020 for 25+ year olds[8]
  • Inheritance tax threshold raised to £1m by 2017 for married couples[8]
  • An £800 increase in the amount of maintenance loan paid out to poorer students, paid for by replacing maintenance grants with loans
  • Benefit cap reduced to £23,000 in London and £20,000 in the rest of the country[7]
  • Starting in April 2016, the Dividend Tax Credit will be removed and replaced with a tax-free Dividend Allowance of £5,000 for all taxpayers, with new rates of tax for dividend income above that amount[9]
  • Confirmation that the BBC has agreed to absorb the £650m cost of providing free television licences for over-75s[8]
  • Non-domiciled individuals
    • Non-domicile status can no longer be inherited
    • Non-domiciles who have lived in the UK for the past 15 of the last 20 years will have to pay normal taxation[8]

Taxes

Source 2015-16 Revenues (£bn)
Income Tax 170
Value Added Tax (VAT) 133
National Insurance 115
Excise duties 47
Corporate Tax 42
Council Tax 28
Business rates 28
Other 109
Total Government revenue 672

Spending

Department 2015-16 Expenditure (£bn)
Social protection 231
Health 141
Education 99
Debt interest 36
Defence 45
Public order and safety 34
Personal social services 30
Housing and Environment 28
Transport 28
Industry, agriculture and employment 24
Other 48
Total Government spending 744

References

  1. ^ "Budget 2015: Why are we having another Budget?". BBC News Online. 2015-07-02. Retrieved 2015-07-04.
  2. ^ "Budget 2015: Osborne offers country 'new contract'". BBC News. 8 July 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  3. ^ "Summer Budget 2015: Full text of George Osborne's speech". The Spectator. 8 July 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  4. ^ Wallace, Tim (12 July 2015). "Budget 2015 summary and highlights: Everything you need to know". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  5. ^ "Summer Budget 2015" (PDF). p. 18.
  6. ^ "The Public Whip — Summer Budget 2015 - 14 Jul 2015 at 18:50".
  7. ^ a b "Budget: The Key Points You Need To Know". Sky News. 8 July 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  8. ^ a b c d "Budget 2015: Osborne commits to national living wage". BBC News. 8 July 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  9. ^ "The 2015 Summer Budget Review". [Business Sale Report]. 14 July 2015. Retrieved 14 July 2015.