Income boost for low and middle income earners

Income tax boost for lower and middle earners

The Chancellor has confirmed the threshold at which people pay 40% income tax will rise from its current level of £42,385 to £45,000 in April 2017. Mr Osborne claimed the increase to the higher rate threshold was “the biggest above-inflation cash increase since Nigel Lawson introduced the 40p rate almost 30 years ago”. However, middle-class Scots are set to pay more income tax than their peers anywhere else in the UK after the SNP signalled it will not introduce the same policy. The Scottish Government said SNP ministers “do not consider this to be the right time for high earners to pay less tax.” Mr Osborne also announced that the tax-free personal allowance will rise from £11,000 in April 2016 to £11,500 in April 2017.

Source: The Times (17/03/2016)