In summary:

Economy
Economy forecast to grow by between 1.75-2.25% in 2008-2009.
Borrowing forecast to rise from £36billion this year to £43billion next year.
Public spending to rise by 2.2% per year.

Utilities
Energy companies 'encouraged' to increase their spend on 'social tariffs' to £150million. The five million customers on pre-paid meters should get a "better deal".
Winter fuel allowance to go up from £200 to £250 for the over 60s and from £300 to £400 for the over 80s.

Motor and Home
Fuel duty increase of 2p suspended until October 2008. Will rise 0.5p above inflation each year from 2010.
Vehicle Excise Duty up £5 per year - except for cars with a CO2 emission level of 120 g/km or below = no increase. £100 increase for cars with CO2 emission level of 226 g/km and above [for new cars registered from March 2006].
Inheritance Tax allowance increased to £312k per person or £624k per couple for 2008-2009 and 325k per person or 650k per couple for 2009-2010.
Cash savings scheme for those on lower incomes from 2010.
Charge on plastic bags from 2009 unless companies do it themselves.
Stamp Duty relief for shared ownership.
Beer: up 4p per pint.
Wine: up 14p per litre.
Spirits: up 55p per 70cl bottle.
Tobacco: up 11p on a packet of 20 cigarettes.

Click here to read Clare Francis's article 'The Budget 2008 at a glance''.

Vote now in our poll: Are you worried about your financial situation?

How has the Budget affected you? Click 'Reply' to have your say...

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Cheers,
Graeme Delap

User Communities Editor, moneysupermarket.com
graeme.delap AT moneysupermarket.com

Will be intresting to see peoples views and how they are affected

Economy wise it looking good that the uk is continuing to grow albeit slowly ,although i wouldnt be too happy about the borrowing forecast,public spending also to continue to rise,which is ok aslong it doesnt get swallowed up in wage rises and real improvements in health,education and policing are made.

Utilities, it seems the government is only paying lip service to the problem of enerby price rises which have tripled in recent years,they are only helping out by increasing the winter fuel allowance for the over 60s and more so for the over 80s,in the current pricing i think its wrong that only the pensioners some of which dont need this allowance are getting help and poor families are being left behind struggling to cope,i cant see the millions who are on pre paid account getting a better deal as the likes of british gas actually run this service at a loss(quoting the recent letter i recieved from them).

Motor and Home,nice to see the government suspending the fuel duty increase till october,to be honest the goverment should really be helping out drivers here and actually cut duty by 2p per litre on the back of the recent extra revenue brought it by higher oil prices,good to see increase in the inheritence tax allowance .

Cant see the increase in pack of cigarettes doing anything other than poor more money into the treaury coffers,as well as the increases in beers wines and spirits.

Mr delap has not mentioned a few more things mentioned in the budget,such as the removal of the 10p income tax band confirmed as being removed,which is going to hit millions of small earners in the pocket,it has been nice to see the levy introduction of some 30k a year for NOM DOMs will be coming into effect from april

Other potential welcomes are proposed increases in child benefit witht hte view of tackling child poverty even more than now.

Enviroment, from 2009 a plastic bag will be imposed which aims to cut down on plastic bag usuage,a new showroom levy is gonna be introduced for the biggest of gas guzzling cars,also funding is being set aside for reasearch into road pricing ideas.

ALL IN ALL,some good things coming out fo the budget ,although some people are gonna be left worse off by the removal of the 10p income tax band.

Car Tax has really become a joke for those of us living in rural areas and who need a 4x4 to do their work. The only way around this punishment is to buy a 20 year old Land Rover.

We have no trains, one bus that we see around three times a day and absolutely no coherent public transport strategy. A car is not a luxury, it is a life line and it is time that this wretched government recognised this and stopped punishing us.

If they were really interested in alleged green taxes and making the car tax work properly, they would make it post code based where someone living in London W6 would pay four or five times the current tax for a Land Rover whereas someone in Devon EX34 would pay approximately £100 per year for the same vehicle. This would be fairer, have the right effect on the right people and leave those of us who have a genuine need in a position where we could actually afford to stay in our homes.

Government Spending - Lesson 101 "if you cannot afford it, you cannot buy it." What is it with this government? £43 BILLION! On what? Policing the mess that the Yanks keep making of other countries? One of the biggest departments this government has is auditors. Yes, a massive amount of our money is spent on keeping track of government spending and we still cannot get to the truth of the European spending or our own. Who wanted to buy a bank? Well, whether we like it or not, we all own a chunk of Northern Rock - another massive boost for democracy. George Bush has managed to all-but bankrupt the US economy, that does not mean that Gordon Brown's puppet should do the same to us. We need to get out of the war zones, batten down the hatches and start to save money. ALL immigrants should work for at least one year before getting free National Health unless they are married to a UK citizen.

Red Tape and Taxation - Small business is the life blood of the economy and this government HATES us. Strong words, no. They have left massive corporations and multi millionaires alone, but punished every small business for daring to exist. No tax breaks, higher insurance costs, more tax complications and higher tax bills. Thanks for nothing.

What is this budget - it was the best ventriloquism act in the business. Darling stood up and for the whole session, I didn't see the puppet-master move his lips once. I hope Mr Brown is a fully paid up member of Equity - his performance was brilliant - his budget will sink us all into a serious recession. Mark my words.

SHARK!

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For every positive action, there's an equal and opposite government plan.

Given the cliff edge we are all on this has to be the dampest squib of a budget ever produced.They have certainly run out of steam and the recent banana skins have undermined their confidence to do anything constructive. I agree entirely with the writer above about the energy issue.Target it at all fuel poverty customers not just the elderly some of whom are already well off.

Typical of the Government weakness not to tackle the energy companies full on over their exhorbitant rip off prices.They continue to profiteer pushing smaller businesses and residential customers into misery.

Well no surprises from Mr Darling.

Same old story as told by Mr Brown year in year out.

Clobber the motorist,drinkers,and smokers as usual to pay for increases to child benefits etc.

This so called benefit should be totally scrapped, if you choose to have children you should be TOTALLY responsible for their upbringing and keep, if you cant afford them then you dont have them.

Why should people who choose not to have children have to pay for someone else's.

Child benefit is just an excuse for people to breed like rabbits and live off other people.

lets see more car tax

thay say take a bus good only 4 me to get to work 4 8am i need a bus at 5 and there a one

more on fags why just go to the black market now

more on fuel dont mind if was to pay to make the roads better

so lets all be mp then we can clame it all on exp

My optimistic view would be: "What goes up, must come down"

My realistic view would be: "What goes up, keeps going up and up and up".

They say that cigarette prices increase due to the NHS failing miserably and due to people buying abroad or from smugglers in the UK. Well, do you really think they would reduce the price if everyone bought things legitimately? Of course not, it would plot a nice graph telling them how much extra they would earn the next year! If everyone quit smoking, the tax would go up on other things to compensate. Leave the smokers alone!

As for fuel. Don't even get me started! I pay £300 a MONTH on fuel and I try not to drive often!

The problem with the 'Budget' and, indeed, this country... it's already been run into the ground that the only way to dig us out of the s.hit is to put us all back in it! Vicious circle.

Still, as long as the MP's who pay their offspring money for fictious jobs are still being paid. All's well! Brilliant news!

Corruption. The Mafia is a kinder force to reckon with. At least they don't purport to be prim and proper. Our Government bends us over a table, whispering sweet nothings telling us it's not going to hurt; when it actual fact they are shafting and milking us from behind!

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Kind Regards,

Vicissitude

I didn't see anywhere what the new basic tax allowance will be - does anyone know? How much up from £5225 pa? I'm one of the poor people who has to subsidise the rich by losing my 10% tax band on my income which is usually around £7k. Hoiw far will increased allowances go towards the extra approx £200 I have to pay to help rich people this year.

No kids so no handouts for me there. I'm 7 years from retirement age and always paid my way, but how do they expect to get low income and part timers (especially single parents) to work rather than scrounge when they lose so much in National Insurance (another tax by a different name) and tax on earning over about £100 per week? Of course there is no relief for the cost of getting to/from work so many are worse off if they work.

Good Ol' Labour - another 'Take everything - give nothing' budget! Are they completely blind to what is happening in this once great Country or is it that they simply do not care!! Sadly, I believe it's both. Why is there no back-bone, no one brave enough to make wholesale changes - it's the same old story - the poorer get poorer, the rich get richer and middle-income Britain takes the absolute brunt for everything. Get this 'sham' Government with their sham policies out of office - they have only one goal - to line their own pockets and 'sod' the honest, hard-working UK Citizen!!

You'll notice that the Government Ministers will still have their gas guzzlers - paid for by the public purse; obscene pension funds, paid for totally by the public purse - wives, children, siblings & pets all on the pay-roll and expense allowances - all paid for by the public purse - take all - give nothing - time to stop the lies & cheating - get rid of this scum.

Hi SylviaC,

We'll be publishing an article very soon which details all the changes to tax allowances, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, stamp duty and Isas in a table format. We hope this will help you to see 'at a a glance' exactly what the changes are so you can fully assess how it may affect you.

In answer to your question though, the personal tax allowance for those under 65 has gone up from £5,225 to £5,435 - an increase of £210.

I hope that helps.

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Cheers,
Graeme Delap

User Communities Editor, moneysupermarket.com
graeme.delap AT moneysupermarket.com

Thanks Graeme,

So at least I'll get £42 (20% of £210) towards the £200 I'm losing!! In the past we used to get an EXTRA allowance each year towards increasing costs, etc.

It is a disgrace to double the tax burden for part time/lower paid workers (from 10% to 20%) whose income falls between the Personal Allowance plus the 10p rate band!!!

Once again this Body of Headless Chickens (otherwise known as the Labour Government) has managed to hit my pocket. As with everything one's views (this is why I chose 'LittleFish' (as in a Big Pond) as an identifier) are entirely personal but having worked for this country for over 40 years I have once again been hit because I chose early retirement. Not satisified with his well-publicised raid on Pensions Funds Grumpy Gordon and his Puppet have now again attacked the reduced pension I was left with by removing the 10p Tax Band! I'm really glad that by paying more tax it will mean that higher earners (eg MPs) will have more. I despair at their attitude towards fuel (and of course alcohol and tobacco) - "let's make them pay more that will stop them". Do they not realise that the whole country depends on the internal combustion engine and that's the way it is, there's no turning back. Can they not add 2 and 2 and realise that higher fuel prices mean higher everything else, such as food, clothing, holidays, daily living etc. I carry out a lot of Voluntary work using my own car for the NHS - they are suffering massive increases in the cost of moving patients (to attain the Governments "freedom of choice" incentives). There seems to be no coordination at all between Government Departments to assess what effect one policy has on another. There are so many other instances of mis-management over the years, none of which have ever been beneficial to Mr Average (although where they dream up the average wage from goodness knows - in my neck of the woods it's more like 15K). So yes this budget has affected me by once again reducing the amount of money in my pocket and, in case you were wondering, I'm not a happy man!

I think labour have really shot themselves in the foot on this budget,im all in favour of taxing the backside off the very rich to pay towards the lifes of the very poor,but if you earn more than £40k a year and driver a fairly decent sized car, you are considered that rich that labour taxes the hell out of you then you not much better off than single parent on benefits or a family of four who earn working tax credits.

As we all contribute towards the pensioners free bus pass and free xmas present fund in the form of the winter fuel allowance(please dont tell me all those who recieve it actually spend it on there fuel bills,they get it directly paid into their bank account,and worst still it isnt means tested,SCANDALOUS!!) we should all be getting a better deal from this government.

I agree about child benefit,those who earn more 15k(singley or jointly) a year shouldnt get it full stop.

who do we vote for tho ,,tories,doubt it ,the whp way the uk is governed needs to be reformed,how i dont know but anything would be better than the present lets all p£$5 in the same pot system like the mps run now.

Ah the sound and fury of the people now that the chickens are coming home to roost.

This Government have been trading on what is euphamistically called " spin " for 11 years, all of us real people see it for what it is LIES.

But now the smoke and mirrors are clearing away and a very uncomfortable, for The Government, truth is emerging. They have been indulging in an orgy of overspending for 10 years and now the coffers are empty.

The very very rich pay no tax, the 6 million living on benefit make no contribution so the task of paying for it all falls on those in the middle.

This budget is just farcical, an overall increase in tax is dressed up as being " green" it is of course nothing of the sort. Its just a cynical exercise in squeezing a bit more out of the masses perpetrated by people, the Governement, who have exempted themselves from the effects of their actions.

Just one example. The Brown One is driven around in an armoured Jaguar that does about 5 miles to the gallon on a good day. If that wasn't bad enough it is flanked by his " security " who drive ? guess what - heavily armoured gas guzzling 4 x 4s.

I will start taking lessons on my green credentials from this Government when I see them using the public transport that they tell the rest of us to use.

I have just calculated that if I want to use public transport to get to the nearest town, 12 miles, its a 2 hour bus journey and there is one bus a day.

While I am typing this lets look at the claim made in the budget speech that this Government has spent money on Hospitals, Schools and the NHS - NO THEY HAVE'NT - the building programme is funded under PFI schemes ie. BORROWED but in a form that they can pretend doesn't exist but will take 30 years to pay off.

The money that has gone in to the NHS has, in the main, gone to pay the staff a lot more for doing the same job. but of course what is not highlighted is that if for instance a Doctor is given a £50,000 pay rise 40% goes straight back in to the Treasury as Income Tax, 11% goes straight back as National Insurance and 6% goes in to what is described as a " pension fund" of course there is no fund as such because pension contributions just go into the current expenditure and future generations are left to pay for the bloated pensions granted by Brown.

So of the headline grabbing extra billions put in to the NHS, 57% goes straight back to where it came from, the Treasury

Summary of yesterdays budget just more lies, smoke and mirrors nett result zero