Fuel duty:
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has cancelled Labour’s planned fuel duty rise in today’s Budget, saving 3.6 million motorists in North West over £170 every year.
Graham said: “This Government has frozen fuel duty for three and a half years - longer than any Government in the last two decades - and saving the average family £7 every time they fill up their car.
“Because of the action we have taken, pump prices will now be 13 pence per litre lower than if Labour were in power. For a Vauxhall Astra that is £7 less every time families fill up the tank – or £9 less for a Mondeo. A van driver will save £340 per year and a haulier will save £5,200 per year.
“Fuel duty will now have been frozen for nearly three and half years - the longest freeze in duty for over 20 years.”
Boost for SMEs:
The new Employment Allowance will take £2,000 off the National Insurance bill of every employer – open to businesses, charities and community amateur sports clubs. This will help 95,000 employers in the North West, taking 55,000 out of having to pay any tax on jobs at all.
Employers will be able to hire one extra person on £22,400 a year, or four people working full time on the minimum wage, without paying any National Insurance.
A further corporation tax cut to 20 per cent in April 2015 will see the UK having the lowest corporation tax rate in the G20, which sends a clear signal that Britain is open for business.
Stamp Duty on shares in companies quoted on growth markets like AIM and the ISDX Growth Market has also been abolished. This will benefit around 1,000 UK quoted companies – a transaction tax removed here as 11 EU countries are looking to introduce a sweeping financial transaction tax.
Graham said: “These measures show that the Government is committed to promoting entrepreneurism and supporting small employers.”
Beer Duty:
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has scrapped Labour’s plans to increase beer duty in today’s Budget, and instead cut it by a penny, meaning beer is now 1p per pint cheaper – 4p per pint cheaper than it would have been under Labour.
Graham said: “I campaigned for an end to the beer duty escalator to protect pubs across Cheshire and I am delighted that the Chancellor listened to the pubic Labour increased beer duty by 60 per cent and left our pubs fighting for survival.”
“We’ve not only scrapped Labour’s planned increase – we’ve actually cut it.”
Personal Allowance:
The amount people can earn before paying income tax - the personal allowance - will rise to £10,000 in April 2014.
Hard working people in Weaver Vale will be over £700 better off every year than when this Government came to office. Almost three million more of the lowest paid will pay no income tax at all.
This tax cut will benefit an estimated 32,979 people in Weaver Vale. In April 2014, 366 people will be lifted out of income tax, taking the total number of people in Weaver Vale lifted out of tax by Conservatives to an estimated 3,866.
Labour want to reintroduce the 10p tax band that they abolished. Conservatives in Government have now turned Labour’s 10p tax band into a zero pence tax band. Every person paying tax at the 10p rate when Labour doubled it, will now be paying no income tax at all on that income.
Graham said: “This Budget has delivered real support for people who aspire to work hard and get on. Around 32,979 people in Weaver Vale will be over £700 better off every year. With this landmark tax cut, Conservatives have cut tax bills for 24 million people”.