Stephen Hall gives his views on Chancellor George Osborne's Budget.

GEORGE Osborne announced his 2013 Budget as being for an "aspiration nation", but for individuals the theme was very much around "fairness".

Despite the already announced cut in the top rate of tax from 50p to 45p, the general thrust is that the rich will pay proportionately more taxes, and the poorer will pay less.

The latter will benefit from the Government’s long-trailed £10,000 tax- free personal allowance, which will be introduced a year earlier than planned from April 2014.

  

Thereafter, it very much depends on what individuals spend their money on, and at what stage in their lives they are at.

Much has been said about the motorist being penalised, and the scrapping of the planned 3p fuel duty increase in September will therefore give some respite.

The plight of the nation’s pubs was also helped by both the planned 3p duty increase and the duty escalator being abolished but, in a further step, beer duties are being cut by a penny on Sunday.

For those looking to get on or move up the housing ladder, the announcement of a package of “Help to Buy” measures will be welcomed.

For all individuals (without any means-testing) seeking to buy a new-build up to £600,000 in value, the Government will provide up to 20% of the value, repayable only when the property is sold.

An additional temporary measure will also run for three years from January 1, 2014, where the Government will offer guarantees to lenders for all individuals seeking mortgages with a deposit of between 5% and 20%.

The increasing cost of childcare has also been acknowledged and, from autumn 2015, a new Tax-Free Childcare Scheme for working families will be introduced, providing 20% of working families’ childcare costs, up to £1,200 per child.

It is anticipated that the scheme will apply to around 2.5 million working families, and will help families where both parents work but do not receive support through tax credits.

Individuals with elderly parents will welcome the introduction of a cap on reasonable care costs from April 2016.

The limit of £72,000 will help provide peace of mind that hard- earned savings will not be wiped out by the costs of care. It will be partly paid for by a freeze in the inheritance tax threshold.

Elsewhere for employees, company car taxes will increase and changes to capital gains tax rules may mean wider business ownership by employees.

:: Stephen Hall is a tax partner at Deloitte