Osborne ups personal allowance

The personal allowance will increase to £8,105 by 6 April 2012, it was announced in the Budget today.

Chancellor George Osborne claims this will result in 23 million people being £42 better off each year.

Our guide to today's Budget offers all the news and reaction to the speech.

Speaking today, Osborne revealed that the income tax allowance threshold for under 65s will increase by another £630 by next April on top of the £1,000 rise coming into effect on 6 April this year.

An estimated 23 million working age people earning over £7,865 a year will gain from the personal allowance increase.

It will help offset the increase in national insurance contributions, which will occur in April when this is indexed by the consumer prices index - and the chancellor claims they will still gain on average £42 a year from next April.

This is a further step towards the government's commitment to increase the personal allowance to £10,000, he said.

Osborne added that these measures will also take 1.1 million people out of income tax altogether.

At the same time, there will be a £630 reduction in the basic-rate limit, meaning the higher-rate threshold will remain unchanged.

In addition, Osborne also revealed the government has decided on a "huge change" to the UK's tax system by launching a consultation on whether to merge income tax and national insurance.

However, the chancellor admitted that bringing the two taxes together would take many years.

One to watch, however, might be the top rate of income tax of 50%, which Osborne said he regards as a temporary measure. He added that while now would not be the right time to remove the 50 per cent tax rate, it is "sensible to see how much revenue it actually raises".

Johanna Gornitzki is editor of Moneywise magazine.