The March 2010 United Kingdom Budget, official known as Budget 2010: Securing the recovery, was delivered by Alistair Darling, Chancellor of the Exchequer, to the House of Commons on 24 March 2010.
The budget speech outlined the Labour Government's fiscal policies prior to the 2010 general election, which had to be called before July. It was also the last budget delivered by Labour until October 2024.
The Budget's main headlines included:
A one-off "bank payroll tax" on bankers bonus payments, projected to be worth £2bnHM Treasury, Budget 2010 Annex C £11bn of savings across Government and a further £5bn savings from targeted spending Introduce a new right to open a basic bank accountChancellor set to announce basic bank accounts for all allaboutmoney.com, 24 September 2012 Above-inflation increases to alcohol and tobacco duties, with a pledge to redefine strong ciders in September 2010 To reduce a previously announced fuel duty increase in April 2010, and introduce small increases at intervals Temporary increase in small business rate relief Threshold for stamp duty raised from £125,000 to £250,000 for first-time buyers for two years, and increased stamp duty on homes over £1,000,000 to 5% Pledge of an increase in future ISA savings limits to keep pace with inflation, and confirmed previously announced increase in ISA savings limits Introduction of a tax break for the British video games sector
The Chancellor aimed for public sector net borrowing to fall to 8.5% of GDP by 2011-12, and 4.0% by 2014-15. Public sector net debt was projected to increase to 73% of GDP by 2012-13.
The Treasury published the Finance Act 2010 on 1 April, running to 240 pages.Finance Bill out with just days to make it law , Accountancy Age, 1 April 2010 After the General Election was called on 6 April, the Chartered Institute of Taxation expressed concern at the lack of time for debate on complex measures.Just a few hours of scrutiny for Finance Bill as Election announced , Accountancy Age, 6 April 2010 In the event, many of the clauses announced in the Budget speech were dropped from the Bill before Parliament was dissolved.Finance Bill carved out in deadline scramble , Accountancy Age, 7 April 2010
Taxes Receipts 2010-10 revenues (£bn) Income tax 146 Value added tax (VAT) 78 National insurance 97 Excise duties 46 Corporate tax 42 Council tax 26 Business rates 25 Other 81 Total Government revenue 541
Spending Department 2010-10 expenditure (£bn) Social protection 196 Health 122 Education 89 Debt interest 43 Defence 40 Public order and safety 36 Personal social services 33 Housing and environment 27 Transport 22 Industry, agriculture and employment 20 Other 74 Total Government spending 704
References
External links
Budget 2010 (Overview), HM Treasury document at The National Archives Budget 2010: Securing the recovery, HM Treasury page at The National Archives