Chancellor Phillip Hammond found his hands tied when seeking to fund the traditional Budget giveaway to taxpayers.
Throughout his 62-minute speech he referred to making life better for the ordinary family, but he had little to offer in cash terms.
Instead, Hammond pegged duties on fuel, beer, wines and spirits, but cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco go up in price.
Here is what he said about some key issues:
Pensions and QROPS
Expats can breathe a sigh of relief as QROPS offshore pensions were unmentioned in the Chancellor’s speech or in the reams of accompanying paperwork.
For the first time in several years, pension rules were not tinkered with – and Hammond also managed to resist the temptation of a money grab on pension contribution relief.
The only pension measure was confirmation the lifetime allowance will rise in line with inflation from April 2018 from £1 million to £1.03 million.
Income Tax
The Conservatives have promised to lift the personal allowance to £12,500 and the high rate tax threshold to £50,000 in stages by 2020.
Hammond took the opportunity to move closer to that goal by raising the personal allowance to from £11,500 to £11,850 and the higher rate threshold from £45,000 to £46,350 from April 2018.
“As well as making work pay, we want families to keep more of the money they earn,” he told MPs.
“When we came into office the personal allowance stood at £6,475. From April, I will increase the personal allowance to £11,850 and the higher rate threshold to £46,350.
“Making progress towards our manifesto commitments. The typical basic rate tax payer will be £1,075 a year better off compared to 2010.”
Capital Gains Tax
The tax-free gain amount will increase to £11,700 for each taxpayer from April 2018.
Hammond has put off plans to demand payment within 30 days of disposing of a residential property until April 2020.
Expats and other non-residents will see CGT rules expand to take in commercial as well as residential property from April 6, 2019.
A line-by-line commentary of Phillip Hammond’s Budget 2017 changes is available online.
