At lunchtime today the chancellor George Osborne will reveal the first Conservative Budget in almost two decades.
While some elements of his plan will remain a mystery until later today, the chancellor has dropped hints at what to expect, some more explicit than others.
A relaxation of inheritance tax is definitely on the cards, with Mr Osborne set to raise the taxation threshold from £325,000 per person to £500,000. For a couple, the “family homes allowance” will be set at £1m, up from £650,000.
Alongside this, the chancellor has faced calls from other Conservative politicians to cut the top rate of income tax from 45p to 40p, which he has “all but ruled out” and could sit uneasily with the details of where exactly the £12.2bn in planned austerity cuts will fall.
These savings will be made by slashing the £220bn welfare budget, with a cap in family tax credits, lower tax credits for low income earners and the removal of housing benefit from jobseekers all mooted as money spinners for the chancellor.
The government has also confirmed the BBC will pick up the tab for TV licences owned by the over-75s, at a cost of £650m.
