Budget 2015: don't expect more money in your pocket

The summer Budget is nearly upon us and predictions are rife as to what chancellor George Osborne will take his axe to.

He has set himself the mammoth task of finding £12 billion of cuts and while it is expected that welfare benefits will be for the chop, but even if the benefits cut don't affect you there is still expected to be plenty to mull over after 8 July.

Not content with the sweeping pensions changes that have already been made in the 2014 Budget and the first 2015 Budget, Osborne is expected to make it a hat-trick.

One major cut that is expected is to pensions tax relief. Those earning more than £150,000 a year could well see the amount they can receive tax relief on reduced significantly. In its pre-election manifesto the Conservative said it wanted to reduce the annual allowance (currently £40,000) by £1 for every £2 earned over £150,000. This means that by the time someone earns £210,000, their annual allowance will be just £10,000.

The fact that the government published a briefing note on Thursday afternoon setting out it manifesto plans and the reactions to them from economists and charity organisations shows this measure is at the forefront of its mind.

Income tax

I don't think anyone's going to lose much sleep over those that earn £150,000 a year and besides they're expected to get a bit of a boost anyway, with a lowering of the top income tax rate from 45p back to 40p. The Tories have already reduced the 50p rate introduced by Labour in 2009 to 45p but now they're expected to go further.

Politically speaking the government would be advised to get this out of the way quickly so that pandering to the rich can be forgotten about before the next election comes round.

But similarly, those middle earners hoping that the Conservatives will make good on their pledge to increase the threshold for 40% higher rate tax to £50,000 will have to wait.

The government isn't expected to give middle Britain any reprieve on their tax bills soon because this would be a measure they don't want people to forget about at election time. Tax bods have told me they expect Osborne to raise the threshold to £50,000 in a few years time when he needs to tempt voters.

So hold on to your hats for another financial rollercoaster, hopefully you won't come out too bruised.

Read more:
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