To 2p or not 2p: Income tax rate changes explained

In the run-up to the Budget, rumours were rife about the potential changes the chancellor would announce to help "fix the black hole". The size of that is up for debate, as we know the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) revised its forecasts to show that the deficit was not as bad as we were led to believe. As a result of this, the much rumoured potential increase to the basic rate of tax by 2p, combined with the reduction of 2p in class 1 National Insurance Contributions (NICs) did not materialise. There were, however, other announcements relating to income tax which will affect m...