Chancellor Alistair Darling has doubled the threshold for stamp duty to £250,000 for first time buyers (FTBs) in an effort to boost recovery in the housing market.
Measures to tax bank bonuses 50% have raised £2bn for the Treasury, part of which will be spent on a scheme to help small businesses thrive.
Follow the Chancellor's key Budget announcements as they happen...
Alistair Darling delivers his third Budget today and you can follow all the developments as they happen right here on IFAonline.co.uk from midday.
Banks were told to brace themselves for "payback time", as Alistair Darling put the finishing touches to a Budget that will propose new bank taxes and force them to improve the way they deal with customers and small businesses.
Alistair Darling's third Budget is just hours away and, despite much industry speculation, we still have little idea what he might announce for the pensions market.
Chancellor Alistair Darling has decided to freeze all income tax bands in the Budget this afternoon, to fund another increase in public spending.
The Pre-Budget Report (PBR) should, according to the Treasury, "encourage debate on the proposals under consideration for the Budget". But can you remember the Chancellor's key messages from December?
An austerity Budget full of tax hikes coupled with "dumbed down" pension provision will put the services of professional financial planners in high demand, says the president of the Personal Finance Society (PFS).
Alistair Darling yesterday insisted Labour would not hold a second Budget should it win the general election and ruled out a rise in VAT, dismissing Conservative claims that this week's Budget would be "window dressing".