Rachel Reeves was delivering her second Budget on Wednesday with a £26 billion tax raid.
But the Labour Chancellor was also announcing a series of measures to tackle the cost-of-living crisis affecting so many households in Britain.
As millions of people across the country try to understand how they will be impacted by the Budget, here are the key points:
GDP
The Office for Budget Responsibility has increased its forecast for economic growth this year from 1% to 1.5%. But it downgraded growth in 2026 from 1.9% to 1.4%, in 2027 from 1.8% to 1.5%, in 2028 from 1.7% to 1.5% and in 2029 from 1.8% to 1.5%.
Debt
Debt is set to rise from 95% of GDP this year to 96.1% by the end of the decade, according to Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts which were put out early by mistake.
Fiscal headroom
The amount of headroom the Government has against its borrowing rules will widen to £22 billion in 2029-30, which is £12 billion more than in March.
Ms Reeves has extended the six-year Tory freeze on income tax thresholds by a further three years until 2030/31.
Millions of people, including more than 2.6 million in the capital and wider South East, will have ended up paying higher rates of income tax by 2030/31.
Millions more will pay more income tax under the stealth levy even if they do not go into a higher rate band as they pay more tax as their wages increase.
Mansion tax
Owners of properties worth more than £2 million, many of which are in London, will have to pay a new “mansion tax”. There will be four price bands with the council tax surcharge rising from £2,500 for a property valued in the lowest £2 million to £2.5 million band, to £7,500 for a property valued in the highest band of £5 million or more, all uprated by CPI inflation each year. The high-value council tax surcharge is set to raise £0.4 billion in 2029-30,
Private pensions
The amount of money people can put into their private pension pot, through a scheme called a salary sacrifice, before it incurs tax, will be limited. Anything above the new £2,000 cap will incur national insurance contributions from 2029, a move which has been estimated to raise £4.7 billion in 2029/30 and £2.6 billion in 2030/31.
Cash ISAs
The ISA system will be reformed, keeping the full £20,000 allowance while designating £8,000 of it exclusively for investment, with over 65s retaining the full cash allowance.
Rail fares
London commuters will save up to £350 a year from a freeze on regulated rail fares, which includes season tickets, peak returns for commuters and off-peak returns between major cities.
Electric vehicles
Drivers of battery electric cars will be hit by a 3p per mile tax from April 2028, with the charge to rise annually with inflation.
Fuel duty
Fuel duty is frozen until next September when it will be reversed through a staggered approach. The tax has been held at 57.95p since 2011, but the effective rate paid by drivers since 2022 has been 52.95p as a result of a "temporary" 5p cut.
National Living Wage
The National Living Wage will rise for all workers aged 21 and over by 4.1 per cent to £12.71 from next April. The minimum wage for 18-20 year olds will increase to £10.85 and the rate for 16-17 year olds to £8.00.
Two-child cap
The two-child benefit cap is scrapped, at a cost of around £3 billion, and it will benefit nearly 1.5 million children in England including 260,000 in London.
State pension
Under the so-called “triple lock,” the State pension will rise by an above-inflation 4.8% next April. The full new State pension will increase to just over £240 a week, a rise worth over £550 a year. The full basic State Pension is to rise by around an extra £440 a year. The State pension rises by the higher of inflation, 2.5% or average earnings which went up 4.8%.
NHS prescriptions
A freeze on NHS prescription charges will keep the fee at £9.90 for a single prescription.
Sugar tax
The sugar tax is extended to cover pre-packaged milkshakes, coffee drinks and milk substitutes.
Care leavers
All care leavers will automatically be able to claim full student loan support, worth up to £13,500, to offer them the opportunity to go to university
Productivity
The OBR cut its expectations for productivity growth by 0.3ppts to 1% by the end of the forecast period which will mean £16bn less in tax receipts by 2030.
