Uncle Spielberg
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Inheritance taxes cut for couples
Mr Darling delivers his first pre-Budget as Gordon Brown watches on
Chancellor Alistair Darling has doubled the inheritance tax threshold for married couples to £600,000 - and said it will rise to £700,000 from 2010.
He also targeted private equity bosses and "non-domiciles" in his pre-Budget report - and pledged to switch green air taxes to flights, not passengers.
Schools and hospitals will get more cash than expected but growth forecasts for 2008 were downgraded to 2-2.5%.
The Tories said it was a "pre-election budget without an election".
Shadow chancellor George Osborne said it was "weak and cynical" pre-Budget report and asked if Mr Darling had planned to reform inheritance tax before the Tories unveiled their own proposals last week.
Tighter spending
Setting out his plans, Mr Darling said Tory plans to charge a flat rate of £25,000 on non-doms - people who register abroad for tax purposes - did not add up.
He said he would consult on early legislation on non-domiciled taxpayers, as a first step introducing a charge after seven years, then a higher rate after 10.
Pre-Budget Report and Comprehensive Spending Review 2007 in full [1.5MB]
Most computers will open this document automatically, but you may need Adobe Reader
He also said he would prevent people claiming they were out of the country when they were actually in the UK - and from disguising income as capital. These measures would raise an average of £650m, he said.
Mr Darling also set out the government's Comprehensive Spending Review, which he said "will be tighter for many departments".
He said there would be an extra £400m for the armed forces, including cash for improved accommodation.
On Tuesday morning Alistair Darling told the Cabinet that the economy remained strong and well positioned to deal with increased global economic uncertainty.
Spending known
In an interview with the Financial Times last week, Mr Darling said there would undoubtedly be an effect on Britain from the "credit crunch" experienced in the US.
Spending reviews detail how much money the government will put into schools, hospitals and other public services.
In a time of increasing global instability, defence spending needs to be a priority
Mr Brown had already said that education spending in the UK will rise from £77.4bn in 2007/08 to £90bn by 2010/11.
Since 2002 the NHS has been given record annual funding increases of about 7%. There is speculation this will slow to between 3% and 3.5% by 2011/12.
The prime minister had already announced an extra £7.7bn for defence and some departments have agreed to a 5%-a-year real-terms cut over the CSR period - including HM Revenue and Customs and the Department for Work and Pensions.
Mr Darling delivers his first pre-Budget as Gordon Brown watches on
Chancellor Alistair Darling has doubled the inheritance tax threshold for married couples to £600,000 - and said it will rise to £700,000 from 2010.
He also targeted private equity bosses and "non-domiciles" in his pre-Budget report - and pledged to switch green air taxes to flights, not passengers.
Schools and hospitals will get more cash than expected but growth forecasts for 2008 were downgraded to 2-2.5%.
The Tories said it was a "pre-election budget without an election".
Shadow chancellor George Osborne said it was "weak and cynical" pre-Budget report and asked if Mr Darling had planned to reform inheritance tax before the Tories unveiled their own proposals last week.
Tighter spending
Setting out his plans, Mr Darling said Tory plans to charge a flat rate of £25,000 on non-doms - people who register abroad for tax purposes - did not add up.
He said he would consult on early legislation on non-domiciled taxpayers, as a first step introducing a charge after seven years, then a higher rate after 10.
Pre-Budget Report and Comprehensive Spending Review 2007 in full [1.5MB]
Most computers will open this document automatically, but you may need Adobe Reader
He also said he would prevent people claiming they were out of the country when they were actually in the UK - and from disguising income as capital. These measures would raise an average of £650m, he said.
Mr Darling also set out the government's Comprehensive Spending Review, which he said "will be tighter for many departments".
He said there would be an extra £400m for the armed forces, including cash for improved accommodation.
On Tuesday morning Alistair Darling told the Cabinet that the economy remained strong and well positioned to deal with increased global economic uncertainty.
Spending known
In an interview with the Financial Times last week, Mr Darling said there would undoubtedly be an effect on Britain from the "credit crunch" experienced in the US.
Spending reviews detail how much money the government will put into schools, hospitals and other public services.
In a time of increasing global instability, defence spending needs to be a priority
Mr Brown had already said that education spending in the UK will rise from £77.4bn in 2007/08 to £90bn by 2010/11.
Since 2002 the NHS has been given record annual funding increases of about 7%. There is speculation this will slow to between 3% and 3.5% by 2011/12.
The prime minister had already announced an extra £7.7bn for defence and some departments have agreed to a 5%-a-year real-terms cut over the CSR period - including HM Revenue and Customs and the Department for Work and Pensions.
