On the 21 March the Chancellor, George Osborne, announced his Budget for the coming year. The Budget aimed to target three main areas; a stable economy; a fairer, more efficient and simpler tax system; and reforms to support growth.

The key announcements were as follows:

• An increase of £1,100 in the personal allowance to £9,205 from 6th April 2013.
• A reduction from 6th April 2013 of the 50% top income tax rate.
• The proposed introduction of a general anti avoidance rule aimed at preventing highly aggressive tax avoidance.
• A rise in stamp duty land tax to 7% on property purchases over £2 million.
• The mainstream rate of corporation tax is to be reduced to 24% from 1st April 2012 and by 1% annually thereafter to 22%.
• The small profits rate of corporation tax will remain at 20%.