• a new 50 per cent tax rate on incomes above £150,000 from April 2010
• restrictions on tax relief on pension contributions for incomes of £150,000 and over from April 2011, where gross income incorporates all pension contributions, including those provided by an employer. This is subject to an income floor of £130,000
• National Insurance contributions for employees, employers and the self-employed will increase by 1 per cent from April 2011 (except for those with incomes below £20,000)
• a staged removal of personal allowances from incomes over £100,000 a year

Stamp Duty

The government has announced that the Stamp Duty threshold for first-time buyers will be raised from £125,000 to £250,000 for this year and next.

In order to offset the cost of this relief and to sustain the public finances in the longer term, Budget 2010 also announces a new 5 per cent rate of stamp duty for transactions over £1 million from April 2011.

Pensions and savings

According to the 2010 Budget:

• the Saving Gateway will launch in July 2010 - the government will add 50 pence for each £1 saved by working age people on low incomes
• consumers will be given a new right to a basic bank account
• from April 2010 the annual ISA limit will be raised from £7,200 to £10,200
• ISA limits will increase annually with inflation

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