Budget 2013: Personal allowance raised to £10k in 2014

The threshold at which people begin to pay income tax will rise to £10,000 in 2014, a year earlier than planned, the Chancellor announced today.

In today's Budget, George Osborne said the milestone was "an historic achievement" and would mean about three million working people will pay no tax at all. He had previously pledged to hit £10,000 by the end of Parliament in 2015. The move effectively replaces a 10p tax band suggested by Labour in February. "We've turned a 10p tax band into a 0p tax band, and they won't have to worry about it any more," Osborne said, gesturing at the opposition benches. In last year's Autumn Statement, the Chancellor said the threshold for the 2013/14 income tax year would be £9,440, as part of...