2008/09 tax year

The numbers revealed

The allowance for those over 75 also increases by more than inflation for the same reason by £1,490 from £7,690 to £9,180

The earnings level where the higher allowances paid to older people starts to be withdrawn rises by £900 from £20,900 to £21,800
Married couples where at least one person was born before 6 April 1935 see their allowances rise by £250 from £6,285 to £6,535, with marginally more when one partner is at least 75. This is paid at 10 per cent, with better-off older couples receiving a 10 per cent allowance on £2,540, £100 more, so they are £10 a year wealthier

The very highly paid will be able to invest £235,000 in pension plans in 2008/09, a £10,000 increase

National Insurance starts this year at £105 a week (£5,460 a year), up £5 a week. Salary earners pay 11 per cent up to £770 a week (£40,040 a year), £100 a week more than last year. This reflects planned income tax changes and should leave, according to the government, people no worse off. Beyond that, employed people pay 1 per cent

The self-employed will pay National Insurance at 8 per cent of profits between £5,435 and £40,040 in 2008/09, with the 1 per cent surcharge after that. They also have to pay a £2.30 a week ‘stamp’, a 10p a week increase
The basic state pension rises by £3.40 from £87.30 to £90.70 a week for a single person and increases by £5.45 from £139.60 to £145.05 for a couple. The pension credit, the means-tested minimum income level for retired people on state benefits, rises by £5 from £119.05 to £124.05 for a single person and by £7.65 from £181.70 to £189.35 for a couple

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