SMOKERS will see the price of cigarettes hit a massive £13.60 as the Chancellor revealed a tobacco tax hike.
The price of a 20-pack will soar by up to 88p under the latest increase, with the extra levy coming into effect from 6pm last night.
It means 88p will be added to the priciest packs of fags, increasing their cost from £12.73 to just over £13.60.
The cheapest 20 packs will go up by 63p from £9.10 to £9.73 under the move.
Rishi Sunak also made major announcements on the minimum wage, Alcohol Duty, the Universal Credit programme, a £435m crime blitz, the unfreezing of public sector pay and a major homebuilding plan.
Follow live reaction and find out what the Budget means for your family in our live blog below…
- Milica Cosic
Yesterdays budget at glance
- Beer prices cut from tonight as Rishi Sunak promises cheaper wine in alcohol duty shake-up
- Major boost for struggling pubs as business rates are SLASHED giving hope to British boozers
- Long haul holidays to get more expensive but Air Passenger Duty is slashed on domestic flights
- Wage boost for millions of public sector workers as pay freeze scrapped
- Minimum wage rises to £9.50 in bumper news for 2million Brits
- £435million crime blitz confirmed including help for rape victims and more CCTV
- Massive Universal Credit shake-up means 2million can keep an extra £1,000 a year
- Cost of pack of cigarettes to go up to £13.60 from 6pm TONIGHT as Chancellor hikes tobacco tax
- Free school meals for millions of pupils and boot camps for kids as Rishi Sunak unveils £3bn skills revolution
- Rishi Sunak announces £11.5bn to build 180,000 affordable homes including 160,000 new homes on brownfield land
- Fuel duty increase to be SCRAPPED in victory for The Sun’s Keep It Down campaign
Have cigarettes gone up in price?
Smokers will see the price of cigarettes hit a massive £13.60 from tonight as the Chancellor reveals a tobacco tax hike.
The price of a 20-pack will soar by up to 88p under the latest increase, with the extra levy coming into effect from 6pm tonight
It means 88p will be added to the priciest packs of fags, increasing their cost from £12.73 to just over £13.60.
The cheapest 20 packs will go up by 63p from £9.10 to £9.73 under the move.
Rolling tobacco will also be affected – it goes up at a faster rate than readymade cigarettes.
The cost of a 30g bag will jump from £8.14 to £9.02 – an increase of 89p.
A boost for brewers
Small brewers are also set to enjoy a Small Brewers Relief to allow smaller companies to diversify their product ranges.
Finally, a boost to pubs will come in the form of a so-called Draft Relief.
The government will cut duty rates on draught beer and cider by 5%, which should take 3p off the price of a pint.
MPs and publicans have long pleaded with Mr Sunak to cut the so-called “keg tax” amid fears that too many boozers are having to shut their doors.
Duty rates on beer, cider, wine and spirits will also be frozen for another year.
The move is expected to save consumers £3bn over the next five years and help shore up the struggling pubs industry.
- Milica Cosic
Cider and beer
For the first time, the tax on fruit cider and beer will be brought in line.
That means a 20% duty cut on draught fruit cider, bringing the price of a pint down by 13p.
Fruit cider accounted for just one in every 1,000 ciders sold in 2005 but today make up one in four cider sales, the Chancellor said.
"But they can pay two or three times as much duty as cider that is made with apples or pears. So I'm cutting duty on them too," he added.
Read more here.
- Milica Cosic
Explained: What booze is getting cheaper?
Fizz fans are in for the biggest price fall, with a whopping 87p set to come off a bottle of Canti Prosecco.
Mr Sunak said that consumption of sparkling wines like prosecco had doubled and are no stronger than still wines, so should not be taxed differently.
"I'm going to end the irrational duty premium of 28% that they currently pay," he added.
"Sparkling wines – wherever they are produced – will now pay the same duty as still wines of equivalent strength."
The tax cut will knock 64p off a bottle of Freixenet Prosecco (12% ABV) and the same amount off a bottle of Chapel Down English Sparkling wine.
A bottle of Martini Asti (7.5% ABV) will come down by £1.07.
- Milica Cosic
How much cheaper will YOUR favourite tipple will be
DRINKERS could see the price of their favourite tipple slashed after Rishi Sunak announced the biggest shake-up to booze tax in a century.
Under the current complicated system there are 15 bands of alcohol tax. But this will be reduced to just six.
Drinks will now be taxed according to their alcohol content.
It will bring an end to the so-called Girls Night Out tax, which sees wine and fizz subject to much higher rates of duty than beer.
The move will bring the tax on a 10.5% ABV rose drop by 23p a bottle.
The price of your favourite drinks could be set to come down under a radical overhaul of alcohol tax - Milica Cosic
Flying high
Yesterday, the Chancellor hinted heavily that interest rates could be set to rise in the near future.
That could help savers who are battling against rising inflation and rock bottom rates.
But there was no increase to any savings allowances in the Budget to encourage households to set more money aside.
There's also plenty of bad news for pensioners as the annual and lifetime allowances were frozen again.
And long haul holidays are set to get more expensive as the Chancellor announced a rise in Air Passenger Duty (APD).
A new APD band will cost £91 in tax for seats in Economy on flights of over 5,500 miles.
It's a £7 increase on the current rate.
Mr Sunak said the tax was about reducing carbon emissions from aviation and would affect fewer than five per cent of passengers.
- Milica Cosic
The talking points
- How Rishi Sunak's Budget affects you
- £150bn plan includes cheaper booze and Universal Credit hikes
- Business rates have been slashed in bid to help struggling pubs
- But it's bad news for smokers as the cost of a pack of 20 spirals
- A shake-up will mean two million Brits can keep hold of an extra £1,000 a year
A whopping council tax hike
Millions of Brits will face a whopping council tax hike in the years to come – with £400 added to the average household's bill by 2026.
The Government's own economic forecasters at the Office for Budget Responsibility say the total amount raised in council tax will be a third higher in 2026/27 than in 2019/20.
And receipts will be £12.1billion higher in five years than seven years earlier.
That means the average household will have to stump up £435 extra.
The news comes amid a hit-and-miss Budget day – with low-income workers favoured highly, and smokers and savers set to miss out.
- Milica Cosic
Better off under Rishi’s new rules?
Millions of families will benefit from the Chancellor’s Budget boosts to Universal Credit and the minimum wage – and the lower price of Prosecco.
For three years The Sun’s Make Universal Credit Work campaign has been calling for changes to help low-income families keep more of the money they earn.
Read more to see if the likes of workers, pub owners and parents are better off under Rishi Sunak's new budget.
- Milica Cosic
Economic bounce back
In a landmark budget the Chancellor swiped the nation's credit card with a cash-splashing Budget of cheaper booze, Universal Credit boosts and minimum wage hikes.
He seized upon a roaring economic bounce back to announce "historically" high spending with more money for public services.
In a major win for Brits he announced measures to fix the delivery crisis, pour money into our World Cup bid and end the pay freeze for teachers and cops.
Mr Sunak gave a rosy picture of the nation's economy by hailing rising employment, investment and wages.
- Milica Cosic
Tax cut a 'priority'
RISHI Sunak today declared cutting taxes on ordinary Brits will be his "priority" from now on.
The Chancellor said he's committed to reducing the amount paid by workers as he hailed the UK's recovery from Covid.
Asked about his plans for future spending today, he said: "My ambition is to lower taxes for people. That's what I would like to do.
"As Chancellor, we had to take some corrective reaction as a result of the crisis and the response we took to it, but hopefully that is now done.
"And as we demonstrated yesterday, our priority is to make sure that work pays and we reward people's efforts.
"I'm delighted we could make a start on that. I made a very clear demonstration of our intent yesterday."
- Milica Cosic
Key budget announcements you may have missed
- A wage boost for millions of public sector workers as the pay freeze is scrapped
- A freeze of HGV tax to help end the supply crisis
- A rise in the minimum wage to £9.50 in a hike for two million Brits
- A further £6bn to clear the NHS backlog that’s groaning after lockdown
- A new £5bn pot for research and development into health
- A £2bn boost to build houses on brownfield land equivalent to 2,000 footie pitches
- A £3bn skills funding with more bootcamp places for youngsters
- Half a billion pounds to sharpen up maths skills for 500,000 adults
- Funding for up to 8,000 new sports pitches and 300 scout huts
- A culture boost with £850m pumped into museums and galleries
- An extra £435m to cut crime with more CCTV, street lights and help for victims
- A further £700m to bolster border controls and fund a fleet to patrol migrant boats
A HUGE boost for struggling pubs
British boozers were handed a major lifeline yesterday as Rishi Sunak slashed business rates.
The major shake-up – the biggest in 30 years – will see the hospitality, retail and leisure industry given a 50 per cent discount.
The Chancellor said the new system, which applies up to £110,000, is a "simpler and fairer" way of doing things.
Mr Sunak said: "This will directly support the home of British community life for centuries: pubs.
"Even before the pandemic, pubs were struggling: between 2000 and 2019, consumption in the on-trade fell by 40 per cent.
"And many public health bodies recognise that pubs are often safer drinking environments than being at home.
"So, as the Members for Dudley South and North West Durham will agree, a fairer, healthier system supports pubs."
Breakdown of the booze duty changes
Here is a breakdown of the alcohol duty changes.
Mr Sunak said a pint of beer will be cut by 3p and this took affect yesterday.
Going to the pub's going to get a whole lot cheaper now!
- Milica Cosic
A universal win
The rabbit Rishi Sunak tried to hide finally came out of the hat.
And The Sun have been arguing for for years.
A huge cut to the Universal Credit taper rate, and a rise in the work allowance.
It means 2million Brits on benefits but are in work will see a huge hike to their pay packets.
A big change, and a big win for our Make Universal Credit Work campaign.
Cheers for that Rishi!
- Milica Cosic
How the alcohol duty changes will affect you
Lower strength alcohol, such as some beers, rose wine and fruit cider, will be taxed less – and that will make it cheaper for customers in pubs or supermarkets alike.
It means that a pint of Guinness will cost £4.20 in a pub – with 3p less tax.
A 440ml can of Strongbow will cost around 61p in a shop, with 0.5p less tax, while the same beer poured as a pint down your local will be £3.50 per pint with 2p less tax.
Duty rates for all alcoholic drinks will be frozen, so for you that means you’ll get:
- 3p off a pint of beer
- 2p off a pint of cider,
- 14p off a 75cl bottle of wine
- 52p off a 70cl bottle of Scotch
But high strength booze will cost more.
Let’s fly away
Rishi Sukak cut air passenger duty on internal UK flights yesterday.
However, he added on an extra £91 on long, long flights such as those to Australia.
Anyone flying more than 5,500 miles will have to pay extra. It’s likely to whack only around five per cent of flights, though.
A new business rates revamp
RISHI Sunak announced an overhaul of business rates in yesterday's Autumn Budget 2021.
Companies – particularly high street retailers – have repeatedly called for an overhaul of the system, complaining that it's outdated and unfair.
The Chancellor ignored calls from some businesses and lobbying groups to scrap the tax altogether.
But he did say the government will reduce the burden of business rates in England by £7bn over the next five years.
Read more here.
Massive UC shake-up so 2 million can keep an extra £1,000 a year
MILLIONS of Brits on Universal Credit WILL be able to keep more of what they earn, Rishi Sunak confirmed yesterday.
It will mean two million families will keep, on average, an extra £1,000 a year.
Rishi said: "To make sure work pays, and help some of the lowest income families in the country keep more of their hard-earned money… …I have decided to cut this Rate, not by 1%, not by 2% – but by 8 per cent.
"This is a tax cut next year worth over £2bn. Nearly 2 million families will keep, on average, an extra £1,000 a year.
"Changes like this normally take effect at the start of the new tax year in April. But I want to help people right now.
"So we’ll introduce this within weeks, and no later than December 1st."
He claimed a single mum of two renting a home and working full time on the minimum wage would be better off by £1,200.
Rishi on a 'mission’ to cut taxes by next General Election
Rishi Sunak today declared he'll make it his “mission” to cut taxes again before the next General Election, by 2024.
Announcing his landmark Budget to the Commons this afternoon he pledged to build a "society that rewards ingenuity".
He said that he wants to see workers keep more cash in their pockets as the economy rebounds from the pandemic.
Rishi said: "As we look towards the future I want to say this simple thing to the House and the British people.
"My goal is to reduce taxes by the end of this parliament. I want taxes to be going down, not up.
"I want this to be society that rewards energy, ingenuity and inventiveness, a society that rewards work.
"That is what we believe on this side of the House, that is my mission over the remainder of this parliament."
- Milica Cosic
Nights out just got cheaper… whattt?!
The price of a pint will be cut by 3p from Feb 2023.
And what about yesterday?
Well, Rishi announced he will cancel the planned increase in duty on Scotch Whisky, wine, cider and beer… which happened on midnight last night.
That’s worth £3bn. Nice one, Rishi.
- Milica Cosic
An economic bounce back
In a landmark budget today the Chancellor swiped the nation's credit card with a cash-splashing Budget of cheaper booze, Universal Credit boosts and minimum wage hikes.
He seized upon a roaring economic bounce back to announce "historically" high spending with more money for public services.
In a major win for Brits he announced measures to fix the delivery crisis, pour money into our World Cup bid and end the pay freeze for teachers and cops.
Mr Sunak gave a rosy picture of the nation's economy by hailing rising employment, investment and wages.
He revealed the economy is now expected to recover fully from Covid by the end of the year, earlier than thought last March.
Seizing on the positive outlook, he vowed to throw an arm around vulnerable families struggling with the cost of living with "historically high levels of public spending".
But the Chancellor insisted we need to fix the roof while the sun is shining by getting the finances back on to a more even keel.
He unveiled strict new rules forcing him to cut borrowing and making it harder to splash the cash – "because this isn’t the government's money, this is taxpayer's money."
- Milica Cosic
Chancellor failing to tackle the 'huge issues'
Rachel Reeves has accused Rishi Sunak, of failing to tackle the "huge issue" that is "adapting to climate change".
She told MPs: "Adapting to climate change presents opportunities, more jobs, lower bills and cleaner air. But only if we act now and if we act at scale. According to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), failure to act will mean public sector debt to explode later: it is nearly 300% of GDP.
"The only way to be a prudent and responsible Chancellor is to be a green Chancellor, to invest in a transition to a zero carbon economy and give British businesses a head start in the industry of the future."
Instead, Ms Reeves insisted home owners are left to face the cost of insulation on their own, and industries like steel and hydrogen are "in a global race but without the support they need".
- Milica Cosic
Gov needed to go 'further and faster' on minimum wage
Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, has welcomed the increase in the minimum wage, however has said the Government needed to go "further and faster" and should have moved to a rise of at least £10 an hour.
She welcomed the end of the "punitive" public sector pay freeze, but said: "We know how much this Chancellor likes his smoke and mirrors so we'll be checking the books to make sure the money is there for a real terms pay rise."
Ms Reeves welcomed the reduction of the Universal Credit taper rate from 63p to 55p but warned working people receiving the benefit "still face a higher marginal tax rate than the Prime Minister".
She added: "Those unable to work through no fault of their own still face losing £1,000 a year."
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