Payroll welcome for Budget measures

George Osborne announced that the cap on investments in Premium Bonds will be lifted for the first time since 2003, from £30,000 to £40,000, from 1 June 2014. It will then be lifted again to £50,000 in 2015-16.

NS&I will also now offer 2 £1 million prizes per month, rather than 1, starting from the prize draw in August this year.

“The Chancellor did say it was a budget for savers and this is certainly good news for those who actually have some savings and have suffered under the low interest rates,” a CIPPspokesman said.

“Older investors are also to benefit with the additional benefits from the cap increase on Premium Bonds.”

Osborne also announced plans to increase revenues.

"We will increase tax credit debt recovery rates for those with sufficient earnings," he said.

"We will give HMRC modern powers to collect debts from bank accounts of people who can afford to pay but have repeatedly refused to, like most other Western countries."

CIPPsaid the Government is talking about "the persistent minority who seek to avoid their responsibilities, preventing the tax system from raising revenue fairly and imposing costs on all taxpayers".

"The Chancellor also said registered tax avoidance schemes had fallen by half in the past year. Also mentioned was an increase to HMRC's budget to help tackle non-compliance and give them modern powers to collect debts from bank accounts. This will be the subject of future consultation and we will be looking at the detail on this very closely."