Budget #BBCAskThis BBC News Special

We have been Askey you what you think of the budget and you have

been getting in touch with your views and questions. -- we have been

asking you. Let's take a look at some of those questions.

That was an interesting budget. ISA at youth and sugar. Sugar tax

probably a good thing. Does not seem much of a sweetener. I am

disillusioned. He helped small businesses and that could be useful.

I would give him a six. Five out of ten.

To answer your questions we have our Personal Finance

Correspondent Kevin Peachey and Katie Morley, Senior Personal

Welcome to you both. Plenty to take a look at over the next while. A lot

of questions in relation to savings and other issues as well. Before we

enter those a reminder of what the Chancellor announced in his budget

speech. From April next year I will increase

the ISA limit to ?20,000 per year for everyone. For those under the

age of 40 many of whom have not had such a good deal from the pension

system, I'm introducing a completely new flexible way for the next

generation to say. It is called the lifetime ISA. Young people can put

money in, get a government bonus and use that to either buy their first

home or save for their retirement. Here's how it works. From April 2017

anyone aged under 40 will be able to open a Lifetime Isa and save up to

?4000 each year the top for every ?4 you save, the government will give

you ?1. So put in ?4000 and the government will give you ?1000 every

year until your 50. You do not have to choose between saving for your

first term or saving for your retirement. With the new Lifetime

Isa the government is giving you money to do both. That is what the

Chancellor had to say on the subject of saving for younger people in

particular. We can start with Chris. How do tax-free ISA help the less

wealthy who may not be able to save? It was a interesting spectrum of new

savings products and there was something for the less wealthy, and

help to save policy. That is where you can save up to ?50 a month and

the government will give you a 50% bonus on top of that, up to ?600 a

year for two years. For people on the incomes it is only available to

people on low incomes by the way, on tax credits, it is a good way to

boost their emergency funds for things like if they need to move

house and need a deposit to put down or if they're in trouble with any

kind of financial difficulties. It may be good for them to avoid

getting into debt. So that was designed for people on a more modest

income. But the tax-free ISA, you have got to have the money to put in

in the first place. The idea was to have a savings buffer. A lot of

questions about people on low incomes, are they better off with

that buffer or do they simply not have the money to put into that kind

of scheme. And might be better off paying off their debt. Quite a big

issue to think about for them. Connected to that is there anything

in the budget affecting young people, students in particular.

Students, not very much. But young people, certainly. There was this

Lifetime Isa idea, something completely new, we have not heard

about this before. And the idea that it is a top up for people saving for

a home or for their pension. Again they have a big decision to make. Do

they put the money aside in a lifetime Isa or in their traditional

pension. They might think we will put money into that but if you do

not save early for a pension there could be problems down the line.

They should seek advice on that kind of dilemma. If they can afford it,

that is! Of course seeking advice is not cheap. One question, why is it

people on low income and not pensioners given these savings in

bandages. There were different savings products available, for more

wealthy savers, who have several thousand a year to put into savings,

the ISA limit, every year, is increasing up to ?20,000, currently

?15,000. ?240 a year. That will benefit people who are higher

earners, higher taxpayers, who have that bit more to say. So something

for them as well. And an interesting debate about intergenerational

fairness. It has been going on for a long time. Are people who are

pensioners better or worse off over the last few years, are people in

their 20s essentially paying for a better life for their parents and

grandparents. It is a very big issue. And the debate will continue

on that. Which generation has done better of late has been a major

talking point. A lot of enquiries about pensions as well. Peter Ellis

asks this. Why has women's inequality not been addressed in the

pension statement, presumably a reference to when the state pension

kicks in and at what age. Talking about heated debates, it is one that

has been going on recently. This idea that women in their 60s have to

wait longer for their state pension. They say they were not aware of it,

the government says there was plenty of warning about it happening. There

was quite a lot of speculation that something could be said in the

budget, although the government stood its ground on this point for a

while now. There was nothing in this budget on this particular debate. We

have already had reaction on social media saying where was it? It was

not there. Connected to that, I am a 62-year-old woman right Judy, I've

worked for 42 years, why am I waiting until November for my state

pension. There is a lot of confusion about the state pension. The state

pension age is rising, there is a timetable for which different people

have different state pension ages. The best way to check is to go

online to the government calculator to find out when your state pension

age is. It was a lot of confusion. Some people have to wait longer than

I thought. Before they do get their state pension. It is difficult for

some people who were not aware of that. Also on the 10th -- the

subject of pensions, when are we going to year but the release of

pension pots for those already getting payments? This is a

reference I think to be pension reforms that we sought a year ago.

People being able to access their pension savings. There was talk of

going to pay for Lamborghinis and the like! In this case I think it is

close to people already receiving their pensions. Already in receipt

of that money if they saved and turned it into an annuity. We think

there could be more than that but it was not in this budget. There were

lots of things on pension is not referred to today and we understood

for a long time that the government was planning a major change to tax

relief on pensions. Which backed away from just last week. There was

speculation about that until recently. We understood it was in

the firing line. There were various plans on the table. Last week we

understood there was a big government U-turn on that. For a

number of reasons including not wanting to upset the middle-class

voters. Who currently benefit from the pension tax relief they receive.

There was nothing on that and no further changes to pensions this

time in the budget. There could have been a reduction in the annual

unlike time allowances. What we could see in future budgets,

possibly after the exit referendum, we could see further changes to

pensions then. And disability issues, which again is a

significant, political debate. An anonymous text message. What are the

cuts to disability benefit, because as far as this person is concerned,

the Chancellor was unclear. This is to do with the debate about PIP. A

reduction in what people can claim, but the Chancellor said it is going

up. It is a points -based system which determines what benefits

people received. People who have disabilities. Now, when we look at

the numbers in the budget, it looks as though the Chancellor is saving a

lot of money in this area. So the manner in which he is saving that

money is what has led this allowed political debate in recent days. And

a lack of clarity in the mind of this one correspondent? Very

controversial. Given that middle and high earners are being given tax

perks this time. Let's turn our attention to other matters in the

budget. This was to do with businesses and some of the measures

that were introduced by the Chancellor on that subject. We can

look at his comments on some of his business measures first and then we

will talk about them. This is what he said about corporation tax. We

will reduce the rate of corporation tax even further. That is the rate

written's profit-making companies have to pay. It is one of the most

distorted and give taxes there is. Corporation tax was 28% at the start

of the last Parliament so we reduced its so it is 20% at the start of

this one. I set out to cut it to 18%. By April 2020 it will fall to

17%. Britain is blazing a trail, let the rest of the world catch up. That

is what he had to say corporation tax, were other measures with

regards to business. Simon on e-mail asks, what has the Chancellor

announced that it will benefit small as Mrs? Katie, you first. I think I

will leave that to you. It was a budget, we have already heard from

lots of small visitors in that they are cheering there are 630,000 small

businesses that won't be paying business rates. That will be paid

for by big business. If you run a small business and you think one day

you will be a huge corporation, then maybe you will end up paying. But

there was one in here for small businesses. Quite a lot of that is

to do with local government as well. Local government are bringing in

these taxes, so will it mean there is difficulties for that local

government in dealing with that shortfall? Let's move some other

matters. There is a whole array of other topics people are asking

questions about. Stephen, if class two National insurance is abolished,

how will the self-employed qualify for state pension? I love this one.

If you love it, it is your question. It is a technical question. It was a

bit worrying when I first saw it. I went through the budget document. A

delightful document we read as journalists so others don't have

too. There is a change, an end to reform, another part of the national

insurance system that means you will not miss out in building up for the

state pension. The national insurance is in order for you to

build up and received the state pension. Although class two is being

abolished, there will be a reform elsewhere which means you won't miss

out on the state pension, essentially. I am glad we have

sorted that out and I am glad you enjoyed your question. Emma says,

what is the Chancellor doing for single parents and public sector

workers? There wasn't anything aimed at single parents. Then maybe things

she will be able to benefit from, such as arise in the personal which

is the amount you can earn without paying tax. That is going up to

?11,500. That will benefit many people. The help to save schemes,

increased ISA allowances. All of these things will help parents who

are trying to build financial security for their children and

themselves. What are lots of public sector workers will say at the

moment is what is happening to their page. It is only going up by 1% and

will do for the foreseeable future. We had some forecasts today and they

said inflation, which shows us what the cost of living will be, they

forecast it will be below 1%. So in a sense, a real terms pay rise for

the public sector workers. But the following year will be above 1%, the

forecast says. So it will be a real terms pay cut for public sector

workers. On that point, there was something announced I public sector

pensions, the cost of those will increase, but the government has

promised those costs will not be passed on to workers and their

pensions will be preserved. If you are a worker, you shouldn't worry

about that. Let's talk about what the Chancellor

had to say about tobacco, we can't bring you a clip, but it will go up

a similar amount to what it has gone up every year. Yes, seeing taxes. So

tobacco is going up 2% above inflation. It is the highest rise

amongst all those sins, if you like. Beer is staying frozen, as is

whiskey and wine is going up alongside inflation. A lot of people

who would be in every one of those rackets and there will be winners

and losers at the same time. It makes a nice headline for things

like beer and whiskey not to be going up in price. We can add sugar

to those sins now. There will be a lot of lead in time, but there has

been some suggestions this tax on sugary drinks could be passed on to

the shoppers, consumers and they may pay a bit more for that fizzy drink.

Don't steal all my thunder on that, because I have a question, but let's

hear what the Chancellor had to say on that.

I am not prepared to look back on Parliament while doing this job and

say I am sorry, we knew there was a problem with sugary drinks, but we

left the difficult decisions and did nothing. So today I can announce we

will introduce a new sugar levy and the soft drinks industry.

That is what he had to say about the sugar levy. Andrew King says,

instead of legislating against them, why is he taxing sugary drinks and

thereby, Andrew says, passing the cost onto the consumer? It works

pretty well from a financial sense him. Basically he would like

consumers not to be buying these drinks. The reason for that is

further down the line, if people do eat or drink too much sugar, they

are more likely to have diabetes, more likely to become obese and that

presents a huge financial burden for the NHS. Billions of pounds a year

is spent treating those conditions. What he is trying to do is steer

consumers away from these drinks with this tax. If they don't buy

them, then he doesn't get the money? He doesn't, but he is not going to

spend it anywhere. He has said he will spend it on school sports. In

England. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will be able to

choose where they spend that money. The Chancellor isn't saying he is

doing it in order to get some more in, to help cover the National

credit card. He is saying the money will go directly to school sports.

But just in England. It raises an interesting question and that

question was hinting at this, in terms of what the role of taxation

is in this kind of area, is it there to raise money? Is it there to

change that habits? It is controversial because a few pence

added onto a can of Coke will not do much to a wealthy person, but

someone with less means, will prevent them from drinking it and it

creates an inequality in society, which is a controversial thing. As

ever, Kevin, with a budget we are on day one. It takes several days to

get to the sort of, all of the details of it? It does. The joy of

our jobs. We get to look through the detail. Thankfully there is some

economic experts in the Institute for Fiscal Studies will be going

through this, literally all night. And tomorrow, they will be giving us

their take on it and often that gives us a bit more indication of

what is going on. And there will be things in there where people need to

look at the details, certainly things but things like the lifetime

ISA. Not just what is happening but how it is implemented. That is a key

for people to see if they are working or not. Katie, if people are

watching this and trying to get a sense of what effect it will have on

them, how best can be assessed that? There are a lot of solution in terms

of savings. There seems to be something for everyone in terms of

saving to build some security for the future. Some of those saving

schemes, we need to look into the detail and see what they mean. Over

the next few days a few more stories around those will unfold. Thank you

both very much for answering those questions, especially the one you

enjoyed as much as you did. Kevin Peachey and Katie Morley, thank you

very much. The weather will stay mostly dry

through the next few days, but dry does not

necessarily mean sunny.