£700 tax cut for 39,400 in Chesterfield - Julia Cambridge

Today's Budget announced that the Income Tax Personal Allowance will be raised to £10,000 in April 2014 - one year sooner than had been expected. This means 39,400 ordinary working people in Chesterfield will get a further Income Tax cut, bringing the total tax cut to £700 a year since Liberal Democrats joined the Coalition Government.

In Chesterfield, this welcome news also means that 4,160 low-earners will have been lifted out of paying Income Tax thanks to Liberal Democrats in the Coalition Government.

Commenting, Julia Cambridge, Parliamentary Spokesperson for Chesterfield said:

"Liberal Democrats are working for a stronger economy and a fairer society, so that everyone can get on in life so we are cutting taxes for ordinary working people.

"Liberal Democrats want fairer taxes, which is why we made raising the tax-free allowance our number one priority at the General Election - so important that we put it on the front page of our manifesto.

"When times are tough, with rising bills and wages not keeping pace with inflation, we want to give people real, practical help.

"Cutting Income Tax will not deal with all of those problems, but it will help. And I hope it will make a big difference to every family in this country."

Commenting further, Liberal Democrat Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander said:

"When times are as tough as they are now, our focus must be on helping those on low and middle incomes. That's why we've made delivering on this promise our number one priority in Government.

"It's also why we have scrapped another of Labour's fuel duty rises, so filling up your car will be £7 cheaper than under Labour plans. And why we are cracking down on tax dodgers so that everyone is paying their fair share.

"All of this has been done while sticking to our tough but necessary plan to deal with this country's financial problems. Britain can't afford unfunded giveaways - unlike the last Labour Government, we have made sure everything is paid for."

The Facts

• Liberal Democrats in the Coalition Government have increased the amount of money you can earn tax-free every year. In April 2014 it will be raised to £10,000, a total tax cut of £700 a year for nearly 25m people.

• In 2014, someone working full-time on the minimum wage will see their Income Tax bill cut by more than half compared to what they were paying under Labour.

• By April 2014 we will have taken 2.7m low-income workers out of paying tax altogether. The majority will be women.

• The £700 tax cut means, for the average family, we have cut the Income Tax bill by a third. It is enough for a working couple to pay their council tax or combined gas and electricity bills for a year.

• Beyond this unprecedented rise in the Personal Allowance, we want to increase the tax-free allowance further until no one pays any Income Tax until they earn more than the National Minimum Wage.

• Labour's record of unfair taxes: Labour cut tax for millionaires every single year until their last month, while increasing tax on low earners by scrapping the 10p tax rate.

• Under Labour, someone on the Minimum Wage paid £1,000 in Income Tax. We have cut their tax bill by more than half and under our future plans, they would pay nothing.

• Labour helped the richest in society when they cut Capital Gains Tax for hedge fund managers and cut tax on millionaires' pension pots.