The Bill was presented to parliament on 25 March 2014. There was no debate on the Bill at this stage. The Committee of the Whole House stage of the Finance (No.2) Bill will be held on 8 April 2014.

These are the key measures outlined in the Bill:

• Increasing the tax-free personal allowance to £10,000 in 2014-15 and legislating for a further increase to £10,500 from 2015-16.
• Introducing a new transferable tax allowance for married couples and civil partners, allowing spouses in households where neither partner is a higher or additional rate taxpayer, and where one partner has not used up their full allowance, to pay tax on up to £1,050 less of their income from 2015-16.
• Reducing the starting rate of income tax on savings from 10% to 0%, and extending the band to which it applies from £2,880 to £5,000. Those with total incomes below £15,500 will pay no tax on their savings income.
• Initial changes to defined contribution pension schemes announced in the Budget, enacting those effectinve from April 2015:
  • reducing the amount of secure income that individuals have to demonstrate before they can access their pension savings flexibly (the Minimum Income Requirement) from £20,000 to £12,000.
  • Increasing the annual limit for individuals in a capped drawdown arrangement from 120% of an equivalent annuity to 150%.
  • Increasing the total pension wealth that can be taken as a lump sum from £18,000 to £30,000, and increasing the size and number of small pension pots that can be taken as a lump sum.
• Reducing business and household energy costs by freezing the Carbon Price Support rate at £18 in 2016-17. The Government has also committed to maintain this freeze to the end of the decade. This will save businesses £4bn by 2018-19.
• Increasing the Annual Investment Allowance to £500,000 until 31 December 2015, giving 100% upfront relief on qualifying investments in plant and machinery.
• Supporting research-intensive start-ups and early-stage companies through an increase to 14.5% in the payable R&D tax credit for loss-making SMEs, supporting over £1bn of investment over the next five years.
• Introducing a new requirement that users of tax avoidance schemes which have been defeated in another party’s litigation, or which fall within the scope of the Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Scheme (DOTAS) rules or the General Anti-Abuse Rule (GAAR), should pay the disputed tax upfront.
• Extending the Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings (ATED) and associated measures to reduce incentives for residential properties to be held as investments in corporate 'envelopes' and left unoccupied.
• Tackling the avoidance of employment taxes, by taking action to prevent employment intermediaries (both onshore and offshore) from avoiding their obligations, including through disguising employment as false self-employment.

Many of the measures were put out to consultation following pre-announcements at Budget 2013, 2014 and Autumn Statement 2013.

The Finance Bill is available here http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/2013-2014/0190/14190.pdf

To follow the Bill through parliament, please click Finance Bill 2014