A number of other Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) benefits, such as Attendance Allowance and PIP will also rise by the same figure.

Benefits are usually uprated every April based on inflation statistics from the previous September. This year, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate increased by 1.7 percent.

State pensioners will gain up to £470

State pensioners are to receive a 4.1 percent boost to their payments from April next year, with the full new state pension increasing by more than £470 a year.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has confirmed in her Autumn Budget today (April 30) that payments will go up in line with the triple lock, with the full new state pension going up from £221.20 a week to £230.30 a week, an increase of £473.60 a year.

National Insurance contributions rise by 1.2% for employers

Currently, employers pay 13.8 percent of a worker’s wage in National Insurance, but this will rise by 1.2 percentage points to 15 percent.

Separately, the Chancellor is bringing down the threshold at which employers will now be required to pay NI on the wages of staff from £9,100 to £5,000.

However, hundreds of thousands of small businesses will be exempted from these changes. This is because, for example, no NI will be payable at all for any firm employing fewer than four people on the minimum wage.

Estimates suggest an employer will face paying an extra £865.80 in NI per year for a member of staff paid £30,000 a year in what critics describe as a “jobs tax”.

Increasing the amount of NI that employers must pay does not affect employee wage packets in the short term, however business leaders and economists warn it could see businesses recoup the costs by capping future pay rises.

Separately, if businesses take on the full costs themselves, this will hit their profits and ability to invest and hire more people.

The government has decided not to pursue a measure to require employers to pay NI on their contributions to staff pensions, which would have led to lower retirement nest eggs.

Rachel Reeves raises Carer’s Allowance weekly limit

The Chancellor has announced a significant raise in the weekly limit of Carer’s Allowance.

The Chancellor announced that the weekly earning limit for Carer’s Allowance will be increased to the equivalent of 16 hours at the national living wage per week.

Currently, Carer’s Allowance, which is claimed by around 1.4million people in the UK – is worth £81.90 a week.

Capital Gains Tax increased

Fewer than 3 percent of Britons pay Capital Gains Tax (CGT) which is levied on the profit made on assets, such as shares, property other than the family home, gold bullion and artwork, when they are sold.

Currently, higher-rate taxpayers face CGT rates of 20 percent on most assets and 24 percent on residential property. The figures for basic-rate taxpayers were 10 percent and 18 percent.

Following the Budget, CGT has been raised from 10 percent to 18 percent for basic rate taxpayers and from 20 percent to 24 percentfor higher rate taxpayers – to match the rates on residential property.

The change means the increase in tax on a £10,000 gain will rise from £1,000 to 1,800; and the figure for a higher rate taxpayer will rise from £2,000 to £2,400.

Separately, there will be new tax rates applied to the profits made on the disposal of business and agricultural assets. The rate will hold at 10 percent this year, but changes to 14 percent in April 2025, and then to 18 percent in April 2026.

Universal Credit is set to rise by 1.7 percent (Image: Getty)

Inheritance tax freeze extended until 2030

The exemption that allows people to pass on pension pots free of tax is being scrapped.

Exemptions that allow people to pass on business property and agricultural land of IHT are being removed. From April 2026, after the first £1 million of business and agricultural assets, inheritance tax will apply at an effective rate of 20 percent.

This new tax regime will also apply to qualifying AIM shares, which previously fell outside of a person’s estate for inheritance tax.

Beer duty in pubs slashed

Rachel Reeves has announced the Government will cut draught duty by 1.7%, which means “a penny off a pint in the pub”.

The Chancellor told the Commons: “I can confirm that alcohol duty rates on non-draught products will increase in line with RPI from February next year, but nearly two-thirds of alcoholic drinks sold in pubs are served on draught.

“So today, instead of uprating these products in line with inflation, I am cutting draught duty by 1.7%, which means a penny off a pint in the pub.”