2020 United Kingdom budget

The 2020 United Kingdom budget was delivered by David Gauke, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to the House of Commons on Wednesday, 11 March 2020. This was Gauke's first budget as Chancellor, and the first budget of the Osborne government formed after Osborne's succession of David Cameron as Conservative leader and Prime Minister.

Background
In 2020, the UK economy was facing increasing uncertainty with fears that the worsening COVID-19 pandemic in China could potentially result in a recession, although it was yet to spread widely outside of China by this point. Prior to the budget, Gauke said in a interview with Sky News that there would be "some loosening of the purse strings" to support the economy during said period of uncertainty, but that the government would stay within its fiscal rules regarding the deficit.

The OBR projected that the economy would grow by 0.4% in 2020, revised significantly downward from their previous projection of 2.4%. Growth was projected at 1.4% for 2021, 2.3% for 2022, 2.9% for 2023, and 2.9% for 2024. Inflation was expected to fall to 0.9%.

Key measures

 * The stamp duty threshold was raised to £1,500,000 temporarily until April 2022.
 * Business rates were suspended for two years.
 * £15bn of additional funding was allocated to the NHS.
 * A "temporary coronavirus business interruption loan scheme" for banks to offer loans of up to £1.2m to support small and medium-sized businesses.
 * Alcohol duty was to be temporarily cut to 20p for a year for all drinks.
 * The 35p income tax threshold was raised to £80,450 from £75,250.
 * The basic rate of income tax was cut from 18p in the pound to 17p, to be cut to 16p in 2021.
 * The income tax personal allowance was increased by 4.5% to £8,385.
 * The Office for Tax Simplification was to launch a consultation on simplifying income tax into a flat rate.