§ Finally, I turn to income tax.
There is now a worldwide consensus on the economic desirability of tax reform and tax reduction, and in particular the reduction of income tax. This was demonstrated most recently by the various national policy declarations that emerged from last month's meeting of Finance Ministers from the major industrial nations.
Lower rates of tax sharpen up incentives and stimulate enterprise, which in turn is the only route to better economic performance. And it is only by improving our economic performance that we will be able to afford to spend more on public services; and only by improving our economic performance that we will be able to create jobs on the scale that we all want to see.
That is why, ever since we first took office in 1979, we have consistently sought to reduce the burden of income tax. We have cut the basic rate of tax from 33 per cent. to 29 per cent. and sharply reduced the punitive higher rates we inherited from the Labour party. And we have increased the main tax allowances by 22 per cent. more than inflation, taking almost 1½ million people out of income tax altogether.
For 1987–88 I propose to raise all the main thresholds and allowances by the statutory indexation factor of 3.7 per cent., rounded up. Thus the single person's allowance will rise by £90 to £2,425 and the married man's allowance by £140 to £3,795. The single age allowance will rise by £110 to £2,960 and the married age allowance by £170 to £4,675. The age allowance income limit becomes £9,800. I propose to raise the first 40 per cent. higher rate threshold by £700 to £17,900, in line with statutory indexation; but the threshold for the 45 per cent. rate will go up by only £200 to £20,400. The other higher rate thresholds will remain unchanged.
I have two other changes in allowances to announce.
First, I propose to give an additional increase in the age allowance for those aged 80 or over. For them, the increase will be double the amount due under statutory indexation so that, for the very elderly, the single age allowance will rise by £220 to £3,070 and the married age allowance by £340 to £4,845. Around 400,000 taxpayers will benefit from this new measure, and up to 25,000 of them will be taken out of income tax altogether.
Second, the blind person's allowance has remained unchanged since 1981, when it was increased by £180 to its present level of £360. For 1987–88 I propose to increase it by a further £180, to £540.
Finally, I turn to the basic rate of income tax. This is the starting rate of income tax for everyone and the marginal rate for the overwhelming majority of taxpayers.
828 In my Budget speech last year I reaffirmed the aim set out by my predecessor in 1979, to reduce the basic rate of income tax to no more than 25 per cent. That remains my firm objective.
However, given my decision to use the greater part of the fiscal scope I now have to reduce the public sector borrowing requirement, that goal cannot be achieved in this Budget.
I can, however, take a further step towards it, as I did last year. I am therefore reducing the basic rate of income tax by 2p to 27 per cent. This reduction, which will benefit every taxpayer in the land, will be worth more than £3 a week to a man on average earnings.
There will, of course, be a consequential reduction in the rate of advance corporation tax, and—as last year—I also propose a corresponding cut in the small companies' rate of corporation tax from 29 per cent. to 27 per cent.
Taken together with the income tax change, this will mean a significant reduction in the tax burden on small businesses, which are so important for future growth and jobs.
The income tax changes I have just announced will take effect under PAYE on the first pay day after 17 May. They will cost a little more than £2 billion in 1987–88 over and above the cost of statutory indexation.
The total cost of all the measures in this year's Budget again on an indexed basis, is a little over £2½billion.