Orkney and Shetland MP Alistair Carmichael has today welcomed changes to the income tax system that will put £200 back in the pockets of around 18,000 people in the Northern Isles.
The income tax threshold, the point from which people start paying their taxes, was raised today by £1,000 today to £7,475.
This increase is the first step toward the Liberal Democrat commitment to raise the income tax threshold to £10,000, with a further rise of the threshold due in 2012. In Orkney and Shetland, this change is expected to mean around 800 people will no longer have to pay income tax at all, with 18,000 in line for a tax cut.
Commenting, Mr Carmichael said:
'At a time when people are worried about their personal finances, this tax cut will help millions of people on lower and middle incomes. In Orkney and Shetland alone, 18,000 people will get an extra £200 to spend this year and I know this will make a real difference.
'Across the country as a whole, almost a million people will be lifted out of paying tax altogether across the country, while 23m people will get a tax cut.
'This tax cut is something that we campaigned on before the election and I am pleased that the policy has now completed the journey from the front page of our manifesto to the pockets of 23m tax payers.'
Deputy Prime Minister and Liberal Democrat Leader, Nick Clegg added:
'We have to make difficult decisions but we can still make life fairer and that's what Liberal Democrats in government and across Britain are doing.
'From today Liberal Democrats have delivered a £200 income tax cut to every basic rate taxpayer, and there's more to come - our ambition is a country where no one pays any income tax on the first £10,000 they earn.
'These are the kind of decisions Liberal Democrats are making in Government to make life just that little bit easier for people who are facing difficult times.'
Notes:
1. The raising of the Income Tax threshold to £10,000 was a priority for the Liberal Democrats in the General Election: it was one of four policies we put on the front of our manifesto (along with the pupil premium; a rebalanced economy; and long-lasting political reform).
2. We have already started to deliver on all four of those key priorities.
3. By 2012/13, the Income Tax Threshold will be raised to £8,105, meaning that Liberal Democrats will have lifted 1.1 million people out of paying tax and will have given 25 million people a tax cut worth £326.