Conservative party conference 2014: We’ll raise personal allowance to £12,500 and the 40p tax threshold, says David Cameron
David Cameron pulled out the big guns during his speech at the Conservative party conference today, pledging that a future Tory government will raise the tax-free personal allowance to £12,500 from the current level of £10,000, as well as raising the 40p tax threshold to £50,000, from £41,900.
During his keynote address, Cameron said after years of austerity: "There must be tax cuts for hard-working people."
The Conservatives' plans will remove one million people from paying tax altogether and "benefit" another 30 million, he claimed, bringing back "fairness" to the tax system.
Cameron added those on minimum wage working 30 hours a week or more will pay "zilch".
Let the message go out that under the Conservatives, if you work hard and do the right thing, we say you should keep all of your own money to spend as you choose.
Cameron's policies deliberately target the two furthest ends of the spectrum of Conservative voters: on one hand, raising the personal allowance was originally a Liberal Democrat policy; on the other, raising the threshold for the top rate of tax is a policy also put forward by Ukip.