Conservatives to scrap income taxation on savings

Date: 6th January 2009

Income taxation on savings could be abolished under new proposals unveiled by the Conservative Party.

The opposition is proposing that savings tax is scrapped for all those with earnings in the basic rate bracket, while the Tories also plan to raise pensioners' allowance from £2,000 to £11,490.

According to the Conservative leader David Cameron, the policies are intended to turn Britain from a 'tax and spend' environment to a "save, save, save society".

Mr Cameron said: "We need a really big change: from an economy built on debt to an economy built on saving; from a country and government that has lived beyond its means to one that lives within its means."

He added that the UK has "to strike out in a new direction" to move forward and curb a potentially prolonged recession.

Elsewhere, the deadline for self-assessment tax returns is drawing near, with business owners and self-employed individuals being required to submit online by January 31st.