Measure by measure

1997

? 19p tax rise on a packet of 20 cigarettes

? Beer up 1p a pint, wine 4p a bottle , spirits 19p a bottle, from 1 January

? 4p a litre on petrol and diesel

? Stamp duty up to 1.5 per cent on properties over ?250,000 and 2 per cent on those over ?500,000

? Mortgage tax relief cut from 15 per cent to 10 per cent from April 1998

? Tax relief ends on over-60s' private health cover

? New individual savings account to replace personal equity plans and Tessas

? Pension funds no longer able to reclaim tax on dividends. The same to apply to charities and individuals from April 1999

1998

? 21p on 20 cigarettes, from 1 December

? Beer up 1p a pint from 1 January; wine up 4p a bottle

? Petrol up 4.4p a litre for unleaded and 4.9p for leaded. Road tax to be cut for small cars the following year

? Married Couples Allowance to be cut from 15 per cent to 10 per cent in 1999

? Capital gains tax reform to help long-term investors

? Stamp duty on property up to 2 per cent for homes worth more than ?250,000 and to 3 per cent for those over ?500,000

? Plans for ?50,000 cap on tax-free investments in Peps and Isas abandoned

? Working Families Tax Credit announced with a pledge that full-time workers with a family would have an income of at least ?180 a week and no income tax on pay below ?220 a week

? New Childcare Tax Credit to start in 1999, allowing working parents earning up to ?30,000 to reclaim up to 70 per cent of costs, up to a maximum of ?100 a week for first child and ?150 for two or more

? Child benefit up ?2.50 a week for the first child, from April 1999

1999

? New 10p lower rate of income tax to apply to first ?1,500 of taxable income

? Children's Tax Credit to replace Married Couple s Allowance, but not until April 2001, a year after scrapping of allowance

? Mortgage interest tax relief to be abolished from April 2000

? 17.5p tax on 20 cigarettes

? Petrol up 4.25p a litre for leaded; 3.79p on unleaded

? Car tax disc down by ?55 to ?100 for cars with smaller engines, but up by ?5 to ?155 for larger vehicles

? Stamp duty on home sales up 0.5 per cent to 2.5 per cent on purchase of property over ?250,000 and by 3.5 per cent over ?500,000

? Child benefit up by 60p to ?15 a week for first child and by ?10 for other children, but not until April 2000

? State pensioners' winter bonus up from ?20 to ?100

? Elderly people promised guaranteed minimum income through introduction of means-tested top-up to basic state pension. It will be ?78 for single pensioners and ?121 for couples. Figures to rise in line with earnings, rather than inflation

? Starting point for paying National Insurance raised from ?64 a week to ?66, but ceiling for levying NI raised from ?485 to ?500

2000

? Petrol up 2p a litre

? Cars up to 1,200cc to claim the ?55 tax discount

? 25p extra on 20 cigarettes.

? Stamp duty on property purchase up to 3 per cent on homes worth more than ?250,000; 4 per cent on those over ?500,000

? Income tax bands widened: first ?1,520 of income after personal allowance is taxed at 10 per cent; and next ?26,800 at 22 per cent. Top rate of 40 per cent to start at ?28,400

? New tax breaks on charitable gifts by individuals so that most donations now qualify for tax relief

? Savers allowed to put ?7,000 into individual savings accounts for another year, compared with original plan that this allowance should be cut to?5,000

? New Children's Tax Credit to start in April 2001 at maximum ?8.50 a week

? Employee share ownership plan launched to replace former profit-related pay scheme

2001

• 10p starting rate of tax now applies to first £1,880 of income after personal allowance. More people are in this tax band

• Children's Tax Credit to be introduced at up to £10 a week, up from the £8.50 originally intended

• From April 2002 Children's Tax Credit worth up to £10 more a week, £20 in total, for a year after a child's birth

• Basic adult credit in Working Families' Tax Credit and disabled person's tax credit up by£5 a week from June

• Families on WFTC will receive £214 minimum income (with higher minimum wage) in April and £225 in October

• Up to £94.50 claimable via childcare part of WFTC and disabled credit for one-child families; £140 for two or more

• Duty held on spirits, beer and wine

• Cigarette duty up 6p for 20, in line with inflation

• Vat refunds for museums with free admission

• Betting duty ended in favour of tax on bookies' profits

• 2p a litre cut in duty on ultra-low sulphur petrol. Unleaded down by 2p until 14 June. ULS diesel down 3p

• £55 discount on tax discs for small cars extended to those up to 1,549 cc from 1 July, backdated to 1 November 2000

• Confirmation of above-inflation rises in state pension: up £5 to £72.50 for a single person from April and by £3 to £75.50 from April 2002. Couples will get £8 more to a total of £115.90 this year, and £4.80 in 2002, to £120.70

• Means-tested minimum income guarantee for pensioners rises to £92.15 a week for single people from April and to £140.55 for couples (both in line with earnings).

• Age-related personal income tax allowances to rise in 2003 by £240 more than inflation. These will rise with earnings rather than prices throughout the next Parliament

• Pensioners' credit, to start in 2003, will help single people on incomes up to about £135, and couples on around£200

• Flat rate of statutory maternity pay (payable after six weeks off) to rise from £60.20 to £75 from April 2002 and to £100 from April 2003. Maternity pay extended from 18 to 26 weeks from April 2003

• Two weeks paternity leave for working fathers, paid at same flat rate as statutory maternity pay

• Child benefit up to £15.50 from April for first child and £10.35 for others.