The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has delivered his Spring Statement to Parliament. How will it affect your finances? Will you end up richer of poorer? Here we summarise his measures.

       Winners Taxpayers

       The basic rate of income tax will be cut from 20p to 19p in the pound by the end of this parliament in 2024. The Chancellor said the cut was “fully costed and paid for in the plan announced today”.

       “We're cutting income tax in 2024, when the Office for Budget Responsibility expects inflation to be back under control, debt falling sustainably and the economy growing,” the Treasury said.

       Separately, the threshold for National Insurance is being raised this year from ￡9,880 to ￡12,570 to equalise it with the income tax threshold. The change will take effect in July. However, the rate of NI rises by 1.25 percentage points next month. Those who earn less than about ￡35,000 are expected to gain more from the rise in the threshold than they lose from the rise in the rate.

       “From July you’ll be able to earn ￡12,570 without paying any National Insurance or income tax,” Mr Sunak said. He said long-term funding of public services such as the NHS was “not incompatible” with tax cuts.

       But Paul Johnson, the head of the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank, said: “What is the possible justification for cutting the income tax rate while raising the NI rate? It drives a further wedge between taxation of unearned income and earned income. Yet again it benefits pensioners and those living off rents at the expense of workers.”

       Drivers

       From 6pm today fuel duty will be cut by 5p per litre across the country. The cut will expire in March. In response Asda is to reduce fuel prices by 6p per litre today, Sky News reported.

       Householders who want to improve energy efficiency

       For the next five years more energy-efficiency measures will attract zero VAT instead of 5pc. The Northern Ireland protocol prevents immediate implementation of the policy in the province.

       Low-income households

       The Government will double the Household Support Fund with an extra ￡500m. The Treasury said this would ensure “the most vulnerable families continue to get support with their food, energy and water bills”.

       Losers

       The Chancellor did not respond to widespread demands for other steps to ease the cost of living crisis such as scrapping or postponing the rise in National Insurance rates next month.

       And while he responded to the rising costs faced by motorists by cutting fuel duty there was no help for those who commute by public transport, who have also faced increases in ticket prices.

       And more generally Mr Sunak was powerless to neutralise the destructive effects of inflation, which reached a new peak of 6.2pc last month, on people’s standards of living.

       The Office for Budget Responsibility said: “The rise in inflation to a 40-year high this year is expected to reduce real household disposable incomes on a per-person basis by 2.2pc in 2022-23, the biggest fall in living standards in any single financial year since [official] records began in 1956-57.”

       The self-employed

       Those who work for themselves will not benefit from the rise in the NI threshold but will still pay the extra 1.25 percentage points in National Insurance next month. The self-employed have their own system of NI contributions: they pay a flat-rate “class 2” contribution once their income exceeds ￡6,515 a year and in addition pay a percentage of earnings once their income exceeds ￡9,569 under “class 4” contributions. Employees simply pay a percentage of earnings once they reach the threshold.

       Benefit claimants

       Mr Johnson of the IFS said: “The big omission from this statement was anything for those subsisting on means-tested benefits. They will be facing cost of living increases of probably 10pc but their benefits will rise by just 3.1pc.”

       Low-earning pension savers

       With the basic rate of income tax being cut from 2024, so too will pension tax relief. It means that you will only get 19pc tax relief on you pension instead of 20pc – but this won't affect earners on the higher rates of income tax.

       Renters

       While homeowners get a cut to VAT on energy efficiency-enhancing kit such as solar panels, insulation and heat pumps, there were no giveaways to renters for them to cut their energy bills.