Cameron pledges to raise higher rate threshold to £50k

Prime Minister David Cameron has said the Conservatives will raise the 40% tax threshold from £41,900 to £50,000 if they win the 2015 General Election.

In a surprise move, Cameron made the multi-billion pound commitment at today's Conservative Party Conference, as part of a play for votes from the "squeezed middle". The Prime Minister also pledged to raise the tax-free personal allowance from £10,500 to £12,500 by 2020. UK citizens currently pay a 20% basic rate of tax on the first £31,865 they earn above the personal allowance, 40% on earnings between that figure and £150,000, and 45% on taxable income over £150,000. Cameron said the personal allowance changes would mean one million of the country's lowest-paid workers do not hav...