The key fiscal issues announced by Gordon Brown during the course of his 2004 Budget.

Overall the chancellor said his fiscal projections were unchanged from the pre-Budget report. The decision, he told MPs, was between "cutting tax rates" and increasing investment in public services.

Business

• Customs and Excise and Inland Revenue merged - to save five per cent in real terms. Some 14,000 jobs to go within the combined services.

• Moves to close down tax loopholes used by companies. These include the areas of partnerships, finance leasing and VAT. New requirement for firms who specialise in tax avoidance to register their interests.

• Climate change levy - frozen and 80 per cent discount extended.

• Aggregate levy frozen.

• Betting duty - frozen but a new review of online betting.

• Change in taxes for small businesses to "maintain and improve support".

• Shake-up of tax relief for film makers - at a new and higher level of 20 per cent.

Personal Tax

• Single lifetime allowance for pensions tax to be introduced, set at £1.5 million from April 2006.

• Inheritance tax frozen in percentage terms - with exemption increased to put the starting point for tax at £263,000. Brown said 95 per cent of estates will now be exempt.

• Stamp duty frozen.

• Four pence on a bottle of wine, one pence on a pint of beer and spirits duty frozen.

• Cigarettes up by eight pence per packet.

• Tax on air tickets is also frozen.

• Lower tax duty on sulphur free fuel. Bio-diesel and bio-ethanol also given preferential status.

Other measures

• VAT relief on church repairs extended to the full 17.5 per cent until 2006.