3024 Wiltshire government budget

The federal budget of the state of Wiltshire for the 3024-25 financial year was delivered to the Wiltshire National Assembly and passed on 30 August 3024 by Lucy Burgers, the Chancellor of the Exchequer. It was the first budget delivered by Burgers since her re-appointment as Chancellor, and her eighth overall. It was also the first budget passed since the end of the Wiltshire civil war (3023-24), resulting in the first uniform fiscal policy in government since December 3022.

Burgers announced shortly before the budget that the government would be triggering the 'debt brake', which restricted the government's ability to raise revenue through borrowing. As such, Burgers delivered a balanced budget - the first in Wiltshire since 3015. The budget outlined a new revenue structure, which focused on retaining incomes while boosting revenue through other means, including the single largest increase in Value Added Tax (VAT) in Wiltshirian history. As a result, this budget saw significantly higher taxation rates than under previous budgets.

In the budget statement, Burgers called the higher taxation "essential" in rebuilding Wiltshire. As a result, she included a number of re-investment portfolios. For example, the Energy Independence Fund (EIF) was created to specifically invest in energy infrastructure. Additionally, the Sovereign Wealth Fund saw a 3.4 billion CM contribution - the largest since the fund's creation (aside from the DCM War Debt Relief Fund, which was lost during the civil war). Burgers said she intended to refill the fund within two years, with a combination of investments, infrastructure, and profits from state run services and corporations.

The budget did not raise the minimum wage from its previous level of 11.25 CM per hour. However, it created a "new living wage", which it announced would be mandatory for all government and state sector workers, as well as contractors working with the government. Additionally, certain corporate tax breaks were given for corporations that adopted the new living wage as a corporate minimum.

Spending

The budget contained allocations for 80.045 billion CM of spending. This included (but was not limited to):

• 3.4 billion CM for the Sovereign Wealth Fund and Discretionary Fund respectively;
• 2.1 billion CM for the Murcian Defence Contribution (set at 2.5% of the federal budget);
• 13.1 billion CM for the Department for Economy, Investment, and Reconstruction, including a 5.5 billion hospitals construction and repair fund;
• 3.8 billion CM for Food & Land Management;
• 10.8 billion CM for policing, borders, and homeland security;
• 12.76 billion CM for the Local Government Fund, which provides operational budgets to the new state governments.

The Chancellor said there was a significant opportunity in not having to pay a full defence budget, as the military union with the Balancín Crown gave the burden of military expenses to them, outside of a 2.5% defence budget contribution.

Income tax structure

Band	Income range (CM)	Rate	Full take*	Effective rate at full take
A - personal allowance	0 - 13,200	0%	0 CM	0%
B	13,200 - 24,000	20%	2,160 CM	9%
C	24,000 - 35,000	30%	5,460 CM	15.6%
D	35,000 - 75,000	35%	19,460 CM	25.9%
E	75,000 - 150,000	40%	49,460 CM	33.0%
F	150,000+	45%	-

*Full take calculated as the total income tax paid by an individual at the top of a particular tax band. For example, an individual at the top of band B, earning 24,000 CM per year, pays an income tax of 2,160 CM.

Changes

The budget prioritised lowering effective income tax rates. This included raising of the personal allowance to over 13,000 CM, and introducing the new C band (30%), which was previously coupled with the D band at 35%. The budget also passed an inflation match clause, which would increase the band ranges in accordance with price inflation at bi-annual intervals.

Corporate tax structure

Corporate income tax was set at 12.5%, an increase from the 9% rate that was set by Chancellor Rab Bennett. The increase was expected to be higher, as speculation loomed that they would adopt the DCM-maximum of 15%. Chancellor Burgers said that small businesses would be eligible for a tax break if they pay the new living wage of 14.40 CM per hour.

National Insurance structure

The budget overhauled the national insurance system, which aimed to raise 2.5 billion CM for specific social care elements of the Social Affairs budget. The average National Insurance rate was 6.5%.

Burgers also confirmed that NI contributions of 5% of total salary per year were required for at least 10 years of work in order to receive the full state pension. The government announced plans to open up options for workers to pay into the system additionally to "buy back" those years in order to receive the state pension.

The Chancellor stated that she hoped to lax these harsh National Insurance rules once the Sovereign Wealth Fund was refilled.