Robert Cuffe
Head of statistics

Image source, PA Media

The chancellor has permanently and immediately cut stamp duty tax in England and Northern Ireland for some home buyers.

First-time buyers of above-average homes see the biggest benefits.

And people buying homes that cost less than £250,000 now don’t pay stamp duty.

That will comfortably buy you an average terraced home in most places in England outside the South East. Raising the threshold to this level saves everyone who buys a house worth this much £2,500 (except first-time buyers).

First-time buyers can spend even more - £425,000, roughly an average flat in London - before they have to pay stamp duty. That’s a saving of £6,250 compared to the old rules.

Spend £620,000 - which might get you a detached home in somewhere like Collingham in Leeds - and a first-time buyer will pay £10,000. That’s less than half of what they would have paid a few days ago.

But above that level, first-time buyers pay the same as everyone else.

But remember - stamp duty rates are three percentage points higher for second homes, and that hasn’t changed.

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The Confederation of Business Industry, the lobby group which represents thousands of UK firms, says the chancellor's fiscal statement "is a turning point for our economy".

Businesses are one of the big winners from Kwasi Kwarteng's announcement after he scrapped a 6% rise in corporation tax.

CBI director general Tony Danker says: "Today is day one of a new UK growth approach.

"We must now use this opportunity to make it count and bring growth to every corner of the UK. Fifteen years of anaemic growth cannot be repeated."

He adds: "It's not perfect - it’s just the beginning - but there’s plenty business can work with."

Alison Holt
Social affairs editor

The reaction to the mini-budget by many organisations working with struggling families, disabled people or those who are older and frail, can probably be summed up in one word - worried.

Whilst help with energy bills is welcomed and the cut in National Insurance will put more money in the pockets of workers, charities say more financial help is needed.

The Children’s Society chief executive Mark Russell says the government is “failing miserably” to meet the needs of struggling low-income families.

The disability charity, Scope, says benefits should increase in line with inflation. It says in the last month 44,000 people turned to its website for help on the cost of living - 72% higher than the year before.

The national poverty charity, Turn2Us, says benefits changes are “punitive” and will cause “significant distress” to part-time workers on benefits without doing more to remove barriers to work, such as affordable childcare.

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If you're just joining us, it's been a busy morning in Westminster. Here's a rundown of all the key events from the day so far.

Not-so-mini-budget: Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng laid out the government's plans for growing the UK economy to MPs this morning. He stayed in the Commons for hours afterwards to take questions.

Tax-cutting: The mini-budget covered everything from stamp duty cuts in England and Northern Ireland to income tax cuts and an introduction of tax-free shopping for overseas visitors. There's an easy-to-follow list of everything announced here.

A plan for the rich?: Labour criticised today's announcement, with shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves describing it as a "plan to reward the already wealthy". Chris Philp, the Treasury's chief secretary, later denounced such remarks as the "politics of envy", claiming Kwarteng's plan would help the whole country.

Financial expert concerned: Paul Johnson, head of the independent think tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies, compared Kwarteng's tax-cutting mini-budget with the Budget announced by Tory chancellor Anthony Barber 50 years ago. He says Barber's Budget became known as "the worst of modern times".

Pound falls: Following Kwarteng's Commons speech, financial markets took a downturn with the pound failing 1% against the dollar to $1.11. City analysts have ramped up their expectations of quicker and higher interest rates after the government announced its £45bn tax giveaway – leading some to conclude inflation will remain high for some time.

Hazel Shearing
Education correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

The chancellor’s announcement comes as many university students pack up their bags for the start of a new term – and the cost of living will present them with new challenges.

According to website Save the Student, more than eight in 10 students who responded to a survey said they worried about making ends meet, with the average maintenance loan falling short of living costs.

And universities have said today that “tax cuts for high-earners will not benefit students struggling to manage their costs this autumn”.

“These students include our next generation of teachers, nurses, scientists and engineers and we can’t afford to see them drop out because they can’t make ends meet,” said Universities UK.

It called on the government to work with universities "to boost hardship funds and increase maintenance support".

The Department for Education says universities can draw on up to £261m made available for their hardship funds.

Recent research by BBC News found that the number of students asking for emergency cash nearly tripled between 2018-19 and 2020-21 at 95 UK universities.

Image source, Getty Images

As we've reported, the government has cut stamp duty tax in England and Northern Ireland for some home buyers.

The changes, announced as part of Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng's mini-budget, come into effect straight away.

The amount of stamp duty you pay depends on the cost of the property.

The government has raised the threshold before it is paid from £125,000 to £250,000 - and £425,000 for first-time buyers.

Find out more about the new stamp duty rates, how it works and how much you will need to pay here.

Reality Check

The government estimates that 629,000 people in the UK currently pay the top rate of income tax of 45%, for which you have to be earning more than £150,000 a year.

Abolishing that and having just the higher tax rate of 40% instead will cost an average of about £1.3bn a year for the next two years, rising above £2bn after that. But the change will not apply to top-rate taxpayers in Scotland.

The cuts to income tax from 20% to 19% should benefit just over 30 million income taxpayers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The reversal of the 1.25p in the pound increase in National Insurance will impact more people because it applies in Scotland and also applies to employers.

To get an idea of those benefiting from the reduction in stamp duty in England and Northern Ireland, there were about 1.1 million residential property transactions on which stamp duty was paid in the last year.

Biggest tax-cutting moment in decades sends markets reelingpublished at 12:52 British Summer Time 23 September 2022

12:52 BST 23 September 2022

Faisal Islam
Economics editor

It is an unofficial Budget of staggering size designed to jump-start the economy.

A £12bn corporation tax cut, a £17bn National Insurance cut, a £5bn basic rate income tax cut and a £2bn cut to the 45p rate. Put together it is the biggest tax-cutting moment for a half a century.

And while it should initially soothe some of the recession we are already likely in, the similarly huge borrowing has sent markets reeling.

The lack of numbers, visibility and quantifiable commitment to reining in government borrowing has added to uncertainty in markets.

Prime Minister Liz Truss criticised bean counters in her leadership campaign but today’s plan only shows one side of the ledger.

For a chancellor making a debut, as Kwasi Kwarteng was, it is usual to focus on fiscal credibility. But that was not the priority here.

There are considerable risks in this plan, but the government has thrown the kitchen sink at it. It should help growth upfront.

But the echoes of the last Budget of this size in 1972, which led to an infamous period of boom and bust under chancellor Anthony Barber, will not be comfortable.

Paul Johnson, head of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, says Kwasi Kwarteng’s announcement is "the biggest tax cutting event since 1972".

While that may sound like positive news, Johnson offers these words of caution.

In a tweet, external, he compares what's just been announced with the budget announced by Tory chancellor Anthony Barber from 50 years ago.

"That budget is known as the worst of modern times,” Johnson says.

Barber reduced income taxes by £1bn, and gave further huge tax concessions to industry in order to save jobs.

Unfortunately, events soon proved him wrong. Inflation soared, boosted by the newly-floated pound and the first oil crisis.

It ultimately led to the defeat of Edward Heath and his replacement by Margaret Thatcher.

Johnson says he hopes Kwarteng's budget "works very much better".

Sterling has extended falls against the dollar and is now heading towards $1.10. It was around $1.12 before Kwasi Kwarteng started his announcement.

Jane Foley, currency strategist at Rabobank, says that investors are "worried that some of these tax cuts that have been announced aren't going to be fully funded [and] that will result in a large amount of debt at a time when the Bank of England is going to be selling some of its holdings of UK government debt".

She said: "‘I know some of our clients are certainly panicking."

Foley added: "I think this government does need to provide a lot more reassurance that it does have fiscal sensibility in order. This is not the message that's come across this morning."

What do you want to know about the chancellor's announcements?published at 12:12 British Summer Time 23 September 2022

12:12 BST 23 September 2022

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As you'll know by now, Kwasi Kwarteng has set out a raft of tax cuts he hopes will stimulate growth, and set out support to help with energy bills.

And later, our experts will be on hand to answer your questions on what this all means for you.

So this is your chance to ask us anything to help you make sense of the announcements – and no question is a silly question.

Send in any questions you have at the top of the page and we'll answer as many as we can.

You can also get in touch in the following ways:

• Email: yourquestions@bbc.co.uk
• WhatsApp: +44 7756 165803
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In some cases a selection of your comments and questions will be published, displaying your name and location as you provide it unless you state otherwise. Your contact details will never be published.

Reality Check

The government has published estimates for how much these new measures will cost.

Overall, it estimates that the changes will cost about an extra £12bn this year, £37bn next year and £38bn the year after that.

What are the biggest contributors to that figure next year?

• About £14bn comes from reversing the increase in National Insurance
• £12bn comes from cancelling the planned increase in corporation tax
• Cutting 1p off the basic rate of income tax costs £5bn in lost tax revenue

Let's take a look back at what was announced by Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng this morning:

Here's what you need to know:

• Income tax will be cut to 19% from April next year
• The recent rise in National Insurance tax will be reversed from 6 November
• The planned rise in corporation tax from 19% to 25% has been cancelled
• Rules around universal credit have been tightened by reducing benefits if people don't fulfil job search commitments
• Stamp duty - which is paid when people buy a property in England and Northern Ireland - has been cut for properties costing less than £250,000. This rises to £425,000 for first time buyers

• Limits on bankers' bonuses have been scrapped
• VAT-free shopping for overseas visitors will be brought in
• Planned increases on alcohol have been cancelled
• New low tax investment zones will be set up

Read about all the announcements in more detail here.

There was a moment earlier, during Kwasi Kwarteng's mini-budget announcement, where he was met with loud jeers and laughs from Labour's benches. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer could be seen laughing and shaking his head.

It came after Kwarteng said the UK was "entering a new era" under the leadership of new PM Liz Truss - with him by her side as chancellor.

Labour MPs immediately made a raucous noise, with Kwarteng having to repeat more than once: "That's right, a new era, a new era."

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, in her reply to his statement, indicated why her party found his claim so funny when she reminded the Commons that the Conservatives have been in power for 12 years.

Image source, Getty Images

Appearing on BBC Two's Politics Live, Chris Philp, the chief secretary to the Treasury, has defended the mini-budget announced this morning by his boss Kwasi Kwarteng.

Asked if Tory voters might be perplexed, considering Liz Truss' approach to tackling the cost of living crisis is completely different to Boris Johnson's, Philp says he's part of a "new government and new cabinet" which means a "new plan for UK growth that will drive the economy forward".

We want to make the UK the "best place to invest, the best place to relocate," he adds.

Rejecting criticism of the announcements Kwarteng outlined - including a cut to income tax - Philp says any suggestion the cuts only benefit the rich are the "politics of envy".

"Our plans will deliver for the whole country," he says resolutely.

Financial markets have been reacting to the government’s announcements, and the pound is down 1% against the dollar to $1.11.

The pound has been falling in recent weeks, partly down to the strength of the US dollar.

City analysts have increased their expectations of quicker and higher interest rates after the government announced a £45bn tax giveaway – leading some to conclude that inflation will remain high for some time.

According to Bloomberg data, analysts expect UK interest rates to hit 5.2% in August 2023, with expectations rising that there could be a 1% interest rate hike at the Bank of England's next meeting in November.

The cost of servicing the UK’s debt has also risen this morning after the announcement of government borrowing to fund tax cuts.

Kevin Peachey
Personal finance correspondent

After a huge period of upheaval for our finances, people would have been looking for help and also some certainty.

These announcements will change what happens to the pounds in your pocket. One accountant described the statement as "seismic", rather than a mini-budget.

Income tax cuts in April are significant, but still months away. A reversal of the National Insurance rise, helping workers, will take effect much earlier, in November.

Those on benefits will want to know how the threat to cut payments if failing to look for work will operate in reality.

But, whatever happened today, people will still be most concerned about rising prices and bills now and in the coming weeks.

While many of the chancellor's tax cuts apply to Wales, one of the big announcements - a cut to stamp duty - does not.

Earlier, Kwasi Kwarteng announced a cut to stamp duty in England and Northern Ireland for house sales up to £250,000, rising from £125,000. First time buyers will pay no stamp duty up to £425,000.

Wales has its own equivalent system, called Land Transaction Tax, where the residential threshold is £180,000. There is no first time buyer rate.

The UK government says Welsh ministers will get £70m off the back of the changes in England and Northern Ireland. It would be up to the Welsh Labour government if it wants to follow the changes.

Read more on how the announcements affect Wales here

Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng revealed changes to national insurance, stamp duty and income tax as part of his announcement in the House of Commons this morning.

He hailed it as a "new era" - but Labour's Rachel Reeves called his mini-budget "a plan to reward the already wealthy".