Nick Clegg wants fifth income tax allowance rise
Nick Clegg has said the coalition government should raise the income tax threshold for a fifth time.
Nick Clegg calls his plan a "workers' bonus"
The government has repeatedly raised the personal allowance - the amount people can earn before paying income tax - since the 2010 election.
The threshold is due to reach £10,000 in 2014/15 - the level agreed when the coalition was formed - but Mr Clegg wants to make it £10,500 from 2015.
Conservatives said they would consider it but any changes must be "paid for".
Mr Clegg said raising the personal allowance to £10,000 - a tax cut "worth £700 to millions of people" - was a "huge step" which he had been campaigning on for years.
'Give something back'
And he said he wanted to raise the threshold by another £500 as a "workers' bonus" - a move expected to cost the Treasury £1bn.
The basic rate of income tax is 20% so an extra £500 on the personal allowance would cut tax by £100 for anyone earning £10,500 or more, though people earning over £100,000 get reduced personal allowance or none at all.
"As the economy recovers it's really important that where we can in government we give something back to people," he said.
Mr Clegg said he hoped to "persuade" the Conservatives to back the plan "if we can find the money in a responsible way".
"My party's long-term ambition is to make sure no one pays any income tax on the equivalent of the minimum wage, which is around £12,500," he added.
The personal allowance for under 65s was £6,475 when the coalition came to power and it has risen in each of the last three tax years to its current level of £9,440.
The government has already agreed to raise it to £10,000 from April, and Mr Clegg's latest proposal would take effect in April 2015 - just before the next general election.
Some Lib Dems are angry at what they say are "blatant" attempts by the Tories to claim credit for raising the personal allowance - an idea they say was rejected by David Cameron before the 2010 election.
Higher rate
While the basic personal allowance rate has been rising under the coalition government, the level at which "higher rate" 40% tax is payable has been reduced in steps from £37,400 when the coalition came to power to £32,011 now.
The "additional rate" - 50% of earnings over £150,000 - introduced by Labour just before the 2010 election was reduced to 45% by the current government in April this year.
People aged 65 and over get a higher personal allowance, and these rates have risen along with those for younger people.
The current personal allowance is £10,500 for 65-74-year-olds and £10,660 for people aged 75 and over.
Income tax rates are the same across the UK, though the Scottish Parliament is expected to set rates there from 2016 under powers given by the 2012 Scotland Act.
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