Millions of people will see their tax payments drop, while hundreds of thousands of others will qualify for help on to the housing ladder after the Government rushed out a series of unexpected proposals this week. But not everyone will be a winner. Here we explain who will profit from the plans.

The first surprise announcement was an increase in the personal tax allowance to compensate those who lost out when the 10p tax band was scrapped. The allowance, which determines the level of income that you can earn before paying tax, has been increased by £600 this year from £5,435 to £6,035.

But while the measure has been welcomed broadly, critics say that it will do little to help those on low incomes. Nor was there much to cheer higher-rate taxpayers.

An estimated 17 million basic-rate taxpayers will gain an additional £120 this year - a £60 lump sum in their September pay packets and then an increase of £10 a month until the end of the financial year.

However, 1.1 million workers will be worse off because the £120 will not be enough to compensate them for the reduction in take-home pay suffered when the 10p tax band was scrapped in the first place. This affects the very low-paid, earning less than £13,350.

Higher-rate taxpayers will be no better off because the level of income above which you pay 40 per cent tax will drop from £41,435 to £40,835.

The over-65s, who are entitled to the higher age-related allowances, are also unaffected. Those aged 65 and over can receive £9,030 of income without being taxed, rising to £9,180 at age 75. These upper thresholds remain unchanged.

Pensioners whose income exceeds £21,800 have their additional allowance clawed back until it falls to the same level available to those under 65. Anyone in this position paying basic-rate tax will gain up to £120. Pensioners who pay higher-rate tax will be no better or worse off.

The Government also announced that all first-time buyers earning less than £60,000 a year are now eligible for its shared-ownership and shared-equity schemes, which allow cash-strapped borrowers to part-buy a property. The Government's Homebuy programme was previously open only to social tenants and key workers, such as nurses and teachers.

The shared-ownership scheme, New Build HomeBuy, allows buyers to purchase a minimum of 25 per cent and a maximum of 75 per cent of a new-build property, paying an “affordable rate” of rent on the rest. The shared-equity schemes allow buyers to take a low-interest “equity loan” on part of the property and a conventional mortgage on the rest. Homeowners can buy more shares gradually until they own their property outright. Critics point out that only a handful of lenders have committed to the scheme - Halifax, NatWest, Kent Reliance Building Society, Co-operative Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland.

The Government is also pushing ahead with a savings scheme for people on low incomes, with each pound saved matched by the State.

Case Study: £120 refund not enough

Duncan Bailey, of Birchington, Kent, was one of the biggest losers when the 10p tax rate was abolished - and he will still be worse off, even with an extra £120 a year in his pocket.

Mr Bailey, 53, has been a full-time carer for two years, looking after his wife, Jackie, who is suffering from dementia. He has to get by on a weekly carer's allowance of £50.55 and an Army pension of £101 a week. This gives him an annual income of £7,881. The scrapping of the 10p rate in April meant that Mr Bailey's tax bill jumped from £27 to £41 a month. This week's increase in the personal allowance will take the monthly bill to £31.

Mr Bailey says: “There are thousands of carers like me who are being penalised and we have no means of making up the shortfall.”