This is a ‘live’ blog and will be updated during the Budget speech and later in the day, once we have completed our analysis of the various documents.

If you have any questions about the impact of the Budget on your personal financial planning, including your retirement planning and investments, please post them below and we will do our best to answer them.

Informed Choice Chartered Financial Planner Martin Bamford is part of an expert panel for the Guardian from midday on Thursday at http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/blog.

Here are some of the highlights:

-Budget to secure recovery, tackle borrowing, invest in economic future. Borrowing is lower than forecast last year.

-£2.5bn one-off growth package for small businesses, paid for from existing spending and banker bonus tax.

-Darling will sell shares in Northern Rock, RBS and Lloyds in a way to maximise value to the taxpayer, recovering all of investment.

-Banker bonus tax has raised £2bn so far, more than twice as much as forecast. Darling supports an international bank levy.

-Providing mandatory access to basic bank accounts.

-Reducing minimum number of hours for eligibility for Working Tax Credits for people over 60.

-Considering scrapping default retirement age or increasing it.

-Unemployment guarantee offering work or training extended for young people until March 2012.

-Support for mortgage interest scheme – support will continue to be paid for another six months.

-First time buyers – doubling stamp duty threshold to £250,000 for first time buyers from midnight tonight. Nine in ten first time buyers will not pay any stamp duty. Increase in stamp duty to 5% for property over £1 million to fund this giveaway.

-Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) – annual limit rises to £10,200 from 2010/11 with up to half in cash. Will rise in line with inflation each year after that.

-Economic growth revised downwards for 2011, for 3-3.5% in line with Bank of England forecasts. Forecasts for following years remains unchanged.

-Inflation target remains unchanged at 2% and interest rates expected to remain low, stable.

-Borrowing forecast this year £11bn lower than previously anticipated at £167bn for 2009/10

-Duty on beer, wines and spirits will increase as planned from midnight on Sunday. Duty on Cider will be increased by 10% above inflation. Changes will be made to definition of specific strong ciders from December.

-Tobacco duty will rise by 1% above inflation from today.

-Freezing inheritance tax threshold for a further four years.

-New credit adjudication service for SMEs if they think they have been unfairly denied loans.

-Uk Finance for Growth – new investment body to oversee £4bn range of finance support for businesses.

-Time to pay scheme for businesses to spread payment of tax they owe, scheme extended for the whole of the next parliament.

-Business rates – cut for one year from October for small businesses, 345,000 will pay no business rates at all.

-Annual investment allowance for small businesses doubled to £100,000.

-Doubling entrepreneurs relief for capital gains tax to first £2m of gains which will be taxed at 10% not 18%.

-Not increasing the main rate of capital gains tax.

-£100m to pay for local road repairs (potholes!) and £280m to pay for improvement to motorway network.

-Confirms 50p monthly landline duty to fund Digital Britain initiatives.

-£2bn for new green investment bank.

-Setting up a £35m University Enterprise Capital fund.

-Tax avoidance measures to bring in additional £500m each year. Includes tax information exchange agreements with tax havens, including Dominica, Grenada and Belize.

-Parents of one and two years olds – increasing Child Tax Credit by £4 a week from 2012.

-Higher winter fuel allowance payment guaranteed for another year, paid for by closing down tax loopholes.

Link to HM Treasury Budget website: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/budget2010.htm

Here are some of the highlights:

-Alistair Darling sets the scene, describing a critical time for our economy and our country. He describes the task to ensure recovery, promote long-term growth. Wants a fairer society and opportunity for all.

-VAT will return to 17.5% on 1st January 2010 as planned. No other changes to VAT.

-’Time to pay’ scheme for companies deferring tax has been extended for as long as it is needed.

-Empty property relief extended for 2010/11 for rateable value below £80,000 exempt for business rates.

-Defers 1p increase in corporation tax for smaller companies, 2010/11 rate remains unchanged.

-Not right to withdraw all support for homeowners as unemployed rises. Extending mortgage support to those who lose their jobs for a further six months. Stamp duty holiday is ended as planned.

-Under 24’s guaranteed work or training after six months of unemployment. Specialist support for over 50’s to get back into work.

-Reducing minimum number of hours to be eligible for working tax credit for those over 65.

-Basic State pension will rise by 2.5% from April 2010. Not a new measure – already guaranteed minimum increase under legislation!

-Guarantee that people in work will always be better off than they would be on benefits.

-Darling predict short term increase in inflation due to VAT rise before it falls back.

-Estimated cost to taxpayer of bank bailouts cut from £50bn to £10bn.

-Net debt as share of GDP predicted to rise to 78% by 2014.

-Trying to secure £500m from the banks to create capital growth fund for SMEs.

-Announces boiler scrappage scheme, as leaked to the BBC this morning. Other ‘green’ measures also announced.

-Electric cars exempt from company car tax for five years. 100% first year capital allowance on electric vans.

-Decided against a windfall tax on banks. Introduces from today a one-off levy on any discretionary bonus over £25,000 of 50%, paid by the bank not the employee. Expected to yield over £500m.

-Pension tax relief – includes employer pension contributions in definition of income for anti-forestalling measures, introduces floor so nobody earning less than £130,000 will get caught up in this.

-Freezes inheritance tax nil-rate band at £325,000 for 2010/11.

-Freezes 40% income tax band for next tax year, will bring more people into higher rate of income tax as a result of earnings inflation.

-Changes to pension tax relief anti-forestalling measures will now include employer pension contributions in definition of relevant income, catching up people earning £130,000 or more.

-Phasing-in of introduction of pension Personal Accounts.

-State contributions to public sector pensions will be capped by 2012, saving £1bn a year, those earning over £100,000 will have to contribute more to maintain their pension benefits.

-Public sector pay increases capped at 1% for two years from 2011.

-National Insurance contributions up by 0.5% from April 2011 across the board, those earning less than £20,000 protected from this tax rise.

-Extending free school meals to a further 500,000 primary school children.

You can find links to the Pre-Budget Report at prebudget.treasury.gov.uk.

With the government facing a tough General Election within a matter of months, most pundits are expecting the fight back to start in earnest with the announcements made in the Pre-Budget Report.

Darling could deliver a very political statement to the House of Commons as he attempts to attract voters back to Labour.

Predictions include the removal of higher rate tax relief on pension contributions, freezing the personal allowance for income tax and raising capital gains tax. We also look forward to hearing about plans for a new ’super tax’ on bonuses for bankers.

You can follow our live coverage of the Pre-Budget Report on Twitter @informedchoice where we will be using the hashtag #pbr09.

You can also pose any questions you have about investments, pensions or financial planning by using the comments facility below.

At midday tomorrow (Thursday), Informed Choice chartered financial planner Martin Bamford will be part of an expert panel for the Guardian, answering questions about the financial planning and pension implications of the Pre-Budget Report. You can post your own questions once the clinic opens at guardian.co.uk/money/blog.