Travel
Air passenger duty has been scrapped and replaced with a single tax per flight to encourage airlines to operate fuller flights. The tax will be based on emissions created by each aircraft, providing airlines with an incentive to operate new and more fuel-efficient planes.
The move will close a loophole that allows cargo flights and private jets to avoid paying taxes. The government hopes that the changes will increase its revenue from aviation by 25% to £2.5bn as well as reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
New measures at Heathrow and other airports, using biometric technology to speed up the time it takes to get through security checks, were also announced.
Retail
Darling said laws will be introduced by 2009 to tax plastic bags unless supermarkets do more to bring in charges for their use.
Drinks
Drinks companies face above-inflation tax increases on wine, beer and spirits in a bid to fund the government's drives to combat child poverty and tackle alcohol abuse.
Duties on alcohol will go up by 2% above inflation for next four years.
The budget increased the price of beer by 4p a pint, wine by 14p a bottle, spirits by 55p a bottle and cider by 3p a litre by Sunday.
Food
The delay in fuel duty rises will be welcomed by all manufacturing sectors including food companies as the UK economy slows and consumer confidence wanes. But with the rising cost of raw materials, the food industry fears the promotion of biofuels could give rise to potential conflicts with food supply.
Cars
As expected, Darling's so-called 'Green Budget' has cracked down on the most polluting cars, introducing a 'showroom tax' on the least fuel-efficient vehicles. From 2009, there will also be a major reform of vehicle excise duty. From 2010, the lowest polluting new cars will pay no road tax in the first year. Higher polluting cars will pay more.
The government already uses vehicle excise duty to encourage people to buy cleaner cars and vehicles which produce fewer than 100g of CO2 per kilometre are exempt from road tax.
Darling also delayed the 2p increase in petrol duty, which had been due to come into effect on 1 April, due to recent increases in crude oil prices.
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