Non-drinking, non-smoking, non-driving pensioners who carry wicker baskets to the shops appear to be the winners in a Budget that was heavy on indirect “sin” and green taxes. But the measures announced on income tax, National Insurance (NI) and stamp duty were light enough for the chancellor to have swapped his despatch box for a now potentially taxable plastic bag.

Most of the headline-grabbing tax rises were on alcohol, tobacco and car duties. From Sunday, duty on alcohol is set to increase by 6 per cent above inflation, adding an extra 4p to the price of a pint of beer, 14p on to a bottle of wine and 55p on to a bottle of spirits. Smokers will pay 11p more for a packet of cigarettes. And drivers of “gas-guzzling” cars will pay a new top band of vehicle excise duty, increasing the rate on the most polluting models to £425.

“This is a fairly neutral Budget,” said Chris Sanger, head of tax policy at Ernst & Young. “The alcohol duty increases and the higher rates of vehicle excise duty and the removal of incentives for biofuels are the only revenue-raising measures with any impact.”

All the main personal tax allowances have been increased by 4 per cent, in line with the retail price index, giving middle income earners an overall tax cut from April, thanks to the reduction in basic-rate income tax from 22 per cent to 20 per cent, as announced in last year’s Budget.

At the same time the 10 per cent starting rate of tax will be scrapped but the ceiling for paying the standard 11 per cent rate of NI contributions will go up by more than the normal inflation-linked increase.

“On personal taxation, it was a fairly quiet Budget,” said Leonie Kerswill of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). “There was nothing in there that wasn’t pre-announced.”

So the biggest winners will be those earning about £35,000 a year, who will be around £32 per month better off, according to Standard Life, as they will save income tax yet pay no more NI. Higher earners with salaries between £40,040 and £41,435 will also see a reduction to 21 per cent in their marginal rate of tax and NI, as the chancellor has decided not to align the upper earnings limit for NI with the threshold for higher-rate tax this year.

The biggest losers will be those earning £15,000 a year or less as they will have more of their income taxed at 20 per cent rather than the 10 per cent starting rate. Standard Life calculates that someone earning £8,000 will be around £12 per month worse off.

Pension investors are also affected by the income tax changes as, from April, basic rate taxpayers will only get 20 per cent tax relief on their contributions. As result, to contribute £1,000 to personal pensions they will need to pay £800 rather than £780.

Pensioners in retirement, however, will benefit from a one-off extra payment of £50, or £100 for the over-80s, to boost their winter fuel payment. They will also be able to take small occupational pensions as lump sums, rather than small monthly payments.

“It will tidy up pensions for people who just have a few years service with an occupational scheme,” explained Phillip Wood, wealth advisory director, at PwC.

Lower-earning parents may also see small increases to their income. Child benefit payments will rise to £20 a week from April – a year earlier than expected – and will be disregarded when calculating income for housing and council tax benefit.

This increase will mean parents with a child born after the change will receive £21,169 in child benefit payments by the time their child turns 16, according to Norwich & Peterborough Building Society.

In addition, the child element of the child tax credit will increase by £50 a year. Parents will find it easier to start savings accounts for children as they will no longer have to physically send the government’s £250 child trust fund voucher to a provider to open an account.

But first-time buyers got little help from the chancellor. In spite of widespread expectation of a widening of the 0 per cent band for stamp duty land tax, possibly paid for by an increase in stamp duty of £1m houses, the bands remained unchanged.

“It is disappointing that Mr Darling has given little tangible help to the majority of first-time buyers in his first budget,” said Chris Coates, managing director of Galliford Try Homes.

“At present, 61 per cent of first-time buyers pay stamp duty and the numbers paying higher levels has risen to 11 per cent. The chancellor is out of touch with the financial pressures facing this group and seems unable to grasp their importance in the housing market.”

Only key workers and other buyers using shared ownership schemes saw a reduction in duty, with no tax payable when they buy a share of less than 80 per cent in a property. Shared schemes will allow buyers to borrow more, taking up to 50 per cent of the value of the property as an equity loan. The Housing Corporation says this means a household with an income of £32,000 could afford a house of £200,000, paying £760 each month – as opposed to £1,350 without the scheme.

Investors didn’t gain many new incentives either. Annual investment allowances for individual savings accounts (Isas) were merely confirmed at the levels previously announced: an increase of £200 to £7,200 in total per tax year, with the cash element increased by £600 to £3,600.

“This has not kept pace with inflation,” pointed out Malcolm Cuthbert, managing director of financial planning at Killik & Co.

But with the reduction in capital gains tax (CGT) to a flat rate of 18 per cent coming in April, as announced in the pre-Budget report, the tax advantages of Isas effectively reduce.

“Depending on growth rates, the benefit might be worth £68 per year for a basic rate taxpayer, or less than £105 for a higher rate taxpayer,” said Stuart Davies, director in investment and pension consulting at Deloitte.

Higher-risk investors do get some more opportunities, though. From April, up to £500,000 can be invested in enterprise investment schemes (EISs) – an increase from £400,000 – with 20 per cent tax relief. Capital gains from other investments may also be reinvested in EISs to defer tax at the current 40 per cent rate, and subsequently be taxed at 18 per cent from April. Employees who are members of enterprise management incentive (EMI) share schemes can invest more in their own companies, too: £120,000, up from £100,000. However, they will now pay 18 per cent CGT on gains rather than 10 per cent, due to the abolition of business asset taper relief.

“The EIS and EMI schemes have had their effectiveness considerably reduced in recent years and, sadly, I do not consider that these changes go far enough to redress the position for investors,” said Stephen Herring of BDO Stoy Hayward.

More sophisticated investment schemes have been hit by an immediate clampdown. Sole-trader loss schemes, which involve offsetting losses against other income and had been used for film investments, will no longer be permitted. However, other so-called “anti-avoidance” measures, such as new rules to prevent “income shifting” between husbands and wives to pay less tax, will now be delayed by a year.

“It’s a continuation of what we’ve seen before – loopholes being closed,” said Paula Higgleton of Deloitte.

But there was one genuinely new savings initiative, for lower income savers. The chancellor announced a new matched savings scheme for those on lower incomes, called the Savings Gateway, which will be introduced nationally in 2010. Individuals who currently receive tax credits and benefits will be eligible to open a two-year savings account with banks and building societies, and at the end of the term the government will make a contribution into their accounts for each pound saved.

Potential providers gave the accounts a qualified backing. Abbey said: “We welcome any initiative that encourages people to save more. The two Savings Gateway pilots, in 2002 and 2005, were considered a success.”

However, Nationwide pointed out that one fifth of Child Trust Vouchers currently expire, losing valuable interest.

“For another government savings scheme to work, consumers need to be engaged fully about how to make the most of them,” said a spokesman.