Today, Chancellor George Osborne will reveal details of his Autumn Statement. If you count it as a ‘mini-budget’, it will be his third of the year - after his pre-election budget in March and his summer budget in July.

It will be Osborne's first Autumn Statement as the Chancellor of a standalone Tory government, after his coalition speeches between 2010 and 2015.

Yet his post-Election Tory summer budget has left George Osborne in something of a pickle. The tax credit reforms he announced then have been delayed by a House of Lords vote, while the deficit he pledges to cut is falling at a much slower pace than he would like.

This is Money rounds up what to expect in the Autumn Statement – which starts at 12.30pm – including possible changes to tax credits, pensions changes, motoring, savings and housing.

> Read the Autumn Statement 2015 live blog

George Osborne: The Chancellor is likely to make changes to his disastrous tax credits move announced in July

Tax credits

The Chancellor is expected to use the Autumn Statement as an opportunity to pull back on tax credit cuts which led to a well-documented vote defeat in the House of Lords.

This affects £4.4billion of the £12billion savings Mr Osborne was looking to make in social security.

The tax credits row centres on the Chancellor’s plans to slash payments from next April. The Institute for Fiscal Studies says this could mean 3million of Britain’s poorest families lose £1,000 a year.

For an explanation of the issues behind this, read Simon Lambert’s:How do you solve a problem like tax credits?

What’s clear is the Conservatives are a little cagey about the problem. It has become a thorn in their side, despite the fact that many on both the left and right agree something needs to be done to improve the tax credit system and stop subsidising firms paying low wages.

David Cameron avoided answering questions on the planned cuts six times in recent Prime Minister’s Questions.

WHAT IS EXPECTED IN THE AUTUMN STATEMENT Mr Osborne is expected to: Announce details of £20billion of spending cuts across Whitehall, though the NHS, defence, foreign aid and schools are protected

Reveal how he will limit the impact of £4.4billion in tax credit cuts announced in July as part of plans to reduce the welfare bill by £12billion

Signal a shake-up of sickness benefits in a bid to get almost one million people back to work.

Increase spending on counter-terrorism by 30 per cent, but police budgets face deep cuts

Give town halls freedom to hike council tax bills by more than 2 per cent

Say that 200,000 new homes will be made available to the under-40s at a 20 per cent discount. Mr Osborne will promise up to 400,000 new homes in the biggest programme to build affordable houses since 1979.

State pension

The Chancellor is likely to confirm the starting rate of the new flat-rate state pension will be around £155 when it comes in next April.

However, people who contracted out of the top-up S2P and Serps schemes over the years will get less than this, something which has prompted widespread anger and confusion among savers who expected to get the full amount.

Many say they cannot understand their pension projections, or feel they have been overly penalised for the years in which they did not pay into additional state pension schemes and that private pensions won't make up the shortfall.

Pensions Minister Ros Altmann has already admitted that the new state pension was ‘mis-sold’ to the public, so the Government might well launch a fresh awareness campaign to sell the benefits of the new system.

For an explanation of how the new flat rate state pension and contracting out works read this article on why millions will not get the pension they expect.

The Government announced last weekend that the basic state pension for people who have already stopped work or will retire before next April is set to rise by £3.35 a week to £119.30.

Pensioners: George Osborne has plenty of pensions news to deliver on Wednesday

Pension tax relief

The Government has just carried out a consultation on the future of pension tax relief. Osborne could be ready to announce a major shake-up in the Autumn Statement, although industry experts are expecting him to wait until next year's Budget.

At present the Government rebates all the tax on people's contributions - whether you pay at the 20 per cent, 40 per cent or 45 per cent rate - and your pension is only taxed when you start making withdrawals in old age.

But the principle of saving into a pension from untaxed income is under threat. The consultation argued that the system needed simplifying, but the tax relief is also seen as a big drain on public finances.

People earning £150,000 plus will already see tax relief slashed from next April, and it's more than possible that Osborne plans to go further and introduce a flat rate of tax relief for everyone, perhaps set at 30 per cent.

There is also a chance he might reduce the 25 per cent of their pots people are currently allowed to withdraw tax free, although this seems highly unlikely.

For an explanation of the thinking behind this move read:As the Government closes its pension consultation, it seems the days are numbered for untaxed saving

Pension freedom

Reforms in April gave over-55s full powers over their retirement pots to save, spend or invest the money as they wish, but there are accusations these are being hampered by industry red tape and rip-off charges.

After a snap Government review earlier this year, Osborne could well announce a crackdown on pension providers to soothe disgruntled savers and prevent his flagship freedom reforms being derailed. Even Prime Minister David Cameron has spoken out on rip-off pension fees.

There might also be a progress report on plans to widen the freedom reforms to retirees who bought an unpopular annuity in the past.

The Government has been investigating the possibility of setting up a second-hand market in annuities so people can offload these products, which offer a guaranteed income for life but at poor rates.

They could then use the cash they get in the same way as others under pension freedom.

In the Budget this summer, Mr Osborne shifted the deadline for reaching a surplus again to 2018-19, with the aim of spending £10billion less than was raised in tax

Tackling the deficit

George Osborne wants to remove Britain's budget deficit and run a surplus by 2019/2020.

The Chancellor has already promised not to raise a aft of taxes, so the only route open to him in a low growth world is to cut spending dramatically.

The Government's first Comprehensive Spending Review since October 2010 is due tomorrow. This should deliver news on quite how hard different departments will be cut - a task made tougher by protected budgets for health, defence, international aid and schools.

Howard Archer, global economist at IHS Global Insight, said: 'It seems unlikely that there will be any major change of economic tack in Wednesday’s Autumn Statement and Spending Review.

'However, it does look ever more questionable as to whether the Chancellor can achieve a fiscal surplus of £10billion in 2019/20.'

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell 'The overwhelming narrative of this Government is its determination to wipe out the annual deficit by 2019, but this was dealt a blow in October when the deficit ballooned 16 per cent from a year earlier to £8.2billion.

'The chances of Mr Osborne relaxing his austerity drive look unlikely, particularly if the Office for Budget Responsibility raises its forecast for the deficit for this year.

'That means growth is likely to remain modest and interest rates lower for longer, as a sudden leap in borrowing costs would only increase the Government’s debt burden. Only time will tell whether lower borrowing will lead to a period of more sustainable economic growth.'

Expect news tomorrow on how budget cuts will hit and also potentially a raft of cash-raising schemes, such as land and asset sell-offs.

Today's statement will slash £20billion from unprotected departments, on top of cuts implemented since 2010

Spotlight: With the growing terrorism threat, the Chancellor could ease the squeeze on the police budget

Terrorism threat

Heightened concerns over terrorist risks facing the UK after the attacks in Paris are putting pressure on the Chancellor to ease the squeeze on the budget for the police and to find more money to tackle terrorism.

Prime Minister David Cameron has announced that an extra £2billion will be spent on the military during this parliament while the Chancellor has announced that he will increase on UK cyber security to £1.9billion by 2020.

However, the Chancellor has still refused to rule out cuts to the number of police. It is likely to be mentioned in the Autumn Statement tomorrow

Fuming: The VW scandal could be mentioned by the Chancellor tomorrow - but will he freeze fuel duty once more?

Motoring

Motorists have seen petrol prices fall alongside oil prices - but as the price at the pump shrinks, the portion as tax grows. For every litre, 57.95p is fuel duty, with VAT lumped on top.

In the lead up to the Autumn Statement, 92.4 per cent of campaign group FairFuelUK supporters want a cut or a continuing freeze in fuel duty, which has been the case in recent years. Not surprisingly, more than three quarters want an outright cut.

Over the weekend 12,000 FairFuelUK Supporters e-mailed the Treasury calling for a cut in Fuel Duty.

Each MP has been sent the economic evidence from the Centre for Economics and Business that cutting fuel duty will generate more growth tax revenue to the treasury.

Edmund King, AA President adds: 'The greatest threat to drivers’ pockets comes from the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement on Wednesday. Relatively low fuel prices should not be used as an excuse to load more duty on to drivers.

'This is not only because weak fuel demand shows that drivers can’t afford it, but because they are already paying on average the equivalent of an extra 2p a litre from the Insurance Premium Tax hike that came into force on 1 November.'

Additionally, there is pressure from a handful of MPs to use the Autumn Statement to launch a scrappage scheme incentive and the car tax restructuring for diesels, in the wake of the VW emissions scandal.

Travel tax relief

The Government is planning to scrap tax relief on travel expenses for Britain’s army of contractors in a move that will cost each freelancer an average of £200 a week – totalling £16.6billion a year for the UK’s 1.6million contractors.

Mr Osborne had hoped to eradicate the deficit by 2015, but that deadline has since shifted to 2019-20 with a surplus forecast in July at £10billion although this is likely to be cut. It will mean that by the time the government is spending less than it raises in taxes, the country will have spent two decades in the red

Quiet savings? The Chancellor has pulled plenty of exciting savings news out during previous statements - but it could be a quiet day for savings announcements

Savings

There is unlikely to be much in the way of exciting announcements regarding savings - but the Chancellor is known to pull rabbits out of the hat, including the NS&I pensioner bonds, which were popular at the start of the year and raising the tax-free Isa limit to £15,000 last year.

However, it is unlikely the now £15,240 tax-free limit will rise for the 2015/16 financial year.

The Isa allowance is traditionally adjusted based on inflation in September, and rounded to the nearest £120. CPI in September 2015 was -0.1 per cent, meaning an increase is unlikely.

Rhydian Lewis, chief executive and founder of peer-to-peer firm RateSetter, said: 'With cash Isas offering record low rates and the prospect of no increase in next year's Isas investment limit, savers will continue to feel hard-done-by unless the Chancellor pulls a rabbit out of his Autumn Statement hat.'

Non-doms

The Government has closed its consultation on the reforms to the non-dom regime and is expected to give an update in the Autumn Statement.

Almost certainly the Chancellor will say that legislation expected to be enacted in 2016 will not be enacted until 2017, thereby acknowledging the difficulty in preparing the changes to legislation, experts at Mark Davies & Associates say.

The Chancellor announced in the summer budget that non-domiciled status would be abolished for individuals who had been resident in the UK for 15 out of the last 20 tax years.

The changes will come into force in April 2017 and the consultation looked at how they should be implemented.

Mark Davies says: ‘By making the UK less attractive for wealthy foreigners and investors we damage "UK plc" and the government will need to be very careful in the Autumn Statement if he is to avoid an exodus.’

Housing: The chancellor often makes announcements in his statements surrounding housing policies

Housing

Housing policy is an area the Chancellor is not shy to make changes to in budgets and Autumn Statements.

Converting empty prisons into housing has already been promised by Mr Osborne, with further details likely tomorrow.

However, there are just 185 former and functioning prisons in the UK. Experts say that more disused assets are ripe for re-development and that will help ease the housing crisis, which has come with demand outstripping supply in recent years.

Some have also called for more retirement housing, with one expert saying too much local and national government planning policy focuses on starter homes and affordable housing.

What he won't do

To hit deficit targets, there are limits to what he can do tax wise.

A manifesto pledge means income tax, VAT and national insurance are off-limits before 2020.

Some spending cuts are also limited. The ‘triple lock’ on pensions for example – introduced by the Chancellor in 2010 – means payments, which already account for more than half of the benefits bill, will keep rising as the population grows older.

Rabbit? The Chancellor often pulls a fluffy rabbit from his Autumn Statement hat - tomorrow is likely to be no exception

A big fluffy rabbit...?

Mr Osborne does like to spring a surprise in his statements. In March 2014 it was NS&I pensioner bonds and in December 2014 stamp duty reform.

In March it was the Help to Buy Isa – which launches next week – and in July the living wage. A fluffy rabbit could help put the tax credit problem to the side.

Will he pull a rabbit from his hat?

Form says it's likely - but it's hard to predict just how big and fluffy it will be.

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