Government accused of 'dirty dozen' hidden tax rises in autumn statement. Photo: Ian Forsyth/PA
Jeremy Hunt's Autumn Statement contained a 'dirty dozen' hidden tax rise worth £800 per household, analysis shows.
Labour said 12 changes introduced by Chancellor , including freezes on income tax and national insurance thresholds, will add up to a net gain. an additional £23 billion in revenue for the Treasury.
In a statement last week, Mr Hunt said his decision to cut national insurance by 2 percentage points and make businesses' “full costs” permanent amounted to the “biggest amount yet”. tax cut package that will be implemented from the 1980s.”
However, the Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts that the tax burden will still reach a post-war record of 37.7% of GDP by 2028 – the main following Rishi Sunak's decision to freeze key tax thresholds.
< p>Combined with high inflation, the freeze has resulted in millions of people being squeezed into higher tax brackets in a process known as the “fiscal squeeze”.
Hidden taxes
According to new analysis from the Labor Party, autumn The statement contained at least 12 hidden tax increases.
As well as freezing income tax and national insurance thresholds, the government plans to increase vehicle excise duty in April, while council tax bills are forecast to rise by almost £13 billion over the next five years and personal savings account tax (ISA) free limit was frozen.
Many companies were excluded from the business tariff freeze, there was an increase in duties on tobacco products and a freeze of groups involved in the gambling business.
The UK's emissions trading scheme will be expanded to include more sectors, environmental levies will be increased and inheritance thresholds will also be frozen.
Labour said the government would benefit from a “fuel duty windfall” if will shelve its plans to ban petrol and diesel cars.
'Picking workers' pockets'
Darren Jones, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, said: “Although the chancellor sold his autumn statement as a bounty, look at the little print and it's a Trojan horse full of hidden taxes.
“After 13 years of Tory economic rule growth has stalled and government finances are in disarray. The Chancellor has resorted to picking the pockets of working people to pay the bills for the government's economic failure.
“As always, the Tories will say one thing and do another, unable to be honest with the public about their plans.”The decision to cap tax-free limits on ISAs from 2020, rather than increasing them in line with inflation, has proven particularly profitable for the government, with the freeze forecast to cost savers £755 million by 2029, according to separate Liberal Democrat analysis.
The freeze significantly outweighs other changes announced in the statement, which are expected to help savers to the tune of £50 million.
Tax rises and raids
Sarah Olney, a Lib Dem spokeswoman for the Treasury, said: “This is another act of deception built on the Autumn Statement, which was filled with tax rises and raids on people's wallets.”
“This statement was intended to to take money out of people's pockets to pay for the collapse of this Conservative government's economy.
“Their mismanagement of public finances now has real consequences for those struggling to access housing stock. ladder and realize their dream of owning their own home.
“This Conservative government has deprived them of this opportunity, and it adds to the insult to working people that ministers cannot be honest about this issue.”
Despite the criticism, the Conservatives said a Labor government would continue to raise taxes.
A Tory source said: “Labour is on a different planet. They can't promise to borrow £28 billion a year to bankrupt Net Zero and then promise to cut taxes.
“Labour should just be honest with people – their borrowing binge will mean higher taxes for working people.
Personal tax rate
A Treasury spokesman said: “We've just introduced tax cuts for 29 million working people worth £9 billion per year, which means that personal taxes for the average person are lower than for any other person.” another G7 country.
“People working as nurses, teachers and police officers could make hundreds of pounds a year in profits after National Insurance cuts, and we have increased personal tax thresholds to exempt 3 million people from paying tax altogether since 2010.
“On top of this we have introduced a full spending policy, the biggest business tax cut in modern British history worth more than £50 billion over the next five years, and a business rates support package that will support businesses and high streets.”< /p
Responding to criticism of ISAs, a spokesman said: “The Government is committed to encouraging more savings and investment to help hard-working people put money aside for their future goals and improve financial resilience, and around 90 per cent of people pay no tax on their savings.
“The current ISA limit is suitable for most people, with average savings of around £5,700 across all ISA types. Raising the ISA subscription threshold will only benefit a small number of wealthier savers.”
Recent Comments