Angela Rayner says Labor can still raise capital gains tax

Angela Rayner accused the government of making the wrong policy choice by «helping the richest.» Photo: Jacob King/PA

Angela Rayner risked rekindling a capital gains tax scandal with Labor on Thursday after saying the party was still considering a rate hike.

Labour Deputy Leader announced her support for a rate hike last month, but Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, insisted the party had «no plans» to do so.

During an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Ms Rayner refused three times to rule out the prospect of a higher capital gains tax rate if her party came to power.

Responding to a question about her front-bench colleague's remarks, she said, «I wish our tax system was now fairer for workers, which is what Rachel did.» /p>

“We are far from a general election. We will put forward our tax proposals on proposals in the round. The priorities for the Labor Party will be to help the working people of this country, and not those who are the richest, which is what we are seeing now with the government.

The number of taxpayers who owe Capital. Income Tax

In March, Ms. Rayner argued that it was wrong that Rishi Sunak benefited from capital gains tax rates being lower than income tax rates after the details of his tax returns were released.

Asked again if this meant she wanted a higher capital gains tax, Ms Rayner replied: «I'm telling you that before the general election, our priorities will be to help and support the working people of this country.»

Asked about Labour's apparent contradiction pointing to a gap between tax rates and a lack of clarity on whether they should be changed, Ms Rayner said: “There is certainly a gap. Labor is not ready to try and accept what will happen to our tax proposal before the general election.»

Ms Rayner went on to double down on Labor's commitment to abolish tax status for non-residents and other political commitments going forward. next general election.

Several Labor Party supporters pressured Sir Keir to commit to higher taxes on savings and investment, including John McDonnell, Jeremy Corbyn's former Shadow Chancellor, and Richard Burgon, another prominent Corbyn supporter.

On Thursday evening, Labor repeated its statement that the party has «no plans» to raise the capital gains tax, and said Ms Rayner's answers to questions about the levy were about its broader agenda.

< p> A Labor spokesman said: “The Labor Party has no plans to raise the capital gains tax. Angela Rayner's comments were about tax fairness, as evidenced by our plans to phase out non-home status, freeze the council tax this year, introduce a proper contingency tax for oil and gas giants, and remove tax breaks for private schools.»