Category Archives: Tax and spending

Jeremy Hunt is helping rich instead of helping people into work, says thinktank

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IFS says budget pensions giveaway could open up loophole for avoidance of inheritance tax

Jeremy Hunt’s huge pensions giveaway for the wealthiest 1% may have no impact on increasing the number of people in work, while opening a loophole for avoidance of inheritance tax, a leading economic thinktank has warned.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies said the surprise measure in the chancellor’s budget “probably won’t play a big part, if any” in increasing the number of people in work.

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Jeremy Hunt aims to spur business investment with ‘full expensing’ tax break

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Measure over next three years will allow firms to write off costs of IT equipment and machinery against tax on profits

Jeremy Hunt has launched a flurry of tax breaks to encourage investment by businesses after the double blow of microchip designer Arm opting for a New York stock market listing and AstraZeneca deciding to build a new factory in Dublin.

Businesses that invest in IT equipment and machinery will be able to claim back the cost by writing it off against tax on their profits, the chancellor announced in his budget on Wednesday.

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UK homeowners still better off than renters despite spike in interest rates

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Average monthly cost of owning 3-bed home is £500 a year less than renting, but the gap is narrowing

Homeowners in the UK are nearly £500 better off a year than renters, according to new research from Halifax.

The average monthly cost of owning a three-bed home for first-time buyers is now £971, which is £42 lower than the average cost of renting an equivalent property, the mortgage lender said. Renters pay on average £1,013 each month – 4% more.

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Hunt likely to save spending spree for polling day, not budget speech

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The chancellor has room for giveaways in this week’s budget, but business and consumer groups fear he will hold them back for the election

Jeremy Hunt is under pressure to be generous when he delivers his first budget speech since he became chancellor last October.

The public finances have improved dramatically from the chaotic days that followed Liz Truss’s mini-budget in September, which rocked international money markets and sent interest rates on government debt soaring. The cost of financing Britain’s debt has fallen in recent months and the cost of gas on wholesale markets has tumbled.

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North Sea’s biggest energy producer claims UK windfall tax ‘wiped out’ surge in profit

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Harbour Energy says it had to cut jobs and investment at same time as announcing new shareholder payouts taking total to $1bn

The North Sea’s biggest producer has complained that the windfall tax on oil and gas companies “all but wiped out” its profits last year, at the same time announcing new shareholder payouts which take the total to $1bn since the end of 2021.

Harbour Energy said on Thursday its pre-tax profits rose by nearly 700% in 2022 to $2.5bn (£2.1bn) on higher production and bigger margins making it the latest oil and gas company to report a huge increase in underlying profits, after the war in Ukraine pushed up wholesale gas prices and sent household bills soaring.

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Sunak sets out Northern Ireland trade deal to MPs as Labour vow to back agreement – as it happened

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Rishi Sunak and Ursula von der Leyen say ‘Windsor framework’ has been reached after four months of negotiations. This blog is now closed

Q: Why do you say you will back the PM’s deal when you have not seen the detail? And would you like to see Northern Ireland within the scope of the European court of justice, or outside it?

Starmer says he knows Northern Ireland well and knows the detail. Any deal will be an improvement on the status quo. That is why he is saying he would back it. He says the deal will not come as a surprise.

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Liz Truss expected to launch political comeback on Sunday

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Former PM whose No 10 stint ended after 49 days understood to have written piece for Sunday Telegraph

Liz Truss is expected to launch her political comeback on Sunday, months after her calamitous tenure in Downing Street ended after 49 days.

Her return is expected to begin with an opinion piece in this weekend’s Sunday Telegraph, as well as a number of planned media appearances.

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‘He should resign’: Stratford-on-Avon constituents on Zahawi tax scandal

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Residents of Warwickshire town united in condemnation of local Tory MP’s tax affairs

The market town of Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire has been a Conservative stronghold for well over a hundred years, with its current MP, Nadhim Zahawi, securing a majority of about 20,000 in three successive general elections.

But it was difficult to find support for the beleaguered MP on the streets of the town on Wednesday, and most local people said they thought he should resign over the scandal around his tax affairs.

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Nadhim Zahawi’s future threatened as Labour steps up pressure over tax affairs

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Angela Rayner says Rishi Sunak should come clean about any concerns raised with No 10 about ex-chancellor and HMRC penalty

Nadhim Zahawi’s political future appeared under increasing threat on Sunday night, after Labour pushed hard for answers about his tax issues and government colleagues offered little support for his plight.

After a weekend dominated by questions over the Conservative party chair’s tax position, Labour signalled its intention to pin the controversy on to Rishi Sunak, demanding the prime minister explain if he knew about the issue when he appointed Zahawi to his cabinet.

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Tory mayor condemns ‘broken begging bowl culture’ of Sunak’s levelling up policy – UK politics live

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Latest updates: West Midlands mayor Andy Street says it should be for local decision-makers to determine where money is spent

Rishi Sunak has defended the distribution of levelling up funds, saying that the north of England has received more per head than the south.

Speaking on a visit to Accrington, in Lancashire, he said:

The region that has done the best in the amount of funding per person is the north. That’s why we’re here talking to you in Accrington market, these are the places that are benefiting from the funding.

If you look at the overall funding in the levelling-up funds that we’ve done, about two-thirds of all that funding has gone to the most deprived part of our country.

With regard to Catterick Garrison, the thing you need to know is that’s home to our largest army base and it’s home to actually thousands of serving personnel who are often away from their own families serving our country.

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Rishi Sunak says people ‘not idiots’ and know why he cannot cut taxes

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PM suggests public understands what is affordable, but his stance could trigger fresh backlash from Tory MPs

Rishi Sunak has suggested the government cannot afford any immediate tax cuts, saying people are “not idiots” and understand what is unaffordable.

But the comments risked opening a fresh conflict with Conservative MPs who have been making the case for tax cuts in the spring budget, in light of improving economic forecasts and as a way to increase growth.

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Tax collectors lack ambition, say MPs, as £42bn remains unpaid

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Fraud and error have left ‘eye-watering’ amount owed to HMRC, says public accounts committee

The government has been criticised for failing to collect £42bn in unpaid tax from businesses and individuals amid concern over the strain on the public finances as the UK’s economy stands on the brink of recession.

The cross-party Commons public accounts committee (PAC) said that an “eye-watering” amount of tax was owed to HMRC, while also criticising tax collectors for lacking ambition to tackle fraud and error.

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Labour look to force vote on ending private schools’ tax breaks

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Opposition day debate seeks to establish committee to investigate reforming tax benefits enjoyed by independent schools

Labour will attempt to force a binding vote on ending private schools’ tax breaks and use the £1.7bn a year raised from this to drive new teacher recruitment.

The motion submitted by Keir Starmer’s party for the opposition day debate on Wednesday is drafted to push the charitable status scheme that many private schools enjoy to be investigated, as the party attempts to shift the political focus on to education.

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Tories ‘at risk from rightwing insurgency’ warns donor Lord Cruddas

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Peer says Conservatives no longer party of centre right and are threatened by Reform UK, Brexit party successor, if Nigel Farage takes leadership

The Conservative party is under threat from a rightwing insurgency after a “drag to the left” under Rishi Sunak, one of its biggest recent donors has warned, amid growing tensions on the Tory right.

Peter Cruddas, the peer who has given the party more than £3.5m, said the Conservatives were “no longer a centre-right party” under Sunak, adding that he refused to back it financially until it changed course.

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Scotland to spend extra £1bn on health by raising taxes on higher earners

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Scottish government promises to tackle health and social care crisis to protect weakest and poorest

The Scottish government has promised to spend another £1bn on tackling the crisis in health and social care by raising taxes on higher earners and holiday homes.

John Swinney, Scotland’s acting finance secretary, said the burden of increasing NHS funding would fall heavily on everyone earning more than £43,663 in Scotland as part of a “social contract” to protect the weakest and poorest.

The abolition of a cap on council tax increases next year, alongside £550m extra for councils.

The uprating of all Scottish welfare benefits by 10%, increasing welfare spending by £433m.

£222m on school support for the poorest and extra free school meals in primaries.

£15m for a pilot project to scrap peak-time rail fares.

£336m on home energy efficiency and reducing fuel poverty.

The abolition of non-domestic rates for 100,000 smaller shops and businesses and a freeze in business rates charges, which would cost £356m.

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Free preschool childcare for all would boost UK growth, report finds

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Labour-endorsed study finds initiative would save families thousands of pounds, cut benefits spending and raise tax revenues

Free universal preschool childcare and more funding for after-school clubs could increase government revenues and save a family with young children between £620 and £6,175 a year, a joint report endorsed by the Labour party has revealed.

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) and the charity Save the Children have called for a universal childcare guarantee for all families until the end of primary school to allow more women to get back into work and reduce the attainment gap between rich and poor children in their early years.

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Amazon’s UK tax bill could rise by £29m amid business rates overhaul

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Hikes set to hit warehouses and online retailers hardest in 2023 as UK government addresses ‘brick v clicks’ tax gap

Amazon’s UK tax bill jump could jump by £29m next year as a result of changes to business rates that are scheduled to hit warehouses and online retailers the hardest.

The online retailer is likely to be among firms facing big tax rises following the chancellor’s autumn statement, according to analysis from the real estate adviser Altus Group.

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Annual UK energy bills would have hit £4,279 without emergency support, Ofgem says

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Regulator raises cap for start of 2023 by £730 but government limits typical bill to £3,000 from April

The energy regulator Ofgem has said its price cap will reach £4,279 from January – but households will be shielded by the government’s emergency intervention to keep a lid on bills.

Ofgem said the cap, which is adjusted every quarter, will increase by £730 for the three months from the start of next year. However, the government’s energy price guarantee (EPG) will limit typical household bills to £2,500. Analysts had expected the cap to sit at about £4,200.

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UN to vote on new tax convention proposed by African states

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Developing nations hope draft resolution will pave way for fresh talks on global tax policy

Developing nations are hoping to secure greater power over global tax affairs at a critical United Nations vote in New York on Wednesday.

If the body’s members vote in favour of a resolution put forward by the African Group of states, it could pave the way toward fresh intergovernmental talks on global tax policy.

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How the autumn statement brought back the ‘squeezed middle’

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IFS and Resolution Foundation say Jeremy Hunt’s policies will shock middle England, with higher taxes here to stay


Traditionally elections in Britain are decided by swing voters in a relatively small number of seats. Parties go to considerable lengths to tailor their policies to the perceived demands of those getting by on average incomes. Pollsters have even coined names for the archetypal electors that need to be wooed: Basildon man and Worcester woman.

So it will be of some concern to government strategists that the post-autumn statement analysis by thinktanks focused heavily on how the measures announced by Jeremy Hunt had an effect on those not particularly poor but not especially rich either. Both the Resolution Foundation and the Institute for Fiscal Studies highlighted the return of the “squeezed middle”.

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