LONDON (Reuters) -British finance minister Rachel Reeves is expected to prolong a freeze on income tax thresholds beyond 2028 in the government’s upcoming budget, in a move that could raise 7 billion pounds ($9.1 billion) a year, the Financial Times reported on Friday.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer promised voters before last July’s election that he would not put up income tax rates or other key rates of taxation, adding to the new government’s challenge of improving public services and raising investment.
The FT quoted a person briefed on Reeves’ thinking as saying the move to extend the freeze on income tax thresholds would not break Labour’s manifesto tax pledges because they had only ruled out an increase in income tax rates.
“We do not comment on speculation around tax changes outside of fiscal events,” a Treasury spokesperson said when asked about the FT report.
Government sources said earlier this week Reeves was looking for around 40 billion pounds in tax increases and spending cuts to put more money into public services and stabilise the fiscal situation. Most of the increase is likely to come from higher taxation rather than cuts to other areas of public spending.
By default, Britain’s official budget forecasts assume that the thresholds at which Britons begin to pay income tax or pay it at higher rates will rise in line with inflation each year to preserve the real-terms value of the tax-free allowances.
However, in March 2021 the then Conservative government said the thresholds would be frozen until 2026, and in November 2022 it extended the freeze again until April 2028.
British government fiscal rules focus on the situation for debt and borrowing in five years’ time, so extending the freeze in advance helps balance the future budget while creating no immediate burden for taxpayers.
Income tax was the single biggest source of revenue for Britain’s government last year, raising 276 billion pounds. Tax is generally payable at a 20% rate on annual income above 12,570 pounds, at 40% on income above 50,270 pounds and 45% on income over 125,140 pounds.
($1 = 0.7672 pounds)
(Reporting by Muvija M and David Milliken, Editing by William Schomberg, William James and Angus MacSwan)
