(Reuters) – British finance minister Rachel Reeves will increase employers’ national insurance by up to 2 percentage points in the Oct. 30 budget as she seeks to fund the National Health Service (NHS) and balance the books, the Times reported on Friday.
Reeves is also expected to make a significant cut to the earnings thresholds at which employers start making national insurance contributions, with the combined measures expected to raise about 20 billion pounds($25.92 billion) and represent the biggest tax rise in the budget, the Times said.
This burden will fall entirely on the private sector, with public sector employers such as government departments and the NHS being reimbursed by the Treasury to avoid cuts, the newspaper added.
Britain’s Treasury did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The Times had reported on Tuesday that Reeves was expected to impose national insurance on employers’ pension contribution in her Oct. 30 budget. The move, however, would largely exempt the public sector workers who are entitled to reimbursement for insurance contributions.
Reeves plans around 40 billion pounds worth of fiscal measures, government sources said, mostly from tax increases plus cuts to some public services, to meet her pledge to cover day-to-day spending without borrowing.
($1 = 0.7717 pounds)
(Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal in Bengaluru; Editing by Chris Reese and Richard Chang)
