In changes announced in November, thresholds and allowances on income tax, national insurance and inheritance tax have been frozen until 2028, and the tax-free allowances on capital gains and dividends will be halved next month, and again the following year.
Government documents showed these decisions would raise even more than estimated in November, the consequence of «fiscal drag» pulling more earners into higher tax brackets.
The thresholds for income tax have been frozen since 2021 and will remain so despite self-assessed income tax receipts jumping by a third year-on-year in January to £21.9bn.
Those earning between £100,000 and £125,140 will continue to pay a marginal tax rate of 60 per cent because the personal allowance tapers down.
Investors are also bracing for the £12,570 capital gains tax-free allowance to fall to £6,000 next month, a move that will draw an extra 250,000 taxpayers into the CGT net, according to the Chartered Institute of Taxation. The allowance will then be cut again next year to £3,000.
The exemption reduction means that from April 2024, those liable for CGT will pay up to £2,604 more, according to Nimesh Shah, chief executive at tax adviser Blick Rothenberg.
Cutting the dividend tax allowance to £1,000 will cost a basic rate taxpayer £87.50, a higher rate taxpayer £337.50, and an additional rate taxpayer £393.50 next year. Halving it again from April 2024 means it will fall to one-tenth of the £5,000 allowance when it was introduced in 2016.
The slashing of the dividend tax allowance is forecast to raise £3.08bn in the five years to 2027-28.
The inheritance tax threshold, which has been at £325,000 since 2009, will also be held at this level until 2028. Tax receipts from inheritance tax rose from £2.3bn in 2009 to £6bn in 2021.
Those hidden tax rises should have been discussed with regular people and they shouldn't just do what they want or think is best. They need to consult people or risk angering them beyond measure. This is one of the big blunders of Hunt.
ReplyDeleteA few of these taxes will be held for a few more years which is a good way to announce they will go up. But there are still measures that will affect way too many people and that's not good.
ReplyDelete