{"id":1315,"date":"2023-11-21T23:42:21","date_gmt":"2023-11-21T23:42:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/ni-and-business-tax-cuts-expected-in-autumn-statement\/"},"modified":"2023-11-21T23:42:21","modified_gmt":"2023-11-21T23:42:21","slug":"ni-and-business-tax-cuts-expected-in-autumn-statement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/ni-and-business-tax-cuts-expected-in-autumn-statement\/","title":{"rendered":"NI and business tax cuts expected in Autumn Statement"},"content":{"rendered":"

NI and business tax cuts expected in Autumn Statement<\/p>\n

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\"Jeremy<\/picture><\/span>HM Treasury<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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By Chris Mason & Sam Francis<\/div>\n
Political editor and political reporter, BBC News<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The chancellor is expected to announce a cut in National Insurance for millions of workers in his Autumn Statement later on Wednesday.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Jeremy Hunt’s mini-budget will also feature a cut to business taxes and tough new benefit sanctions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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He will also unveil measures to boost business investment by \u00a320bn a year in moves to “get Britain growing”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) says UK tax levels are at their highest since records began 70 years ago.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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  • Chris Mason: Tax cuts look likely – the question is where?<\/li>\n
  • Benefit claimants to face mandatory work placements<\/li>\n
  • Minimum wage to rise to \u00a311.44 per hour<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said nothing Mr Hunt says could change the Conservative’s “appalling record” on the economy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    Many Conservative MPs are desperate to see the tax burden eased.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    Former home secretary Dame Priti Patel told the BBC: “This is a really pivotal moment. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    “Successive Conservative governments are known for targeted tax cuts that basically put more money into people’s pockets.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    And yet Dame Priti and hundreds of her colleagues know people’s taxes have shot up and plenty think public services haven’t improved to match.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    The cost of Covid and the amount paid in interest on the national debt – the highest for decades – is seen by many economists as a key reason for this. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    And so the Autumn Statement is Rishi Sunak’s latest attempt to seize the political agenda and improve the Conservatives’ standing in the opinion polls. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    \"The<\/picture><\/div>\n

    <\/span><\/span>HM Treasury<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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    Some details of the Autumn Statement have already been revealed, including a 9.8% increase to the minimum wage minimum wage to \u00a311.44 per hour. The new rate, which comes into force in April, will also be expanded to 21 and 22-year-olds from the first time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    Mr Hunt will also set out details of a \u00a32.5bn overhaul of benefits for people with long-term health conditions or disabilities, or those facing long-term unemployment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    The government has announced plans to make benefit claimants who fail to find work for more than 18 months undertake work experience placement or face losing access to government support. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    Stricter penalties will also apply to long-term unemployed people who the government decide are not adequately looking for jobs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    Downing Street did not rule out removing bus passes from people who refuse offers of work, in a briefing to journalists on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    For businesses, it is understood the chancellor is set to extend the tax break knows as “full expensing” for businesses through to 2028-29.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    The “full capital expensing” policy allows companies to deduct spending on investment from profits, meaning they have to pay lower amounts of corporation tax.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    The tax break was due to expire in 2026.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    It is not currently clear whether Mr Hunt intends to cut the level or the thresholds of National Insurance (NI) – which went up by 1.25p in the pound in April 2022 and then back to its previous level on 6 November 2022.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    For employees under pension age who earn less than \u00a312,570 a year, any move will make no difference, as they pay no NI. The NI rate is 12% on earnings for employees on between \u00a312,570 and \u00a350,268, and 2% on profits above that.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    ‘Reject high tax’<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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    Mr Hunt will say: “Conservatives know that a dynamic economy depends less on the decisions and diktats of ministers than on the energy and enterprise of the British people.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    “The Conservatives will reject big government, high spending and high tax because we know that leads to less growth, not more.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    He will claim the government will “will back British business with 110 growth measures” including “removing planning red tape”, boosting foreign investment and cutting business taxes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    Speaking ahead of the statement, Labour’s Rachel Reeves said: “The Conservatives have become the party of high tax because they are the party of low growth. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    “After 13 years of economic failure under the Conservatives, working people are worse off. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    “Prices are still rising in the shops, energy bills are up and mortgage payments are higher after the Conservatives crashed the economy.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    Turning point<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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    With a general election expected next year, the dance in advance of the speech has included the usual nods and winks, briefings and interviews – with no shortage of speculation about a huge range of potential tax cuts, which the Treasury has done little to dampen down. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    Until last week, Mr Hunt has downplayed the chances of tax cuts, claiming they were “virtually impossible” until inflation was under control.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    Ministers now say tax cuts will happen but claim they will be done in a “responsible” way.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    In a speech on Monday, the prime minister made repeated references to tax cuts and claimed last Wednesday’s drop in inflation appears to have signalled a turning point for the UK’s flatlining economy<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    Mr Sunak said the government was now able to cut taxes, after the pace of price rises eased.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    He said his target of halving inflation had been met so taxes would be reduced in “a responsible way”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    The government aims to reduce inflation from its current 4.6% to its 2% target and manage the economy’s growth without resorting to high spending. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    Related Topics<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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