Rachel Reeves confirms huge tax hikes on wealthy in Budget | Politics | News
Rachel Reeves has confirmed she will hit the rich with tax increases in her upcoming budget. The chancellor said higher taxes for the wealthiest will “be part of the story”.
It comes as Ms Reeves prepares for her November 26 announcement amid warnings of a black hole of up to £50 million in the public finances. Speaking while attending an International Monetary Fund (IMF) meeting in Washington, Ms Reeves told the Guardian: “Last year, when we announced things like non-doms, private equity, VAT on private school fees, there was so much bleating that the money wouldn’t be raised, people would leave.
“The OBR will publish updated figures on all this. And this fear-mongering hasn’t worked, because this is a great country and people want to live here.”
“And I think this year when people are fear-mongering again, we should take some of that with a pinch of salt.”
Ms Reeves has previously ruled out introducing a wealth tax, which critics say would cause wealthy individuals to flee Britain.
It comes after the Chancellor admitted earlier today that he was looking at potential tax rises and spending cuts.
He tried to blame Brexit, saying the economy was still suffering from the effects of leaving the European Union, austerity and Liz Truss’s mini-budget.
He said the budget watchdog conducted a review over the summer and found they were “consistently overestimating our productivity performance.”
He said it was up to them to set out their reasons, but said “austerity, Brexit and the continuing impact of Liz Truss’s mini-budget, all of these are placing a heavy burden on the UK economy.”
