HUNT’S RUN OUT OF GAS
Chancellor to ‘steal’ Labour pledges for energy windfall tax and non-dom axe
JEREMY Hunt is said to be considering poaching another Labour policy by extending a windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas producers.
Reports say the Chancellor is weighing the move up as another way to fund tax cuts for workers in next week’s Budget.
Rishi Sunak introduced the Energy Profits Levy in May 2022 when he was Chancellor.
Mr Hunt increased it to 35% from January last year, and said it would run until March 2028.
But Bloomberg yesterday claimed Mr Hunt was considering extending it beyond that date as part of a list of Treasury savings.
Labour has said it will raise the current level of the tax still and extend it to 2029. The claims came as Labour dared Mr Hunt to clamp down on the “non-dom” tax loophole that was used by Mr Sunak’s wife, Akshata Murty.
In what would be a major U-turn, the Chancellor is considering scrapping or scaling back the perk.
Mr Hunt has previously said that getting rid of it would be the “wrong thing to do” and suggested rich foreigners could leave the UK and go to places such as Ireland, France, Portugal or Spain.
In 2022, he told the BBC: “They all have these schemes. All things being equal, I would rather they stayed here and spent their money.”
Mr Hunt is now thought to be looking at the option as he desperately searches for extra cash to fund general tax cuts at the Budget. Poaching the policy from Labour and targeting the non-dom status, which benefits 70,000 wealthy individuals, could raise £3billion. It is understood Mr Hunt will make a final decision after receiving the economic forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility today.
A Labour source told The Mirror: “We will wait and see whether the Chancellor manages to get this past Rishi Sunak, given his family finances.”