7m more reasons tax cuts pressure’s growing for Hunt

THE Chancellor is under growing pressure to cut taxes in the autumn statement as millions of Britons are paying more.

Figures buried in an Office for Budget Responsibility ( OBR) report showed 38.2million people will pay income tax by 2027/28 – up sharply from 31.2million a decade earlier.

In April, Jeremy Hunt froze tax allowances and thresholds until 2028, in a stealth raid.

It means seven million more people will have to pay the levy on their earnings in 2028

‘People deserve to keep more’

compared to 2018 as wages climb above the threshold.

Britons can earn up to £12,570 tax-free, but rising inflation and wage growth mean more will be dragged over the limit.

Savers and state pensioners are also facing higher tax bills due to the freeze.

HM Revenue and Customs this week raised the alarm about the number of people being pulled into the tax system, as it braces for soaring demand from customers.

Mr Hunt is facing calls from Tory MPs and lobbying groups to take urgent action in the autumn statement on November 22.

Tory former minister Sir Jake Berry told the Mail that the tax burden ‘is the highest it’s been since the Second World War’.

He added: ‘Stealth taxes are politically and morally wrong. It theorises that because it’s not a “new” tax, people won’t know. But they absolutely do.

‘Morally, as Conservatives, we should believe that people deserve to keep more of the money they are owed and that it is the right of the individual to keep more of their hardearned money.’

Tory MP James Duddridge added: ‘It is essential cuts are made to stimulate growth which will feed into more, higher paid jobs, people that will back a Conservative Party at the next general election.’

The Mail on Sunday revealed millions of state pensioners are also facing a tax raid.

The state pension will breach the income tax threshold for the first time by 2026/27, pulling an extra 2.4million retirees into the net.

And 4.5million more workers will be pushed into higher and additional rate tax brackets as wages rise above frozen limits, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said.

Darwin Friend, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘Stealth taxes are placing a mounting burden on hardworking Brits.

‘While the relentless rise of the cost of government is allowed to continue, taxpayers face the prospect of squeezed pay packets for years to come. The Chancellor should give taxpayers some much-needed breathing room by cutting spending and raising thresholds.’

Another senior Tory MP urged Mr Hunt to act at the autumn statement.

He said: ‘It doesn’t necessarily have to be a huge tax cut, things can be symbolic.

‘It could be that a timeline could be set out with some down payment in the autumn statement.’ He said that backbenchers understood the ‘need for a credible fiscal position to be maintained’, but believe the ‘current high level of taxation is both very difficult for people and is impeding economic growth’.