STRUGGLING COUPLES GET BUDGET HELP
Boost for low-income families
Two million low-income couples could be in for a £2500 boost in Friday’s emergency Budget.
Prime Minister Liz Truss wants to allow the transfer of a l l per sona l tax a l lowance s between married couples and civil partners where one earns below the £12,570 tax-free threshold.
Now, a lower earner can “gift” £1260 of allowance – sav ing £ 214 tax af ter adjustments. That could rise tenfold.
Cha nc e l lor Kwa s i Kwar teng is studying the figures to see whether he can afford the extra £ 5.8billion now – or wait till the full Budget later this year.
He will def initely axe April’s National Insurance rise and reverse a planned hike in corporation tax from 19 per cent to 25 per cent. The joint cost wi l l be £ 30bi l l ion. A l imit on
bankers’ bonuses, now capped at 200 per cent of salary, is expected to go.
Kwarteng will also reveal how the £ 2500 two- year energy bills price cap will be paid for.
Jon Hickman, of auditors BDO UK, said: “Truss’s proposed sweeping tax cuts will leave large holes in the public finances.”
The Chancellor could rake in easy money by raising tobacco duty in line with inflation plus two per cent – li f ting a £ 12.75 pack of cigarettes to an eyewatering £14.57.
There could be a hike in the minimum wage to £ 10.50 an hour. But TUC boss Frances O’Grady wants £15.
She said: “Tax cuts will do nothing to jumpstart the economy. Those who prof ited from this crisis should pay a fair share – with a bigger windfall tax on oil and gas giants and new taxes on wealth.”
The Treasury is also looking at proposals to halve VAT to 10 per cent to stimulate spending and help reach Kwarteng’s target of 2.5 per cent growth.
Pensioners wi l l see a bumper uplift of at least 10 per cent next year as the triple lock returns – lifting payments by the highest of inf lation, earnings or 2.5 per cent.
Retirement analyst Helen Morrissey, of Hargreaves Lansdown, predicts pensions topping £200 a week.
She said: “They are in line for a record increase as long as the Government keeps its pledge on the triple lock.”