Rich will get most from Tory rivals’ tax pledges

BY MIKEY SMITH Whitehall Correspondent AND CHRIS

MCLAUGHLIN

TORY tax cuts will benefit high earners five times more than the poorest and cost the country £5 billion, experts have warned.

Labour challenged the contenders to replace Boris Johnson to come clean on the impact of their tax-slashing plans. But their pledges come on top of a planned 1p cut in

income tax to take effect from next year – most of which will go to the richest, according to figures from the Institute for Public Policy Research.

Liz Truss has made the most expensive promises adding up to a total cost of

£33.2 billion a year. She announced this week she would cancel a planned 6p TARGETS Tugendhat plan rise in corporation tax, costing the national coffers £17billion a year.

Rival Penny Mordaunt has promised a £50 cut on fuel duty, while Tom Tugendhat says he has a 10-year growth plan with “targeted and sensible tax cuts.”

Fellow contender Kemi Badenoch has refused to get into a “bidding war” over tax. And only Rishi Sunak has ruled

out fresh tax cuts.