The new tax year brings an onslaught of unwanted changes

This week marks the start of the new tax year, which brings with it an onslaught of tax rises for workers across the country.

Overnight thousands of taxpayers have been dragged into the top rate of income tax and seen their tax- free allowances for capital gains and dividends brutally slashed because of changes first announced by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt in his Autumn Statement.

At the same time, the vast majority of households have also suffered a surge in how much council tax they pay after local authorities were allowed to raise the levy by a maximum of 5pc without holding a local referendum.

Telegraph Money has created a calculator to help taxpayers grasp how much the tax raid could cost them.

Higher earners could see a rise in their income tax bills now that the additional rate threshold has dropped from £150,000 to £125,140, pulling 350,000 extra taxpayers into the top 45pc rate over the next five years.

Meanwhile the capital gains tax allowance has been slashed from £12,300 to £6,000 and will drop again to £3,000 in 2024.

The cut to the allowance means a higher earner who makes a profit of £ 12,300 on a property sale in 2023- 24 will pay an extra £ 1,764 in tax, compared to the previous tax year when there would have been no tax to pay.

CGT is charged at 10pc on shares and 20pc on property for basic rate taxpayers, and 18pc and 28pc for higher earners.

Investors and pensioners who live off their dividends face higher tax bills due to the halving of the dividend tax allowance from £ 2,000 to £1,000.

Around 635,000 people will pay more tax on their dividends this year because of the cut, according to HM Revenue and Customs, which is predicted to cost investors an average of £125 this year and £ 155 the following, when the allowance is reduced again to £500.