Frozen income tax thresholds will drag almost seven million more workers into paying tax and raise £71bn by 2030-31
Prime Minister Andy Burnham speaking to ITV News, with NatWest chief executive Paul Thwaite among those criticising Chancellor John Healey for lacking ambition on growth.Andy Burnham in Glasgow, where he chaired his first National Economic Council and pledged no nation would be "left behind" on devolution.
The income tax threshold freeze — locked in since 2021-22 and now extended to 2030-31 by Chancellor John Healey's Budget on Wednesday — will push a further six million workers into the higher and additional rates, on top of the seven million dragged into paying income tax at all.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies, analysing OBR figures, put the total stealth-tax haul at £71bn above what would have been raised had thresholds risen with inflation.
Tory Treasury spokesman Gareth Davies accused Labour of squeezing 'working people dry' while energy bills soar and families struggle at the checkout.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham had previously suggested he would revisit the freeze, but No 10 let Healey's Budget pass without any change to the policy.
