Overview

• A UK Finance report shows London-based banks face a 46.4% total tax rate versus 27.9% in New York and warns further increases would damage the City’s competitiveness.
• In a letter to Rachel Reeves, UK Finance said speculation over bank-specific tax hikes has already jarred markets, as Goldman Sachs chief David Solomon privately urged her not to raise the sector’s burden.
• The British Chambers of Commerce called the 26 November statement a “make-or-break” budget for firms, urging no new business taxes, reform of business rates, and removal of the oil and gas windfall levy.
• Economists told MPs the Budget should raise a major tax—such as by broadening the VAT base—or deliver structural reforms, cautioning against a “Scrabble bag” of small measures.
• Thirteen Labour MPs pressed for council tax to be scrapped and the IFS outlined options such as higher charges on top bands or a new annual property tax, while the Treasury said Reeves would “strike the right balance.”