Overview
- Multiple outlets report the chancellor has abandoned a headline income tax rate increase ahead of the 26 November Budget.
- An extension of the freeze on personal tax thresholds to around 2029/30 is widely expected, raising roughly £8bn a year (about £42.9bn by 2027–28 per the OBR) and pulling more earners into higher bands, with House of Commons Library analysis pointing to nearly 500,000 more higher‑rate taxpayers in London and the South East by 2029.
- The Budget is expected to expand the Soft Drinks Industry Levy to milk‑based drinks and lower the sugar threshold to 4g per 100ml, a move reported to raise £50m–£100m.
- Reports detail a targeted property surcharge focused on council tax bands F–H, involving a revaluation of about 2.4 million properties and a levy on roughly 300,000 homes, with an option to defer payment until sale or death.
- Reeves is set to give English regional mayors powers to introduce an overnight tourism levy via devolution legislation, a plan backed by revenue estimates yet opposed by hospitality groups over competitiveness concerns.