Autumn statement: Chancellor Jeremy Hunt reduces higher rate of income tax threshold to £125,140
Jeremy Hunt has reduced the threshold for the higher rate of income tax.
The chancellor, announcing his autumn statement, said the 45p rate will now be payable from £125,140, as opposed to the current £150,000.
He said those earning £150,000 or more will now pay just over £12,000 more a year.
Mr Hunt also announced an extension of the windfall tax on energy companies’ profits so from 1 January 2023 until March 2028 those companies will have to pay 35%, instead of the current 25% on their profits.
The chancellor said the government is introducing two new fiscal rules: that underlying debt must fall as a percentage of GDP by the fifth year in a rolling five-year period, and public sector borrowing over the same period must be below 3% of GDP.
Hunt announcing tax rises and spending cuts – follow autumn statement live
On Sunday, Mr Hunt told Sky News everybody would be facing higher taxes but “it’s not just going to be bad”.
He also said those earning the most would be paying more as he promised to protect the most vulnerable.
Some senior Tory MPs had been rallying against higher taxes ahead of the autumn statement, with two dozen Conservatives sending an 11th-hour petition to the chancellor on Wednesday evening asking him to cut fuel duty.
