Tax debate goes from comedy to tragedy July 15, 2025 When I suggested recently that we were going to experience déjà vu, with another summer of endless tax rise speculation, I didn’t imagine the experience would be quite so profound. And yet, having already enjoyed the spectacle last year of Labour MPs trying to define “working people” they’re now treating us to a rerun of [...]
Rachel Reeves ducks ‘speculation’ despite tax pledge confusion July 14, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves ducked questions about her Autumn Budget plans despite growing confusion over tax pledges and definitions of “working people”. In an interview on Monday, the chancellor reiterated the government’s pledge not to raise the rates of income tax, national insurance or VAT. But Reeves declined to comment on whether she would introduce a [...]
Labour’s tax addiction will end in tears July 10, 2025 It is now pretty much universally accepted that the government will launch a fresh tax raid in October’s budget. City economists expect the Treasury to be on the hunt for between £10bn and £20bn of additional revenue, though given the expensive u-turns on winter fuel payments and welfare reform combined with likely lower growth forecasts [...]
UK Hospitality launch campaign to undo budget ‘hammer blow’ to sector July 9, 2025 Industry lobby group UK Hospitality has launched a campaign to reverse the “unfair” tax burden on the sector, #TaxedOut. The body has been vocal about the damage caused by higher taxes announced in the Autumn budget, estimating that 69,000 jobs have been lost since last October. “The 2024 Budget was a hammer blow to hospitality… [...]
Sandwich or Confectionery? M&S strawberry sandwich raises VAT questions June 26, 2025 M&S has jumped on the bandwagon of the viral Japanese strawberry sando by launching its own, but the treat has raised the old familiar question about VAT
Top private school faces job cuts after Reeves’ tax grab June 21, 2025 A prestigious private school has said it may be forced to make job cuts due to the Labour government’s removal of VAT exemption on school fees. Edinburgh-based Fettes College – where former Prime Minister Tony Blair is among alumni – has said the introduction of VAT on school fees contributed to the “difficult” decision to [...]
Upper Tax Tribunal dismisses JP Morgan Chase Bank VAT appeal June 20, 2025 Upper Tribunal judges have kicked out US banking giant JP Morgan Chase's appeal against HMRC's position on taxing intra-group services.
James Dyson: Labour is killing aspiration in UK June 18, 2025 Britain’s “myopic” civil servants, politicians and judges are squashing aspiration, according to billionaire entrepreneur Sir James Dyson in a scathing attack on the current Labour government. Writing in a column in The Sun, the UK’s third richest person said that he worries that Britain “no longer has the aspiration to create the Dysons of the [...]
Private school VAT campaigners lose court challenge June 13, 2025 A group of families with children at private schools have lost their High Court battle over the government’s decision to apply VAT on school fees, with a judge ruling it did not sufficiently infringe on pupils’ human rights. Campaigners had brought legal action against the Treasury, arguing that the change to private schools’ tax status [...]
Voters fear Reeves tax U-turn after Spending Review splash out June 9, 2025 UK voters are worried Chancellor Rachel Reeves will betray Labour manifesto pledges not to hike income tax, a new poll has suggested, as the government looks set to ramp up investment at Wednesday’s spending review. Sir Keir Starmer has declared that the government cannot “tax [its] way to growth” while ministers have said the spending [...]