The 1 Line From Last Year's Budget That Looks Set To Come Back To Haunt Rachel Reeves

Rachel Reeves prepares to deliver the Budget last October.One key line from last year’s Budget looks set to come back to haunt Rachel Reeves as she sets out the government’s tax and spending plans later today.The chancellor is expected to announce that she is continuing the freeze on the salary thresholds for income tax and national insurance.That means that millions more will end up bring dragged into higher tax bands – or start paying income tax for the first time – when their wages go up.But when she delivered her first Budget last October, Reeves insisted she would end the freeze, which was first introduced by the last Tory government, from 2028/29.The chancellor insisted that not doing so would break Labour’s pre-election pledge not to put up income tax.She said: “I have come to the conclusion that extending the threshold freeze would hurt working people. It would take more money out of their payslips.“I am keeping every single promise on tax that I made in our manifesto.”And she added: “When it comes to choices on tax, this government chooses to protect working people every single time.”However, Reeves is widely expected to perform a dramatic U-turn on her previous position when she delivers the Budget this afternoon.The chancellor has to find the cash to fill a black hole of up to £30 billion in the public finances, and freezing the thresholds could raise up to £9 billion extra a year for the Treasury.Reeves’ decision not to put up the basic rate of income tax by 2p in the pound also left her scrabbling around for other money-raising ideas.However, her decision to U-turn on what she said a year ago is sure to be leapt on by the opposition parties – and pile yet more pressure on the embattled chancellor.Related...All The Things We Already Know Are Going To Be In Rachel Reeves' BudgetMillions Of Workers To Be Given Pay Rise In Reeves' Make-Or-Break BudgetHow Rachel Reeves' Budget Could Make Or Break Her Career

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