Those earning less than £26,000 a year will actually be worse off
The Prime Minister once again made a misleading statement during PMQs in which he claimed the government was cutting taxes by £900 for all working people, leading fact checkers to call him out.
Desperate to distract from the fact Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson oversaw the largest tax rises since World War Two, despite claiming to be the party of low taxes, Sunak has peddled the line that workers are set to be £900 better off soon.
He has previously made the claim on social media and during interviews to promote the government’s 2p cut to national insurance (NI) announced in Jeremy Hunt’s last Budget.
This is despite fact checkers repeatedly chastising the PM over the claim. Following PMQs today when Sunak announced “this week we’re cutting taxes by £900 for everyone in work”, the UK’s leading fact checkers Full Fact were quick to debunk it.
“This isn’t correct, for at least two reasons”, Full Fact responded.
Firstly, fact checkers highlighted that the £900 figure refers specifically to the impact of NI cuts, not taking into account other tax changes such as the online freezes to NI and income tax thresholds. These freezes mean the savings for someone on the average salary (about £35,000) are substantially smaller.
Analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies found that, once all tax changes are factored in, the average worker only stands to save £340 in 2024/25, while those earning less than £26,000 a year will actually be worse off.
Only those earning more than around £50,000 will see overall savings of £900, the think tank found. I guess for Sunak that represents the ‘average’ worker.
The fact checker also highlighted that the £900 figure refers to the combined impact of two reductions in National Insurance, one of which was introduced in April but the other came into effect in January, so the figure reflects the combined four percentage point reduction.
In the longer term, the IFS has estimated that people will end up paying more tax, with the average £35,000 earner seeing a net tax cut of just £140 by 2027/28. The Office Budget Responsibility has predicted an additional 2.7 million will move into the higher tax bracket by 2028.
One X user commented: “Yet again, @RishiSunak lies about tax cuts, despite having been corrected before. Gaslighter extraordinaire.”
Hannah Davenport is news reporter at Left Foot Forward
To reach hundreds of thousands of new readers we need to grow our donor base substantially.
That's why in 2024, we are seeking to generate 150 additional regular donors to support Left Foot Forward's work.
We still need another 117 people to donate to hit the target. You can help. Donate today.