Reeves and Starmer have so far offered basically nothing in terms of action to lower bills in the face of disruption from the Iran war. But there is something they could do…
The below tax hikes are due to come into force tomorrow. Co-conspirators will notice many of them relate to travel…
The government could cancel them before they take effect. Instead Reeves is bleating about fake price gouging claims and Starmer is hosting infinite Cobra meetings…
Taking effect tomorrow:
- Vehicle Excise Duty (standard rate): rises from £195 to £200 per year for most cars registered after April 2017
- VED first-year rate (highest band): rises from £5,490 to £5,690 for the most polluting new cars
- VED Expensive Car Supplement: rises from £425 to £440 per year (though EV threshold raised from £40,000 to £50,000)
- VED for vans: standard rate rises to £360
- HGV Vehicle Excise Duty: increases that could add more than £2,000 annually for some operators
- HGV Levy: revised tiered daily rates based on weight and emissions compliance, ranging from £3.22 to £10.74 per day
- Air Passenger Duty: rates increase by forecast RPI, with further adjustment for past high inflation. Higher rates for large private jets increase by an additional 50%. Reform has pledged to scrap this for short-haul family flights…
- Landfill Tax: standard rate rises to £130.75 per tonne (from £126.15); lower rate more than doubles to £8.65 per tonne (from £4.05)
- Aggregates Levy: rate increases in line with RPI(also devolved to Scotland from this date)
- Plastic Packaging Tax: rate increases in line with CPI
- Climate Change Levy: new rates take effect for supplies on or after 1 April 2026
- Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings (ATED): charges increase by 3.8% in line with CPI
- Business rates revaluation: new rateable values take effect across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, with some bills changing substantially
- Business rates: new higher multiplier: a new increased multiplier applies to properties with rateable values over £500,000, such as major office blocks and distribution centres. Two new lower multipliers apply to retail, hospitality, and leisure properties.
- Capital allowances: main rate of writing down allowances reduces by 4 percentage points to 14%.
BONUS FEATURE. Here are all the taxes coming in from the 6 April…
- Dividend tax: basic rate rises from 8.75% to 10.75%; higher rate from 33.75% to 35.75% (additional rate unchanged at 39.35%)
- CGT on Business Asset Disposal Relief / Investors’ Relief: rate increases from 14% to 18%
- Carried interest: reclassified from capital gains to trading income, now subject to income tax and NICs rather than CGT
- Inheritance Tax on farms and businesses: 100% APR/BPR relief capped at a combined £2.5 million allowance per individual; qualifying assets above this receive only 50% relief, giving an effective IHT rate of 20%
- Company car Benefit-in-Kind (EVs): rate rises from 3% to 4% for zero-emission vehicles
- Working from home tax relief: abolished for employees not reimbursed by their employer (previously worth ~£62/year for basic-rate taxpayers)
- Income tax and NIC thresholds: remain frozen with the personal allowance at £12,570 and higher-rate threshold at £50,270 frozen until 2030–31
- Voluntary Class 2 NICs for periods abroad: abolished; anyone maintaining their UK state pension record while overseas must now pay the more expensive Class 3 contributions (£18.40/week vs £3.50)
- Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: becomes mandatory for sole traders and landlords with gross income over £50,000
- Umbrella company liability: new joint and several liability rules for PAYE and NIC non-compliance
Alcohol duty went up on 1 February this year. When Reeves tells you there’s nothing she can do on the cost of living…
