500,000 more people in London and South East to pay income tax higher rate by 2029 with Reeves Budget raid

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

54% : But faced with opposition from Cabinet ministers and Labour MPs, and having received better news on wages and tax forecasts, according to Whitehall sources, the Chancellor ditched the proposal to raise the rate of income tax.
53% : Ms Reeves, though is still set to launch an income tax raid with a freeze on the thresholds for paying this levy for another two years, until 2029/2030, meaning it will have been in place for eight years since it was first introduced in 2022/23 by then Chancellor Rishi Sunak.
51% : She is also due to hit owners of expensive homes, either through a "mansion tax", raking in more from higher council tax bands, or through other measures, in a policy which will impact most on the capital.
51% : In London, 1.28 million people are already paying the 40% higher rate of income tax this year and this is due to rise by 260,000 by 2029/30, according to House of Commons Library research for the Liberal Democrats.
49% : The Chancellor is set to impose this "stealth tax" in her Budget on November 26 as she seeks to plug a shortfall of around £20 billion in Britain's public finances.
47% : She was set to slap 2p on the rate of income tax, possibly partially offset by a cut in National Insurance contributions by employees earning up to around £50,000.
44% : Nearly 500,000 more people in London and the South East will pay the higher rate of income tax by 2029 if as widely expected Rachel Reeves extends a freeze on thresholds for this levy for another two years.
44% : She performed a screeching U-turn last week on her clearly signalled plan to break Labour's flagship manifesto pledge not to raise the rates of income tax, VAT or National Insurance for employees.
44% : Limits to pension salary sacrifice schemes and new measures to tax electric vehicles and to restrict a salary sacrifice scheme for buying bikes, are believed to still be on the table, as the Treasury pursues a "smorgasbord" approach of raising a range of smaller taxes rather than increasing the rate of income tax.
42% : In cash terms, London and the South East will be hardest hit by the thresholds freeze as they have the most higher rate income tax payers in the country.
37% : Lib-Dem London spokesperson Luke Taylor, MP for Sutton and Cheam, condemned the "deep unfairness of the stealth tax put in place" by the Conservatives and now set to continue for another two years under the Labour Government.

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