Sunak set to maintain triple tax lock
Rishi Sunak is to stand by the Conservatives’ triple tax lock, vowing not to increase income tax, national insurance or VAT. While Treasury officials have urged the Chancellor to rethink the tax lock, Mr Sunak has reportedly agreed with Prime Minister Boris Johnson that he will stand by a manifesto pledge not to increase rates for five years. With Mr Sunak looking to cover the cost of the coronavirus crisis, adhering to the triple tax lock could see corporation tax and CGT increased instead. City AM’s James Warrington says that while Mr Sunak is expected to announce only limited tax increases in the March 3 budget, larger increases could follow as the country emerges from the pandemic but it is iunlikely that the Chancellor will risk the recovery by hitting motorsport businesses with big tax bills at this stage. This is especially the case as the scale of the COVID-19 borrowings are such that it will take 100 years to pay it back.