{"id":417574,"date":"2025-09-12T04:44:26","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T04:44:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/417574\/"},"modified":"2025-09-12T04:44:26","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T04:44:26","slug":"era-of-low-taxes-is-over-warns-the-oecd-amid-fears-rachel-reeves-is-set-to-launch-a-fresh-round-of-hikes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/417574\/","title":{"rendered":"Era of low taxes is over, warns the OECD amid fears Rachel Reeves is set to launch a fresh round of hikes"},"content":{"rendered":"

By JOHN-PAUL FORD ROJAS, DEPUTY BUSINESS EDITOR<\/a> <\/a> <\/p>\n

Updated: 14:54 EDT, 11 September 2025 <\/p>\n

The era of lower taxes is over according to a new global report \u2013 which comes amid fears that Labour will stage a fresh tax raid.<\/p>\n

Governments acted to ease tax burdens during the pandemic but this trend started to reverse two years ago and the trend \u2018has now solidified\u2019, it said.<\/p>\n

The report from the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said that meant there was now a mix of tax increases and narrower tax relief measures than were offered during the Covid era.<\/p>\n

\u2018High levels of debt coupled with significant emerging spending needs relating to climate change, ageing and, in some countries, increased defence spending, has meant that jurisdictions of all income levels have adopted strategies to mobilise more revenues,\u2019 it said.<\/p>\n

The OECD, a group of 38 developed countries, noted that Britain\u2019s Labour government had already enacted measures targeting capital gains tax<\/a>, employer national insurance and inheritance tax<\/a> as well as staging a VAT raid on private schools.<\/p>\n

They were part of Chancellor Rachel Reeves\u2019s last Budget which added up to \u00a340 billion in tax raids<\/p>\n

\"Black <\/p>\n

Black hole: Fears are growing that Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to introduce another round of crippling tax hikes<\/p>\n

Yet fears are growing that Ms Reeves will come back for more as she seeks to repair a financial black hole estimated at up to \u00a350 billion.<\/p>\n

Pension taxes, stamp duty<\/a>, rental income and bank profits among the areas rumoured to be in her sights as well as a potential further freeze in income tax<\/a> thresholds.<\/p>\n

Labour pledged before the election not to increase taxes on \u2018working people\u2019 \u2013 covering income tax, national insurance and VAT.<\/p>\n

Ministers claim the \u00a325 billion raid on employer national insurance does not break the pledge because it does not directly hit payslips \u2013 even though the raid is widely blamed for pushing up unemployment as it makes hiring more expensive.<\/p>\n

Some in the corporate world want Labour to ditch the pledge on personal taxes rather than picking the pockets of business again \u2013 and damaging growth.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, Confederation of British Industry (CBI) boss Rain Newton-Smith said in a newspaper article that the \u2018time for tinkering is over\u2019 and warned the Chancellor against \u2018slavish adherence\u2019 to her pre-election promises.<\/p>\n

Others caution that Ms Reeves should be looking at spending cuts rather than tax hikes to try to get the public finances back on an even keel.<\/p>\n

In a note to clients earlier this week, experts at Goldman Sachs said history showed \u2018that spending-based fiscal consolidations usually improve deficits more sustainably than tax-based adjustments\u2019.<\/p>\n

Yet it acknowledged that Labour\u2019s U-turn on welfare reform showed spending cuts would be \u2018politically difficult to deliver\u2019 and therefore expected there would \u2018sizeable tax increases\u2019 instead.<\/p>\n

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\n Era of low taxes is over, warns the OECD amid fears Rachel Reeves is set to launch a fresh round of hikes<\/p>\n