JOHANNA NOBLE
Those caught out by the 40% tax band should be yelling at Jeremy Hunt
Unless the chancellor springs a surprise in the autumn statement this week, in four years 8 million people will pay the higher rate
The Sunday Times
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Narrated by Johanna Noble
If Jeremy Hunt stood up in the Commons on Wednesday and announced an income tax rise there would be uproar.
But this is exactly what has been happening over the past decade as the government relied on stealth taxes to bolster its coffers. Fiscal drag, the insidious way to collect tax without headline-grabbing rises, has become the favoured route. It is what happens when tax thresholds and allowances fail to keep up with wage growth and rising prices, pushing more people into paying more tax. It is the consequence of a non-action and is very much deliberate.
Stealth tax is not new. Gordon Brown was also a fan — during his time as chancellor and prime minister tax thresholds often went up in line with
