Hard-working families face decade-long tax hike setting them back by £5,500

FAMILIES face a decade-long tax hike setting them back by £5,500, startling figures show.

Ministers are under mounting pressure to step in as even after a planned tax cut in 2024 households will be left poorer by £600 a year.

Critics last night said there was “no light at the end of the tunnel” for Brits who face a major squeeze on their personal finances.

Boris Johnson faces calls to intervene even holding a Cabinet meeting this week asking each Whitehall department for ideas.

Research by the House of Commons library shows the typical family - two earners on a median salary of £33,790 - are facing a £3,250 tax hike from the freezing of income tax thresholds and another £2,300 hit from the National Insurance rise.

Additional taxes paid each year will peak in 2024 when they hit £630 before falling to £480 in 2025 but increase again to £610 annually by 2030.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is understood to have told colleagues this week it would be “silly” to intervene at this stage but help will come later in the year.

The energy cap is expected to hit families again this year with experts saying it could reach £3,000 a year, a rise of some 40 per cent.

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said: “Even after Rishi Sunak’s promised tax cut, the average family faces a staggering £5,500 tax hike over the next decade.

“It shows there is no light at the end of the tunnel under this Conservative government, just years of painful tax rises.

“This country is faced with a law-breaking Prime Minister and a tax-hiking Chancellor. We desperately need a change of leadership at the top and the local elections this week are a chance to say so.

“Now is not the time to be hiking people’s taxes, just as energy bills and inflation go through the roof. People are facing a cost-of-living emergency, and they need an emergency tax cut now.”

Meanwhile, Labour analysis shows the costs of after-school clubs has risen faster than the average weekly wages over the past five years.

Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson MP said: “Childcare costs are spiralling but wages simply aren’t keeping up, putting yet more pressure on families facing a cost of living crisis.”

A Government spokesperson said: “We understand that people are struggling with rising prices, and while we can’t shield everyone from the global challenges we face, we're supporting British families to navigate the months ahead with a £22 billion package of support this financial year.

“That includes cutting taxes for working people by raising the National Insurance Contribution threshold, saving the typical employee over £330 a year; lowering the Universal Credit taper rate to help people keep more of the money they earn; and providing millions of households with up to £350 each to help with rising energy bills”