Government WON’T bring back National Insurance hikes for self-employed after Budget fiasco
Damian Green said this morning that the hated policy first raised in this year's budget would no longer be considered
THE CHANCELLOR’s ‘Strivers’ Tax’ on self-employed workers was killed off for good yesterday by Theresa May’s closest Cabinet ally.
Deputy PM Damian Green said the Government “won’t be revisiting” Philip Hammond’s toxic £2 billion National Insurance hike.
The Chancellor sparked uproar in the Budget by unveiling plans to whack up NI for self-employed workers – and it was killed off within days amid a furious Tory rebellion.
Theresa May sparked speculation it could be brought back later this year when she dropped a ‘Tax Lock’ from her 2017 Election manifesto.
But speaking yesterday Mr Green said: “We won’t be revisiting that, the House of Commons has already spoken on that.”
The intervention came ahead of the Matthew Taylor report into working practices today.
The Sun yesterday revealed Tony Blair’s former advisor won’t be recommending a controversial rise in NI after being told not to make the call given Theresa May’s wafer thin majority.
Mr Green said: “He deliberately doesn’t make tax recommendations.”
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Around 15 per cent of the UK workforce – or 5 million people - are self-employed.
The Treasury calculates the differential tax treatment relative to company employees cost the government around £5 billion in 2016-2017.
The Chancellor wanted to raise the NI on self-employed from 9p to 11p t try and close the gap.
The decision means the Chancellor will have to plug a £2 billion hole in the Treasury’s coffers this Autumn.
The NI hike was expected to raise £500 million a year - of £2 billion over the four years of the Parliament.
Mike Cherry, Federation of Small Business national chairman last night declared a “major victory” for the UK’s millions of hardworking entrepreneurs.
He told the Sun: “It’s a relief that Ministers have finally seen sense and taken this tax grab off the table for the forseeable future.
“The Government has listened to the FSB and the Sun’s campaign to protect our strivers and we look forward to Ministers instead bringing forward proposals that support the self-employed rather than penalise them.”