Tax Justice UK calculates at least £35.8bn handed to businesses in tax cuts by Sunak

Businesses and the wealthy received almost £40bn in tax cuts while Rishi Sunak was chancellor, leaving others footing the bill for Britain’s recovery from the pandemic in the midst of a cost of living crisis, according to new analysis.
 
Mr Sunak rejected calls for an emergency budget to help struggling families earlier this week after former prime minister Gordon Brown urged the government to announce more support before a “financial timebomb” of rising bills in October “pushes millions over the edge”. The leadership hopeful launched a fresh attack on his rival Liz Truss’s plan for tax cuts in an emergency Budget, describing it as a “big bung” for large businesses and the better-off which would do little to help those most in need.
 
But a review of tax “winners and losers” across every Budget that took place while Mr Johnson and Mr. Sunak were in Downing Street found that the Treasury had favoured tax breaks for business over help for individuals and families. Tax Justice UK calculated that the government handed at least £35.8bn to businesses in tax cuts, compared to plans in place when Theresa May’s government came to an end.
 
Tax Justice UK’s report shows that Ms Sunak also handed a £2.2bn net reduction in taxes on wealth, primarily through a heavily criticised stamp duty holiday which cost £5bn, while primarily helping well-off homeowners. The move also helped to inflate the UK’s property bubble, pushing prices even further out of reach for first-time buyers.
 
Mr Sunak also announced a windfall tax on oil and gas company profits but at the same time gave a tax break for investing in new fossil fuel projects. Other controversial and expensive tax policies included a 5p cut in fuel duty, which followed two years of freezes. That cost the Treasury £4.5bn but made little impact in the face of record-high fuel prices.