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Martin Lewis has delivered his analysis and reaction to the key policy changes outlined in Rachel Reeves Autumn budget, saying that a rise in income tax thresholds is a “stealth tax” that would leave earners worse off. On Wednesday, the Chancellor unveiled £26 billion worth of tax hikes as she tried to close a multi-billion pound hole in the country’s public finances.  The decision to freeze tax thresholds in this Budget from 2028/29 onwards, to help fill a £20bn black hole, will raise £8bn in 2029-30 and drag one in four workers into the highest tax band. A further 780,000 people will pay tax for the first time.The Money Saving Expert founder, whose site provides free and independent advice on saving money, told the BBC’s Martin Lewis Podcast that this represented a “stealth tax” that would leave earners worse off. “You will be worse off. Freezing tax thresholds means that in real-terms, people are actually paying a higher proportion of their income as tax. You’re still taking home more money as you have an income rise. But the spending power of the money you’re taking home can be reduced because of stealth taxes.”Rachel Reeves increased taxes by £26 billion More

Jeremy Corbyn has accused Rachel Reeves of not going far enough to tax high earners in her Budget.The chancellor announced an extension to the freeze on income tax thresholds, meaning more earners will soon be made to pay extra tax by “stealth”.The decision to freeze tax thresholds in this Budget from 2028/29 onwards, to help fill a £20bn black hole in public finances, will raise £8bn in 2029-30 and drag one in four workers into the highest tax band. A further 780,000 people will pay tax for the first time.“What Rachel Reeves has baked in is higher tax for the lowest earners,” the former Labour leader said. More

Millions more people will be dragged into paying higher income tax after Rachel Reeves bet her political future on a £26bn tax raid on the middle classes in her make-or-break second Budget.In what she branded a “Labour values” Budget, the chancellor moved to appease the left in her party with a package of measures that included 43 separate tax rises – according to shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride – taking the tax burden in the UK to its highest level in history. But she finally brought an end to the much-criticised two-child benefit cap, which campaigners say will help lift thousands of children out of poverty, and announced a £73bn splurge in welfare spending.The decision to freeze tax thresholds in this Budget from 2028/29 onwards, to help fill a £20bn black hole in public finances, will raise £8bn in 2029-30 and drag one in four workers into the highest tax band. A further 780,000 people will pay tax for the first time. Reeves branded the Budget one of ‘Labour values’ More

A letting agency director has accused Rachel Reeves of waging a war on landlords – and warned that tenants will face higher rent as a result of her attacks.During Wednesday’s Autumn Budget speech, the chancellor announced a two percentage point rise in tax rates on rental income for landlords as part of her overall package set to raise £26bn in tax hikes. The additional levy, Ms Reeves said, was only fair because no National Insurance was charged on property income.But the move has been criticised by landlords who say they are already in the firing line on a range of measures, including the Renters’ Rights Bill that will eliminate Section 21 “no fault” evictions from May next year.Deshal Raja, who owns 50 rental properties and is director of a letting agency, has criticised Rachel Reeves’ measure to tax landlords more on their income More

Rachel Reeves dodged a question about whether she would still be chancellor at the next general election after unveiling a package of £26bn tax hikes in the Budget.When asked whether she would still be in her position as income to the treasury from the tax rises would take effect after the country next goes to the polls, Reeves said: “It is often not possible to change those rates overnight. And of course, the thresholds are towards the end of the parliament because the Tories already froze them.”The tax hikes come as Ms Reeves battles a downgrade in forecast economic growth, delivered in a report by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) published by mistake before the speech. More