Budget 2024 latest: Labour insists income tax threshold freeze would not break manifesto pledge

The chancellor is reportedly planning to confirm that the heightened stamp duty threshold will drop back to previous levels in March, costing housebuyers up to £2,500 more.

In 2022, the Conservatives under Liz Truss increased the ‘nil rate’ threshold – when stamp duty starts being paid – from £125,000 to £250,000. For first-time buyers, it rose from £300,000 to £425,000.

The approach is expected to raise £1.8 billion a year by 2029-30, but experts have warned the news will cause “chaos” in the property market as buyers rush deals to save money.

Property expert Kirstie Allsopp told Times Radio: “It’s become so complicated that I can no longer tell anyone what they would be paying in stamp duty.”

“It won’t claw back any money. Stamp duty is a dead tax.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said that the government will keep to manifesto pledges ahead of the Budget.

Asked about whether reported tax changes under consideration would keep to their promise of not increasing taxes for working people, Sir Keir told a press conference in Berlin: “We are going to keep our manifesto pledges.”

He added: “I’m not going to pre-empt the individual measures that will be outlined by the Chancellor in due course.

“This is going to be a Budget that will fix the foundations and rebuild our country.”

When asked further about potential tax rises, the Prime Minister said that “you’ll just have to wait until the Chancellor lays that out in full, but the structure if you like, the framework, is going to be to fix the foundations and to rebuild our country.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves will deliver Labour’s first Budget on Wednesday 30 October.

Each year, the chancellor of the exchequer - who is in charge of the government's finances - makes a Budget statement to MPs. .

The speech outlines the government's plans for spending and taxes.

The Budget speech usually starts around 12:30pm and lasts about an hour. The Independent will be bringing you all the latest updates on the big day.

Ms Reeves may be considering pushing the freeze beyond its current expiry date of 2028 in a move that could raise £7 billion, according to the Financial Times.

Other measures reported to be under consideration include increasing employers’ national insurance contributions, raising fuel duty for the first time since 2010, changes to rules on inheritance tax and stamp duty, and a levy on e-cigarettes, according to reports across the media.

The Treasury has so far declined to comment on Budget speculation.

Ahead of the Budget on 30 October, there has been fevered speculation about changes to pension savers’ tax allowances and other perks.

Reports that pensioners could have tax breaks cut or axed led to savers withdrawing chunks of their retirement pots ahead of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s big announcement.

... is that not only is it deeply unpopular, cautions James Moore – but it’s only a drop in the ocean when it comes to plugging the UK’s vast fiscal black hole

Retirees are rushing to withdraw cash from their pensions ahead of feared cuts to tax-free benefits in the Budget, the boss of one of Britain’s top investment platforms has said.

Savers can typically take 25 per cent of their pension as a lump sum, up to a limit of £268,275, allowing them to avoid paying income tax, but Chancellor Rachel Reeves is reportedly considering a cut to the amount savers can withdraw without triggering a payment to HM Revenue & Customs.

Rachel Reeves’ Budget is a make-or-break moment for Sir Keir Starmer’s government, potentially sparking a decade of national renewal – or sowing the seeds of Labour’s downfall.

The prime minister’s poll ratings are at rock bottom after just over 100 days in charge, and the much-hyped “tough choices” to be unveiled on October 30 will likely do little to help boost his appeal.

Led by Angela Rayner, several cabinet ministers have broken ranks on the chancellor’s demand for swingeing budget cuts – and the only winner from this early breakdown of party discipline will be the prime minister, says John Rentoul

Sir Keir Starmer has warned his senior ministers they will have to live with swingeing spending cuts after a cabinet row over the Budget erupted in public.

The prime minister is facing a backlash from Angela Rayner and other members of his top team over cuts to government departments set to be unveiled by the chancellor, Rachel Reeves.