As Chancellor Rachel Reeves prepares to announce her first budget, The Guardian spoke to seven Britons to express their concerns and hopes, from higher taxes on the wealthy to worries about impacts on pensions, small businesses, and people unable to work.
“The wealthy need to pay their share”
Martin Coult, 68, a retired Londoner, wants the government to tax the wealthy more. “I’m worried they’ll avoid taxing the rich properly again,” he says. Coult suggests adding VAT on private education and aligning capital gains tax (CGT) with income tax.
Coult, whose only income is the state pension, has seen his financial support cut. “I’ve lost £500 in winter fuel allowance and been hit with a £300 tax bill due to frozen tax thresholds,” he explains. “I wouldn’t mind paying if public services improved, but I want to see the wealthy pay more than me.”
“Sudden pension rule changes are unfair”
Deejay, 59, a public servant from East Anglia, planned to retire next year with a tax-free lump sum of £240,000 to buy a seaside home. But he now worries the budget may reduce tax-free pension withdrawals.
“If they lower the tax-free sum, I’ll lose my deposit and have to keep working,” he says. “I’ve made sacrifices for 20 years, paying extra into my pension instead of spending on holidays. Changing the rules now would be dreadfully unfair to those who’ve planned their finances carefully.”
“I worry the long-term sick will be penalised”
Simon Forder, 53, from Moray, Scotland, has long Covid and hasn’t worked since 2021. He fears that Reeves’s budget may target low-income and chronically ill people. “Comments from Labour about ‘a culture of reliance’ make me nervous,” he says. “The government should focus on addressing the cost-of-living crisis for people on low incomes.”
Forder supports removing winter fuel payments for wealthy pensioners and urges the government to tackle corporate tax avoidance. “The country needs deep economic reform,” he says.
“Scrapping VAT relief for private schools will stretch us”
Cathleen, 40, a London marketing professional, worries about losing VAT relief on private school fees. “My husband and I work long hours, and our mortgage has nearly doubled. We already stretch to afford private school for our child,” she says. “If Labour adds VAT, it will mean hundreds more each month, which we can’t manage.”
She adds, “There aren’t enough places in good state schools. We’d struggle to find a suitable school in our area.”
“Higher employer NICs will squeeze small businesses”
Stuart McCormick, a business owner from Chester, worries that increasing employer national insurance contributions (NICs) would harm his business. “I sold my house to keep my business afloat after Covid,” he says. “We’re already coping with minimum wage increases and inflation. We can’t ask clients to cover more price hikes.”
McCormick also questions who the government considers “working people.” “I’m not a millionaire, but I voted Labour as a working person. I made £80,000 before tax last year, but income keeps dropping. The economy needs recovery, not more pressure on small businesses.”
“The middle class is being punished”
Ben, 49, from London, fears an increase in CGT will impact his family. He explains, “Many have invested to be less reliant on the state, yet now we’re being penalised.” Ben, who works in media, believes Labour should target tax loopholes used by the very wealthy. “Higher CGT would be easier to accept if it didn’t feel like a punishment for sensible investing.”
“Isas are a tax break for the rich”
Dianne Moyes, 78, a retired teacher from Cumbria, believes Isas benefit the wealthy. “They were meant to encourage saving, but the £20,000 limit is now just a tax break for the rich,” she says. “Few people can save £40,000 a year. I’d like to see it reduced to £5,000.”
Moyes also believes that frozen tax thresholds have pulled people with small incomes into paying tax. She supports taxing the wealthy more and suggests unfreezing the personal tax allowance.
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