Today is the first day of Tax Horror Week.

Tighten your belts because 12 tax hikes are about to hit

This week Britain will be hit by a range of horrifying tax increases which will inflict major damage to the finances of British citizens, to businesses & to the economy.

Tax hikes are programmed for April 1 and April 6.

The greatest economic damage will be caused by hikes to Employer NI contributions. The rate will go up by 1.2ppts to 15% & the threshold cut to £5k, dragging many more low-paid & part-time workers into its scope.

The prospect of the hikes destroyed business confidence and has already led to major reductions in hiring & investment, lower pay & some lay-offs.

Now that the tax hikes are actually occurring, the pressure to reduce staff costs and numbers will be much greater.

Businesses will be hit by large increases in rates. Hospitality & leisure firms will see their bills increase from an average of £3,751 a year to £9,003. Pubs with a rateable value of £100k will see business rates leap by £19k per annum and it's expected that some 9k will shut.

Council tax will be hiked this month with local authorities in England allowed to increase bills by up to 5%. The average band D council tax in England for 2024/25 was £2,171, meaning a rise of £109 in council tax, or more in areas where councils have declared bankruptcy.

The stamp duty threshold for first-time buyers will fall from £425k to £300k. Additionally home movers will now pay stamp duty on purchases over £125k rather than the current £250k. A home mover completing on a property worth £500k in England will pay £15k in stamp duty rather than the current level of £12.5k.

Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) doubles for all new petrol & diesel models, with some facing annual charges as high as £5,490. Owners of even a very popular car such as the lowest emission Volkswagen Polo will have to pay £220 more. VED on EVs and hybrids will also shoot up.

Double cab pick-up vehicles will be treated as cars, with significant increases in taxes due as a result.

The supportive tax regime for furnished holiday lets will be abolished, forcing many owners to sell to 2nd home owners, which will turn some places into ghost towns. Most 2nd home owners will now pay double council tax.

Non-dom status will be abolished, hastening the exodus of millionaires with that status, as few want 40% of their world-wide assets to be confiscated by UK inheritance tax.

Business Asset Disposal Relief (BADR) from capital gains tax – originally introduced by Labour to encourage entrepreneurs - and Investors’ Relief (IR) are hiked by 40% to 14%. Bad news for start-ups.

The highly successful private equity industry will be made much less competitive by an increase in the rates of Capital Gains Tax on carried interest to 32%.  Part of the industry will leave to some of the many other countries with more favourable tax regimes.

Compounding the damage done by the imposition of VAT on school fees, the eligibility of private schools for charitable rate relief for business rates will be removed.

It's a tsunami of tax rises. Extraordinarily Rachel Reeves says with a straight face that she is "putting money into people's pockets." She's doing the opposite.

Tax horror week will constitute a major further looting of taxpayers & the productive private sector.

Labour are robbing us in plain sight.