Latest news with #taxcut
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Starmer is confronted with Labour demands for 'wealth taxes' to fill £30bn black hole and fund benefits splurge during end-of-term grilling by MPs
Keir Starmer was confronted with Labour demands for wealth taxes today as he faced an end-of-term grilling by MPs. The PM was pressed to target investment income and capital gains to fill an estimated £30billion hole in the public finances. Former minister Liam Byrne suggested hammering those incomes could bring in enough to balance the books and fund a 'big bold working class tax cut'. Sir Keir dodged the question without ruling the move out, insisting decisions will be taken at the Budget in the Autumn. The exchange at the cross-party Liaison Committee will fuel fears about looming tax pain, after the economy stallled and efforts to trim benefits spending were crushed by a Labour revolt. Mr Byrne asked: 'If we taxed investment income in the way that we do work, if we tweaked up capital gains tax so it was fairer there would be enough money to deal with the fiscal pressures that we forecast and deliver a big bold working class tax cut just as they delivered in Australia. 'Surely that should be an idea that remains on the table going into the Budget?' Sir Keir replied: 'I'm not going to be tempted to start speculating on what might or might not be in the Budget.' Sir Keir listed measures aimed at easing cost-of-living pressures, including the increase in the minimum wage levels, but added: 'The central focus has to be on creating more wealth and making sure that we have a growing and thriving economy. 'That's been the single biggest failure of the last 14 years, which is we haven't had an economy that has grown in any significant way.' Mr Byrne, chair of the Business and Trade Committee, quipped that he was pleased Sir Keir had not ruled out the tax hikes. Recent figures showed the economy shrinking for a second month in a row Labour's wealth tax war is raging amid claims Rachel Reeves is set to reject demands for a charge on assets - but could hit pension reliefs instead. The Chancellor is desperately hunting for options as she faces an estimated £30billion black hole in the public finances at the Autumn Budget. She has been carefully avoiding ruling out a 'wealth tax' - with backbenchers pushing for 2 per cent levy on assets worth more than £10million. However, she is thought to be privately opposed to the move, with tax experts and Cabinet ministers warning it would only drive away more wealth people from Britain. A raid on pensions is still said to be on the table, with fears that the Treasury is again looking at slashing reliefs. Currently higher-rate earners are spared 40 per cent tax on money that is put into retirement funds. However, reducing the relief to the 20 per cent basic rate could raise around £15billion for the government. The idea was rejected at the Budget last year, but Ms Reeves' situation has dramatically worsened. It would cause an outcry as cash in pension pots is already taxed when people draw incomes. The government is also facing mounting alarm that Brits are not saving enough into their pensions for comfortable retirement. She is widely expected to extend the long-running freeze on tax thresholds to bring in billions of pounds more. Capital gains could also be raided, as the Chancellor insists she will not hike rates of income tax, employee national insurance or VAT. She has also vowed a 'cast-iron' commitment to fiscal rules, with the UK's debt mounting at risk of spiralling out of control. A senior government source told The Times that a wealth tax on assets was 'not going to happen'. 'The problem is that if the Treasury start shooting down Kinnock's proposal, they end up being boxed in,' the source said. 'It's not going to happen, but they can't say that publicly.' The government's woes have been deepening with inflation unexpectedly rising and signs the economy is slowing down. Experts have warned that the stalling economy together with spending pressures could mean the Chancellor has a £31billion funding gap. The tax burden is already set to hit a new high as a proportion of GDP after the last Budget imposed a £41billion increase - the biggest on record for a single package. Many believe the Chancellor will opt to extend the long-running freeze on tax thresholds. The policy, in place since 2022, is due to end in 2028-29. By that point it will have dragged an extra 4.2million people into the tax system as wages rise.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Japan's Ishiba Tries to Buy Time After Historic Election Setback
(Bloomberg) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba sought to buy time for his premiership following a second election setback in less than a year that leaves him in a weaker position to stave off opposition tax cut demands or secure a last-minute trade deal with the US. Why the Federal Reserve's Building Renovation Costs $2.5 Billion Milan Corruption Probe Casts Shadow Over Property Boom How San Jose's Mayor Is Working to Build an AI Capital 'As we are the biggest party in parliament, I believe I must fulfill my responsibility to the nation and its people,' Ishiba said at a press conference held Monday after an election that left the ruling bloc three seats short of maintaining a majority in the upper house. Ishiba raised the US trade talks, inflation and an increasingly tense security environment as pressing issues that must not be left to stagnate due to political instability. While Ishiba's comments at the press conference showed his intention for now to soldier on with a minority in both houses, the prime minister remains in a vulnerable position and will likely need to find ways to shore up his leadership within the party. Ishiba is the first LDP leader running an administration without a coalition majority in either of the chambers since the party was established in 1955. He acknowledged that debate would likely continue within the party about how to proceed moving forward and that he would respond to each development as it occurred. Historical precedence is not on Ishiba's side. The last three LDP premiers who lost a majority in the upper house all stepped down within two months of the result. Still, there is little immediate sign of clear appetite within the party to oust him for now, given the lack of an obvious candidate waiting in the wings that might give the LDP an immediate boost. Ishiba said he had no plans to change around personnel in the administration, implying that there would be no cabinet reshuffle to try and turn around his fortunes. Instead, Ishiba indicated he would be looking for talks with Donald Trump and tangible results on trade soon, as he continued to emphasize that negotiations should center on investment not tariffs. The deadline for higher across-the-board tariffs looms less than two weeks away. His top negotiator Ryosei Akazawa is set to depart on Monday for Washington to continue discussions with his US counterparts. The visit appears to be a continuation of an existing tactic to secure as much face-time with US negotiators as possible. Akazawa has clocked up over 90,000 miles over seven visits to the US so far, with little to show in terms of progress. 'I do think that in terms of how the LDP thinks, the best way for Ishiba to go would have been to reach some sort of trade terms with the US tariff talks, but if Ishiba really has no intention to stand down, then that sort of deadline doesn't matter,' said Yuri Kono, a professor of law at Hosei University who writes frequently on politics. The election defeat will likely hamper Ishiba's efforts to pursue domestic policy. With many of the key opposition parties running on a platform to cut the sales tax, Ishiba may well have to make concessions over tax cuts to push any of his policies through. The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party, which wants to exempt food from the sales tax for as many as two years, came in second place with 22 seats in the election. The populist Democratic Party for the People finished third with 17 seats, up from four earlier, after seeking a sales tax cut and more take-home pay. Sanseito, a right-wing party that tapped anti-foreigner sentiment with a 'Japanese First' message and wants to phase out the tax in stages, managed to secure 14 seats from just a single seat, winning the third most seats among opposition parties. Ishiba will need to find ways to cooperate with the opposition and likely have to give some ground. Whether that extends to a temporary tax cut remains a key focus for market players concerned about Japan loosening its control of fiscal policy. A Rebel Army Is Building a Rare-Earth Empire on China's Border Thailand's Changing Cannabis Rules Leave Farmers in a Tough Spot Elon Musk's Empire Is Creaking Under the Strain of Elon Musk How Starbucks' CEO Plans to Tame the Rush-Hour Free-for-All What the Tough Job Market for New College Grads Says About the Economy ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Japan's Ishiba Tries to Buy Time After Historic Election Setback
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba sought to buy time for his premiership following a second election setback in less than a year that leaves him in a weaker position to stave off opposition tax cut demands or secure a last-minute trade deal with the US. 'As we are the biggest party in parliament, I believe I must fulfill my responsibility to the nation and its people,' Ishiba said at a press conference held Monday after an election that left the ruling bloc three seats short of maintaining a majority in the upper house. Ishiba raised the US trade talks, inflation and an increasingly tense security environment as pressing issues that must not be left to stagnate due to political instability.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Congress passed its big tax bill. What are the next fights on Capitol Hill?
WASHINGTON – Republicans in Congress spent the first half of the year focused on one goal: Passing President Donald Trump's sweeping tax cut and spending package. Mission accomplished. Now lawmakers will turn to other items on their to-do list that they've been pushing off as they turn their attention to a variety of pressing topics. The list includes possibly imposing new sanctions against Russia, directing the Pentagon on its global defense mission, funding the U.S. government and addressing Elon Musk's efforts to cut spending on NPR, PBS and the U.S. Agency for International Development during the early days of the new GOP administration. But nothing is easy in the narrowly divided House and Senate, where Republicans can lose only three votes in both chambers to achieve a majority. In the Senate, 60 votes are needed for most legislation in order to clear the filibuster. Here's what's coming next on Capitol Hill: Codifying DOGE cuts Earlier this summer, Trump asked Republicans in Congress to claw back $9.4 billion of federal funding to reflect a portion of the cuts made by the Department of Government Efficiency task force. The move would strip funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds NPR and PBS, and from foreign aid agencies such as the U.S. Agency for International Development and the World Health Organization. If lawmakers don't act on it by July 18, the request will expire and the funding will stay in place. Republicans won't need Democratic votes to get it through the Senate, as it only requires a majority vote and Republicans control the chamber 53-47. However, some Republican senators are pushing for changes to the package to preserve funding for AIDS prevention and it is unclear whether it can get the votes to pass. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer sent a letter to his fellow Democrats calling the GOP plan a "toxic proposal" that, if passed, amounts to Republicans bypassing the traditional bipartisan spending process with "grave implications" for the balance of power. Avoiding a government shutdown Congress must pass annual appropriations bills to keep the government running. If they fail to do so, the government will shut down. That means most federal employees will be temporarily out of work, national parks would close, and some services like federal food inspections would be interrupted. The deadline to fund the government is Sept. 30. Because lawmakers don't meet in August, that leaves only six working weeks to get it done. Doing it the traditional way – both the House and Senate considering 12 spending bills on different subjects, stitching them together, and passing it with a bipartisan vote – is unlikely. Instead, lawmakers will probably need another funding extension with bipartisan support to keep the government running. That won't be easy: Democrats are furious with Republicans' plan to claw back existing funding and are under pressure from their base to push back on GOP rule. The political backlash Schumer faced from his left over the decision to help pass the last funding extension hasn't been forgotten. Expect some dealmaking close to the deadline – or a government shutdown. More party-line spending bills? As Republicans sought to pass Trump's tax bill, fiscal conservatives in both the House and Senate put up a fight over the more than $3.4 trillion the law is expected to add to the federal debt. In order to get them on board, some lawmakers say Republican leadership told them they would pursue a second and potentially third party-line package to pursue deeper spending cuts before this Congress concludes at the end of 2026. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, told reporters July 8 that he has "a fair amount of confidence" based on conversations with Trump and GOP leadership "we will have a second bite of the apple." But getting another party-line bill done will be a challenge, as narrow margins in both chambers already made it difficult for Republican leaders to muscle Trump's tax bill through. Directing defense policy Approving the National Defense Authorization Act is an annual must-do for Congress. Lawmakers use the bill to shape federal defense policies and authorize spending in the Department of Defense. Once House and Senate lawmakers have finalized their proposals, they will work across the Capitol to reach a compromise between both chambers. The Republican tax bill included $150 billion for defense, but the Pentagon has asked Congress for $1 trillion. The NDAA will likely dredge up new policy fights, from anti-drone systems to making it harder for the United States to withdraw troops from Europe. Russia sanctions A group of bipartisan lawmakers led by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, has been pushing a bill to implement sanctions on Russia in order to discourage Russian President Vladimir Putin's war against Ukraine. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said July 9 that he plans to bring the bill up for a vote before the end of the month. House Speaker Mike Johnson has also expressed interest in putting sanctions on Russia and has said he's open to holding a vote on the bill. It must pass both chambers in order to be signed into law. The proposal would impose stiff tariffs on countries that buy Russian energy, and would likely give the president broad power to decide when to enforce the sanctions. Trump has previously called the legislation "harsh" and expressed skepticism that it would work, but he has since softened on the bill as his frustration with Putin rises. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The next major battles on Capitol Hill
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Democrats can't hide the truth: The Big Beautiful Bill is a victory for you
On Independence Day, President Donald Trump made history. He signed into law the One Big Beautiful Bill – a once-in-a-generation victory that fulfills his promise to Make America Great Again. By providing the largest tax cut in our nation's history, it will supercharge our economy. Tennessee households will save an average of $2,600 in taxes next year and see an average annual take-home pay increase of over $10,000. With the largest-ever investment in border security, it empowers the Department of Homeland Security to complete Trump's border wall and hire thousands of new Border Patrol agents. It also bolsters our military, enacts common-sense permitting reforms to make America energy dominant again, and eliminates hundreds of billions of dollars in far-left, Green New Deal spending, putting our nation on a more sustainable fiscal path. With the One Big Beautiful Bill signed into law, Republicans are now working to deliver even more savings for taxpayers by passing the White House's $9.4 billion rescissions package. This package will cut off politically biased public media from receiving taxpayer dollars and terminate funding for overseas programs that undermine American values, among other important efforts to reduce wasteful spending. These are just the topline accomplishments. For months, Republicans worked to include as many wins as possible in the One Big Beautiful Bill. Eliminating taxes on Social Security has long been a priority of mine. The legislation provides a $6,000 enhanced deduction for seniors. It also makes permanent the enhanced child tax credit while expanding access to child care from employers. These measures will empower working parents to keep their jobs while raising their families. Year after year, I have introduced legislation that would require Border Patrol to DNA test and fingerprint children who arrive at our southern border. These measures, which would help end the modern-day slavery of human trafficking, are now signed into law as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill. The law increases funding for Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The legislation also levels the playing field for Tennessee's independent music creators by including my HITS Act, which provides them with additional tax relief for writing off recording expenses. Tennesseans and Americans across the country have a lot to celebrate with this legislation. But because it was delivered by President Trump and Republicans, Democrats have resorted to fearmongering and lying about it. To set the record straight, I've released a fact-sheet: 'Fiction v. Fact: Exposing Democrats' Lies About the One Big Beautiful Bill.' For example, some Democrats have claimed that the One Big Beautiful Bill will kick Tennessee families off Medicaid. That is false. In fact, Tennesseans will see zero cuts to their Medicaid benefits. Instead, the legislation strengthens Medicaid by eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in a program that saw more than $1 trillion in improper payments over the past decade. While placing commonsense work requirements on childless, able-bodied adults in Medicaid expansion states, it protects benefits for vulnerable Americans who rely on the program, including pregnant women, seniors, low-income families, and people with disabilities. It also removes federal benefits for undocumented immigrants. Democrats have claimed that the One Big Beautiful Bill is just a tax cut for billionaires. In fact, low-income workers will see the largest percentage reduction in their tax liability. In Tennessee, it will prevent the potential loss of 129,000 jobs, $11.5 billion in wages, and $22.5 billion in gross domestic product. Even as Democrats continue to misrepresent the truth, the American people will see through their lies because they will experience all the benefits that come from this legislation. The One Big Beautiful Bill is a victory for hard-working Americans. U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn represents Tennessee in the U.S. Senate. She was elected in 2018 and re-elected in 2024. This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Big Beautiful Bill is a victory for the American people | Opinion
