Ten of the worst Tory tax hikes since 2010

It’s Budget day today. With the tax burden predicted to amount to 37 per cent of national income by the next election, the 2019 to 2024 parliament is set to go down as the biggest tax-raising parliament in modern times. A rather impressive feat for a Tory party that likes to paint itself as one of low taxes and financial stability. In fact, under the last 14 years of Conservative government, Mr S has discovered there have been over 1,000 tax rises.

While we eagerly await today’s Budget announcements, here is a list of some of the most significant tax hikes introduced under various Tory Chancellors since 2010…

Income tax rise by stealth

When George Osborne was Chancellor in the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition government, he reduced Labour’s ‘additional’ 50p income tax rate to 45p in 2012. Liz Truss tried to cut that further in her short-lived mini-Budget of 2022. But recent years have seen more tax rises than tax cuts via the process known as ‘fiscal drag’ whereby the Treasury freezes income tax thresholds while people’s salaries are growing.