George Osborne ‘stealth tax’ could cost half a million workers £1,000 each

Last Updated: April 6, 2016By
As he will be remembered: George Osborne.

As he will be remembered: George Osborne.

Coming in the same week the ‘Panama papers’ scandal broke, the least we could say about this is that the Conservative Government is acting in very poor taste.

Alternatively, we could agree with the person who posted the link on Twitter: “Only the poor pay taxes. Do you get it yet?”

Half a million British workers could lose out on hundreds of pounds a year under a “stealth tax” coming in on Wednesday which was not announced in George Osborne’s Budget.

Union leaders said the changes would see construction workers, supply teachers and distribution centre workers, among other professions, denied the right to claim tax relief on necessary travel, food and accommodation expenses.

The rule change, among a number coming into effect on 6 April, will see the Treasury rake in an additional £150 million a year, the Government said.

But it comes at a cost to any worker employed through an “employment intermediary” such as an agency.

The construction union UCATT said the changes predominantly affected its industry, with one case seeing a worker lose as much as £3,369. All the costs will be borne by workers rather than the businesses employing them.

Source: George Osborne ‘stealth tax’ could cost half a million workers £1,000 each | UK Politics | News | The Independent

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8 Comments

  1. casalealex April 6, 2016 at 8:16 pm - Reply

    “……denied the right to claim tax relief on necessary travel, food and accommodation expenses…..”

    Would that be the same as the MPs’ apparent ‘god given’ right to make these claims from the public purse?

  2. Michael Broadhurst April 6, 2016 at 8:46 pm - Reply

    typical, its alright for them to claim expenses but nobody else.typical Tory hypocrisy.
    same old story one law for them and another for the rest of us.
    it makes you sick it really does.

  3. timeless April 6, 2016 at 9:20 pm - Reply

    its funny how they introduce a farcical living wage which nets ppl a mere £900 extra a year then they bring in a tax thats going to leave ppl worse off than before they got a crappy extra 50p an hour..

  4. Brian April 6, 2016 at 10:14 pm - Reply

    Strange, because it will not apply to MP’s, MP’s like IDS, who despite having resigned is still being paid, and what is he doing in his Taxpayer Funded time?; colluding with Farrage to Exit the EU. This, despite Farrage lambasting Cameron for producing Tax Payer funded propaganda might be funny, if it were not so hypercritical.

  5. thejaffer April 6, 2016 at 10:57 pm - Reply

    Does this apply to MP’s allowances too?

  6. jeffrey davies April 7, 2016 at 8:33 am - Reply

    norman law hay the poor pay

  7. mohandeer April 7, 2016 at 11:46 am - Reply

    How will the NHS cope with this since it relies heavily on “bank” nurses and ancillaries who are employed by agencies? It will mean that many are faciing expenses their hours don’t cover, making it not worth their while and leaving hospitals understaffed.

  8. mrmarcpc April 7, 2016 at 2:48 pm - Reply

    Like he would do anything different!

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