'Squeezed middle' in the South-East will see 900,000 pulled into higher tax band

HUNDREDS of thousands of squeezed middle” earners across London and the South-East are set to be dragged into the higher 40 per cent tax band over the next six years after Jeremy Hunt extended the freeze on thresholds in yesterday’s Autumn Statement.

- Jonathan Prynn, Nicholas Cecil and David Bond

Analysis by the Standard suggests that by 2028 more than 900,000 extra employees in the region including key workers such as police officers, teachers and senior nurses will be paying income tax at a 40p in the pound” rate never designed for them. 

The Chancellor said that the threshold already frozen by Rishi Sunak until 2026 will now be left at 50,270 until 2028 as part of his measures to put the public finances on a sustainable footing. The 20 per cent basic rate income tax threshold is also frozen at 12,570.