Half of UK Firms to Raise Prices After £26 Billion Tax Hike
- Some 54% say they’ll lift prices; same proportion to cut jobs
- Chancellor in October raised national insurance payroll tax
Small bussineses in Whitstable, UK.
Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
More than half of UK businesses plan to increase prices and cut jobs in response to Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves’ £26 billion ($33 billion) hike in employer payroll taxes, threatening to increase inflationary pressures.
Some 54% of chief financial officers said they would pass the tax hike back to consumers through higher prices, with the same proportion saying they expected to have lower employment as a result of the move, according to the Bank of England’s monthly Decision Maker Panel survey published on Thursday.