INCOME tax could be cut by 10 per cent if jobless Brits went back to work, a Cabinet Minister declared yesterday.
Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride said the 650,000 Brits who quit during the pandemic are an £11billion hit to the economy.
AlamyTaxes could be cut if more jobless Brits went back to work[/caption]
He said the boost if they came back would be enough to let Jeremy Hunt reduce the basic rate from 20p to 18p – saving workers hundreds of pounds a year.
Rishi Sunak has ordered his top team to tackle the five million Brits claiming out of work benefits which are swallowing a record £100billion.
Quizzed by the Sun, Mr Stride would “put a target” on what figure he wanted to reduce this Budget-busting number to.
Tory MPs are getting increasingly fed up with the number of benefit recipients sapping taxpayer cash while bosses are crying out for vacancies.
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But he said: “The increase in economic inactivity due to the pandemic was about 650,000. If we can get all of those back into work, it’ll increase the size of the economy by 0.2 per cent.
“Which will reduce the borrowing requirement by £11 billion, which will be enough to take 2p off the basic rate of tax.
“So what I’m in the business of doing is getting people back into work – because work is good for people – but also giving the Chancellor the greatest possible flexibility when it comes to setting out his stall this autumn and in the spring to follow.”
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Mr Stride – who ran Rishi Sunak’s leadership campaign – said around 200,000 had already been lured back, meaning there are 400,000 left.
He particularly wants over-50s who retired early to get another job, as well as sick Brits who want to work.
New carrot and stick policies will also force benefit claimants to step up efforts to find a job.