Hard-working Brits to be handed a £900 tax cut this year as Jeremy Hunt slashes National Insurance again in Budget

THE Chancellor will today hand workers another £450 tax boost and freeze booze duty until early next year.

In what could be the last Budget before Britain goes to the polls, Jeremy Hunt will double last November’s 2p National Insurance cut — a saving of £900 a year for the average worker.

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And The Sun can reveal that taxes on beer, wine and spirits that were due to go up in August will now be frozen until February next year in a win for our Save Our Sups campaign.

Fuel duty will also be frozen but it’s bad news for smokers, who face stumping up a record £16 a packet and a new tax on vapes.

Mr Hunt, seen out for a run with his dog yesterday morning, will fire the starting gun on months of election campaigning.

He will use his Commons speech to brand Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer an enemy of business — and steal a number of his policies.

A loophole for mega-rich “non-doms” to not pay some taxes in the UK will be tightened to raise around £3billion for the Treasury.

And a windfall tax on oil and gas giants will be extended until the end of the decade.

Labour have already said they would do the same and earmarked the cash for other projects, leaving a black hole in Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ spending plans.

The Opposition said they thought the sweeteners meant PM Rishi Sunak was eyeing a May general election — but No10 last night pooh-poohed talk of an early poll.

The Chancellor will, however, disappoint Tory MPs by refusing to slash income tax or unfreeze the thresholds at which its paid.

That is despite Mr Sunak vowing to reduce the base rate to 19 per cent by the end of this Parliament.

And despite the second cut in a few months, it will not stop the tax burden rising to 37 per cent of GDP by the end of the decade.

Mr Hunt will tomorrow tell MPs now is the time to help families with “permanent cuts” to taxation.

He will say: “We do this not just to give help where it is needed in challenging times.

“But because Conservatives know lower tax means higher growth.

“And higher growth means more opportunity and more prosperity.

“But if we want that growth to lead to higher wages and higher living standards for every family in every corner of the country, it cannot come from unlimited migration.

An economy based on sound money does not pass on its bills to the next generation

Jeremy Hunt

“It can only come by building a high wage, high skill economy.”

The NI cut comes after a similar 2p reduction in last year’s Autumn Statement, that was seen in pay packets in January.

Mr Hunt will also paint Labour as the party holding back business with red tape and bureaucracy.

He will say: “They will destroy jobs with 70 new burdens on employers, reduce opportunities by halving new apprenticeships and risk family finances with new spending that pushes up tax.

“Instead of going back to square one, our plans mean more investment, more jobs, more productive public services and lower taxes — sticking to our plan in a Budget for long term growth.”

Mr Hunt will warn the public that a Labour government will increase borrowing to pay for public services — with the huge bill left outstanding for decades to come.

He will say: “An economy based on sound money does not pass on its bills to the next generation.”

Shadow Chancellor Ms Reeves claimed the Budget is the “final chapter” of fourteen years that has left the country worse off.

She said: “The Conservatives promised to fix the nation’s roof, but instead they have smashed the windows, kicked the door in and are now burning the house down.”

Meanwhile experts gave the 2p NI cut a thumbs down, saying it was unlikely to be enough to shift dire poll ratings for the Tories.

But Mark Kent, of the Scotch Whisky Association, hailed the alcohol tax freeze, saying: “Support for Scotch is good for industry, good for the economy and good for consumers who enjoy a dram.”

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk