LIZ Truss will use this week’s mini-budget to cut stamp duty in a bid to drive economic growth, it was reported last night.
The PM has been working secretly on plans with the Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng for the past month which will be unveiled on Friday.
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Cutting the levy will encourage growth by allowing more people to move property and getting more first-time buyers on the housing ladder.
Whitehall sources said the move was “rabbit” out of the hat in the growth plan, The Times reported.
Under the current system no stamp duty is paid on the first £125,000 of any property purchase. The threshold at which the duty is paid for first-time buyers is £300,000.
How much buyers pay depends on the price and type of property, including if it’s residential use or non-residential or mixed-use.
The new PM will launch a major shake-up of all levies for hard-up families and businesses, with Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng preparing to unveil his mini-Budget on Friday.
The mini-budget will also include a reversal to the national insurance and a freeze to corporation tax.
Speaking as she arrived in New York for her first major international summit as Prime Minister, she said: “I don’t accept this argument that cutting taxes is somehow unfair.
“What we know is people on higher incomes generally pay more tax so when you reduce taxes there is often a disproportionate benefit.”
A source told The Sun that the PM’s quest for growth would trigger a “seismic shift” in policy not seen since the days of Margaret Thatcher.
She is preparing to lift a long-standing cap on bankers’ bonuses and could look at reducing the 45p top rate of tax.
She all but confirmed that Friday would see the National Insurance levy reversed and the corporation tax rise shelved.
Ms Truss said: “Not every measure will be popular.
“This is about growing the size of the pie.
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“If that means taking difficult decisions, yes, I’m prepared to make those decisions.”
Last night Mark Littlewood of the Institute of Economic Affairs said the mini-Budget might see “the most radical changes in tax and regulatory policy since the 1980s”.
Ms Truss also said today on her first overseas trip since becoming PM:
- She was prepared to be “unpopular” with her plans – but insisted it was the right thing to do to grow the economy
- A trade deal with the US was still years away as Joe Biden
