#uk-fiscal-policy

#uk-fiscal-policy

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Stamp duty is a way to siphon off some of the gains when a property transaction goes through. Capital gains tax allows the state to take a slice of wealth after a sale. Never mind that both taxes deter people from buying and selling. It allows everyone to avoid the clearer, fairer annual tax on wealth that many economists support.

In her first interview since taking the role permanently in April, Stella David said any increase in gambling duties would compel Entain "to consider its investment level in the UK". She added there was "no doubt" that higher taxes would trigger "shop closures" across its 2,300 high street outlets. "At the end of the day we want to make a profitable global business," David said. "If the UK becomes uncompetitive, there are other markets we can pivot to. Every point of tax increase has a consequence - certain shops become unviable, and the scale depends on how far it goes."

The global economy has been more resilient than expected in the face of Donald Trump's tariffs, but is set to slow over the next year, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has warned. The Paris-based club of industrialised countries has upgraded its projection for global GDP this year, to 3.2% up from the 2.9% it expected in its last forecast in June.

Venkatakrishnan said that, while the government needed to restrict rising public sector wages, the inflationary impact of pay rises was an issue across the UK economy. While UK wage growth has slowed in recent months it is still running at an annual rate of 5.7% in the public sector, excluding bonuses. Private sector wage growth is running at an average of 4.8%.

The past few weeks, we have seen a bewildering parade of policies emerging from Treasury sources. These include reforms to inheritance tax, replacing stamp duty with a national proportional property tax for homes worth more than 500,000, replacing council tax with a local proportional property tax levied on house values up to 500,000 with a minimum annual bill of 800 paid by the property owner, and a potential capital gains tax (CGT) on primary residences valued at more than 1.5m.