UK Treasury Pre-Announces Five Everyday Fixes Before the Budget: Mileage Rate Made Permanent, Parental Pay Extended, Tariffs Removed on 100+ Imports
The UK Treasury announced in London on October 27, ahead of Chancellor John Healey's first Budget on October 28, five measures to ease everyday costs for families: making the tax-free business mileage rate permanent, extending parental pay, replacing the Carer's Allowance cliff edge with a taper, removing import tariffs on more than 100 products, and expanding the Post Office drop-box network.
Under the package, the 55p-per-mile tax-free rate for the first 10,000 business miles driven by employees and the self-employed becomes permanent, while the rate above 10,000 miles rises from 25p to 35p, benefiting around 3 million people and worth about £120 a year at 6,000 miles and £300 at 15,000 miles. Parental pay is extended to more than 150,000 additional parents a year, including self-employed fathers and partners, at two weeks of up to £194 a week. The Carer's Allowance cliff edge is replaced by a taper withdrawing £1 for every £1 earned over the limit. Tariffs are removed on over 100 products including baked beans, chocolate, gherkins, marmalade, plant-based drinks, kerosene and fertilisers, which together with earlier suspensions could save households up to £21 a year on food. The Post Office drop-box network will also be expanded.
'Today's everyday fixes are just a small part of what we are doing to give families a bit of breathing space,' Healey said. The government has set the theme of the October 28 Budget as 'Breathing space for today, fresh hope for the future.'
The Budget speech is delivered in the House of Commons on October 28; the remaining tax and spending decisions are set out in the speech and in the Budget documents published alongside it.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 伦敦牛津街。Txllxt TxllxT 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Oxford Street in London, United Kingdom. Photo by Txllxt TxllxT, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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