If Rachel Reeves decides to raise employers’ national insurance contributions in her first Budget tomorrow, it’s likely to be one of the most controversial measures.
While it would to raise a significant chunk of cash for the Treasury, there are plenty of figures criticising the decision – from Tories to small business owners to charities.
It would also raise questions about whether Labour has broken a pledge in its manifesto not to raise national insurance.
Sir Keir Starmer and his ministers have argued that they only ever promised not to raise taxes on ‘working people’, suggesting that this applied to employees rather than employers.
But Paul Johnson, the director of think tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), has said the increase in employer national insurance contributions (NICs) will inevitably affect employees too.
That depends on a lot of things, including whether you are an employee, an employer, or self-employed.
First of all, there are four classes that decide …