Health Secretary Wes Streeting has ruled out the UK government imposing VAT on private healthcare in the upcoming autumn Budget.Streeting told the BBC “it’s not happening” and repeated that answer when asked if he could guarantee VAT would not be levied on private healthcare.In the UK, most private healthcare services are exempt from VAT, meaning patients don’t usually pay the tax on treatments.But Chancellor Rachel Reeves has faced repeated questions about the prospect of tax rises, including VAT, when she delivers her budget in November.Economists have said taxes will have to go up in the autumn Budget if the chancellor is to meet her self-imposed rules on borrowing to fund public services.In her Labour conference speech on Monday, Reeves said the government was facing difficult choices and promised she would not take risks with the public finances.The chancellor pledged to keep “taxes, inflation and interest rates as low as possible”.But hinting at further tax rises, she said the government’s choices had been made “harder” by international events and the “long-term damage” done to the economy.In its election manifesto, Labour said it would not increase National Insurance, the basic, higher, or additional rates of income tax, or VAT.In an interview ahead of her conference speech, Reeves was asked if VAT could rise and she said: “The manifesto commitments stand.”That form of words has been echoed by senior ministers at Labour’s conference, including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.But when pressed over whether she would have to put up taxes, Reeves said “the world has changed” in the last year – …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnHealth Secretary Wes Streeting has ruled out the UK government imposing VAT on private healthcare in the upcoming autumn Budget.Streeting told the BBC “it’s not happening” and repeated that answer when asked if he could guarantee VAT would not be levied on private healthcare.In the UK, most private healthcare services are exempt from VAT, meaning patients don’t usually pay the tax on treatments.But Chancellor Rachel Reeves has faced repeated questions about the prospect of tax rises, including VAT, when she delivers her budget in November.Economists have said taxes will have to go up in the autumn Budget if the chancellor is to meet her self-imposed rules on borrowing to fund public services.In her Labour conference speech on Monday, Reeves said the government was facing difficult choices and promised she would not take risks with the public finances.The chancellor pledged to keep “taxes, inflation and interest rates as low as possible”.But hinting at further tax rises, she said the government’s choices had been made “harder” by international events and the “long-term damage” done to the economy.In its election manifesto, Labour said it would not increase National Insurance, the basic, higher, or additional rates of income tax, or VAT.In an interview ahead of her conference speech, Reeves was asked if VAT could rise and she said: “The manifesto commitments stand.”That form of words has been echoed by senior ministers at Labour’s conference, including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.But when pressed over whether she would have to put up taxes, Reeves said “the world has changed” in the last year – …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
