The Johnson campaign has announced plans to increase the 40p tax threshold from £50,000 to £80,000 if he becomes prime minister. The former foreign secretary’s aides claim that the giveaway will cost an estimated £9.6 billion a year in lost revenue. Where does the Johnson campaign say the money would come from? They say it would be funded in part from the £26.6 billion of “fiscal headroom” that is set aside by the Treasury for no-deal preparations. The economic think tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies describes the £26.6 billion figure as essentially meaningless as it is a one-off pot of money that would not sustain a long-term tax giveaway.

Source: The Times June 10, 2019 11:07 UTC