BORIS Johnson and his new Chancellor Rishi Sunak are set to discuss a £10 billion raid on pension tax breaks for higher earners on Wednesday ahead of the March 11 Budget.
Currently higher earners get 40 per cent tax relief on their pension contributions compared with 20 per cent for lower earners.
But the plan under consideration would mean everyone getting pension tax relief at the lower rate.
The Prime Minister is expected to head a Budget strategy session that will seek to flesh out his pledge to “level up” the UK economy at the UK Government’s 115-room grace and favour mansion in Chevening in Kent.
Focus has turned to the raid on pension tax breaks after the idea of a mansion tax, put forward by Dominic Cummings, Mr Johnson’s chief strategist, was opposed by the PM; Tory MPs and activists believe this would unduly hit the Tory-supporting heartlands of southern England.
Sajid Javid, who resigned as Chancellor in last week’s reshuffle, has waded into the Tory row over the prospect of a tax raid on Middle England by “liking” a tweet warning that Britain was already “overtaxed” with the highest tax burden for a generation.
Meanwhile, Mr Sunak, 39, ended growing speculation at Westminster that he might delay the Budget by confirming it would, after all, still take place on March 11.
The newly-appointed Chancellor said he was "cracking on with preparations" for his first fiscal event, which he said would "deliver on the promises we made to the British people".
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