Bank surcharge reduced.20 Oct 2021 09:52
The chancellor is preparing to slash a tax surcharge on bank profits by more than 60 per cent in next week’s budget to keep the City of London competitive on a global scale after Brexit, it is reported.
Rishi Sunak will cut the surcharge from 8 per cent to 3 per cent from April 2023, to keep banking activity in the UK healthy in an era of higher corporation tax rates, according to the Financial Times. The City of London claims the financial services sector, including staff and customers, contributes £75.6 billion a year in tax.
Sunak announced in his budget in March plans to raise corporation tax rates from 19 to 25 per cent from 2023. However, he admitted that if the current top-up rate continued this would “make the taxation of banks uncompetitive and damage one of the UK’s key exports”.
At present, banks pay tax at a rate of 27 per cent on their profits, comprised of 19 per cent corporation tax plus the 8 per cent surcharge. The rate is broadly in line with other financial centres including New York and Paris.
The chancellor will say that unless he reduces the surcharge, the overall UK corporation tax rate for banks after 2023 would have been uncompetitive, with banks facing a combined rate of 33 per cent. Instead, from 2023, their combined rate will rise slightly to 28 per cent — 25 per cent corporation tax plus a 3 per cent surcharge.