Chancellor reverses 'almost all tax measures' as mini-budget fallout continues

The UK’s new chancellor of the exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, announced a series of significant U-turns on October 17 as the fallout continued from his predecessor’s mini-budget, which prompted market turmoil.

Hunt, appointed chancellor on Friday after Kwasi Kwarteng was fired, announced on Monday the reversal of “almost all the tax measures announced in the Growth Plan...that have not started parliamentary legislation.”

He said a planned 1 percent cut to the basic rate of tax would be put on hold indefinitely. A proposed cut to dividend tax would now not happen. A VAT-free shopping scheme will not proceed. A proposal to freeze alcohol duty rates will not now take place. A tax cut for top earners had already been ruled out. The UK Treasury provided more information on its website.

Hunt also said the government’s previously announced two-year energy price guarantee would now be reviewed next April.

Credit: HM Treasury via Storyful