In the pandemic days, the British government provided businesses with over £100 billion of support to get through a crisis. Rishi became British Chancellor of Exchequer (British Finance Minister) in February 2020. Weeks later, the United Kingdom declared a lockdown that forced the British government to announce the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme,
known as the furlough scheme.
The scheme provided grants to employers to pay 80 per cent of their staff wage and employment costs, up to £2,500 per employee a month, until September 2021 after several rounds of extension.
To compensate for the outgo from the exchequer, the British Finance Minister announced a hike in corporation tax from 19 per cent to 25 percent from 2023. This is the first time the British government has decided to raise the tax in half a century, as it is the first time the government had to announce a furlough scheme in 90 years. But the hike, says the British Finance Minister, will temper the burden with a super deduction to spur investments. However, the Confederation of British Industry, the biggest lobby group in the country, said the hike would send a worrying signal to investors.
The tax hike forecast to raise the revenue to £11.9 billion in 2023-24 and £17.2 billion in 2025-26.
Despite this biggest tax hike, Britain will continue to have the lowest tax rate among G7 economies. Rishi Sunak had worked as an analyst at Goldman Sachs and an MBA from Stanford University. Born to Indian origin African born couple – Yashvir-Usha, Rishi married Akshata Murthy, daughter of N.R Narayana Murthy, India’s legendary
software man.
