Chancellor Hunt mulls dividend tax hit to fill £50bn fiscal hole

Several measures being considered

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is considering cutting the tax-free allowance for dividend income and raising the dividend taxation rate in the Autumn Budget on 17 November, in an effort to fill the £50bn black hole on the UK’s public finances.

A Bloomberg report, which cited two people with knowledge of the matter, revealed that Hunt was looking at cutting the amount shareholders can earn in dividends before they begin paying tax from the current level of £2,000. Raising the dividend taxation rate under options being modelled by the Treasury's would result in a 1.25% point increase across all three of the UK's tax brackets, which are now 8.75% for the basic rate, 33.75% for the higher rate, and 39.35% for the additional rate, the FT reported. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt rips up Kwasi Kwarteng's Mini Budget The reports come as...