People already struggling with the cost-of-living crisis may also have to pay more on council tax (Picture: AgeUK)
British households will likely be forced to fork out more money for higher council tax bills.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is expected to announce an increase to council tax rates when he reveals his autumn Budget on Thursday.
Town halls currently have to hold a referendum if they want to increase council tax by more than 2.99%.
But Mr Hunt is reportedly planning to do away with this rule, paving the way for bigger hikes.
Sources quoted by the Daily Mail also said the £400 one-off energy bill payment, which came into effect this month, will unlikely be repeated.
‘We have to be honest with people – it’s not possible to subsidise people’s energy bills indefinitely,’ Mr Hunt told Sky News.
He has already confirmed Liz Truss’s £2,500 energy bill cap, which was supposed to be in place for two years, will be scrapped in April.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video
This will leave millions facing an increase of £900 a year – around £75 more per month.
Dubbing himself the ‘scrooge’ before Christmas, Mr Hunt said ‘we’re all going to be paying a bit more tax’.
On who will be required to bear the brunt of the extra costs, he said the Government will be asking ‘everyone for sacrifices’.
But he went on to add that Britain is a ‘compassionate’ country, insisting ‘there’s only so much you can ask from people on the very lowest incomes’.
He essentially laid the blame at Ms Truss’s feet when he said: ‘We actually expanded borrowing.
‘The result was the Bank of England has to increase interest rates, the cost of mortgages go up and there’s a lot more pain for businesses.’
The Resolution Foundation calculated the disastrous mini-Budget during Ms Truss’s 49 days as prime minister doubled the UK spending shortfall to £60billion.
Mr Hunt’s Budget has to find the money to fill this black hole.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
For more stories like this, check our news page.
‘We’re all going to be paying a bit more tax,’ the Chancellor admitted.
