Fix pensions, death tax and stamp duty, Mr Sunak |  | By Stephanie Baxter,
Deputy personal finance editor |
| | The shock resignation of Sajid Javid as chancellor last Thursday put an end to Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s honeymoon since winning the December election.
With just weeks before the Budget, which has now been confirmed for 11 March , Mr Javid’s swift exit has caused uncertainty for consumers and savers. The new Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has promised his Budget will focus on “levelling up and unleashing the country’s potential”.
Mr Javid had been considering a controversial “mansion tax”, which since his exit has almost certainly been shelved. Homeowners will be breathing a sigh of relief. But don’t jump for joy just yet, as the Government needs to find some way of raising cash to meet its spending commitments.
Rumoured plans to cut pension tax relief, which were leaked prior to Mr Javid’s departure, are still on the cards. The proposal to introduce a flat rate of 20pc would hit anyone earning more than 50,000 a year. Higher rate and additional rate taxpayers currently get 40pc or 45pc tax relief on their pension contributions.
What’s more, where employees are lucky enough to be in a final salary pension scheme, cutting tax relief could push businesses still offering these generous pensions to close them.
We are in the dark on Mr Sunak’s views – but the estimated 10bn that cutting tax relief would raise could be far too attractive for him to ignore.
In Telegraph Money’s manifesto, we call on the new chancellor to leave pensions tax relief alone and simplify Britain’s most hated tax – the inheritance levy. And our property editor Isabelle Fraser says Mr Sunak should take the opportunity to slash stamp duty in an effort to carry on the Boris Bounce momentum.
You can read about this and plenty more on Telegraph Money – subscribe now and try your first month for free. | | | | |
 | | 'We're being asked to help pay our grandchild's uni fees – what if we need the money for our old age?'
Have your say here |
|
| Are you enjoying this newsletter?
Let us know how we're doing. | | |
Best of the rest | | Questor
The NHS needs outside capital and this trust has made hay by providing it
Read more |
| | Fame and Fortune
Strictly legend Brendan Cole: when you have money, people want a piece of it
Click here to read |
| | Katie Morley investigates
‘I booked first class plane seats and Emirates downgraded us to business class’
Here's what happened
|
| | |
Get in touch To pose a question to our team of expert reporters, email moneyexpert@telegraph.co.uk. If you'd like a free financial plan, email money@telegraph.co.uk with the subject 'Give me a Money Makeover'. And make sure to join our new investment-focused Facebook group to debate the latest share tips and investing trends. | | |
| Try your first month for free - and see just how much you can make of our journalism | | |
Here's what our readers said
In our comments section, Dominic Husband said of 'I'm heading for a breakdown' – how tax rule changes are pushing freelancers to the edge:
"I’ve worked as a freelancer, often via agency, for 12 years. After nine years, the phone pretty much stopped ringing. I had to switch to running as a limited company because of rule changes stopping me being a sole trader. It ruined my life: vast amounts of red tape, all sorts of tax complications, big accountant bills. All I ever wanted to do was go to a company for a day or two, do a job, get paid, pay my taxes."
Join the conversation here. | | | | |
|
