Apparently the Chancellor wants to reverse a cut to a surcharge that banks pay on their profits, on top of normal corporation tax. The surcharge was 8%, then Jeremy Hunt cut it to 3%, so Healey apparently might set it back to 8%.

[Healey is] believed to be minded to increase the surcharge banks pay on their profits, over and above corporation tax. Industry figures believe that will probably mean raising the surcharge back to 8%, from 3% at present.

Thoughts?

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[–] 1 point 3 days ago

Someone's going to try and point out that banks will leave investment out of the UK . Which holds as much water as a chocolate teacup in the Sahara.

Banks will manage their profits so the bare minimum goes to the tax man as they always do.

They will do this through various schemes that are legal in the UK and largely not legal elsewhere.

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  • [–] 1 point 4 days ago (4 children)

    why would bank taxes be taxed higher than other corporate profits?

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  • [–] 2 points 4 days ago (3 children)

    Presumably because of the amount of profit they are making.

    Apparently HSBC made £14 billion profit in 2026: https://www.independent.co.uk/bulletin/news/hsbc-profit-shares-bank-tax-b3027061.html

    My quick maths suggests they'll pay an extra £700 million in tax. So they would still clear over £13 billion in profit!

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  • [–] 1 point 4 days ago (2 children)

    so its the highest profit corpos? I mean I know banks make a lot of (pardon the pun) bank, but so do many companies. I was thinking maybe its because they can't really leave.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 days ago (1 child)
    1. Good pun!
    2. That is a good point about them not leaving. Although I suppose any bank could choose to stop operating in the UK if they really didn't want to pay the extra percentage. Seems unlikely though
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  • [–] 1 point 3 days ago

    yeah a bank could stop operating but it means no access to uk money. like other corps could theoretically leave and sell products to somewhere where it ultimately gets to the uk. I guess relistically though they all face that but I was thinking banks are a bit more stuck.

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  • [–] 1 point 4 days ago

    Thoughts? You want some deep analysis beyond "good"?

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