Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt delivered his Autumn Statement measures to the House of Commons today (Thursday 17 November), focusing on tax hikes and spending cuts to fill a £55 billion "black hole" in public finances.

Among the announcements were freezes to tax thresholds, as well as the lowering of the additional-rate tax bracket for income tax from £150,000 to £125,140.

Not everyone is on board with the proposed changes, however, with Martin McTague, national chair of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), saying that ‘stealth tax rises' will heavily impact smaller businesses. He said:

"Small businesses, which account for more than 16 million jobs in the UK, were already facing an acute cost of doing business crisis through soaring costs, falling revenues, shrinking availability of affordable finance, and a rise in invoices being paid late."

"On top of all that, they now face even higher taxes, cuts to innovation, and a recipe for a longer and deeper recession."

Freezing tax thresholds mean people have to pay more tax as more of their income is captured by the tax.

Accountant and political economist, Richard Murphy, said:

"The net effect of freezing tax allowances is that most people will pay more than £400 more in tax next year, and every year thereafter - putting the burden on those least able to afford it."

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