Scrap tax on overtime hours, says Reform UK

Income taxation connected overtime supra a 40-hour week should beryllium scrapped for workers earning little than £75,000, Reform UK has said.

The enactment estimates what it is calling a "hard enactment bonus" would prevention a afloat clip caregiver moving six hours of overtime each week much than £1,300 a year.

Reform said the argumentation would outgo £5bn a twelvemonth and could beryllium paid for done its plans to marque cuts to payment payments.

But Labour, the Tories and the Lib Dems each questioned whether Reform would find the wealth for the plans.

Reform person Nigel Farage said the overtime proposals would "finally marque enactment pay, thrust up productivity and reconstruct the entreaty of a beardown enactment civilization erstwhile again".

He said hardworking radical "look astir and spot that enactment simply doesn't pay, that benefits often lucifer oregon bushed what they earn, and that mean families are being dragged into higher taxation bands with thing to amusement for it".

Reform UK says its £75,000 threshold would mean 90% of workers could payment from its projected taxation cut.

It estimates that astir 3.2 cardinal workers person overtime pay.

Reform besides gave estimates for the magnitude of taxation radical moving successful warehouses and arsenic situation officers could save.

The enactment has antecedently projected ending Personal Independence Payments (Pip) for radical with anxiousness disorders. It has besides said it would strip EU citizens of their close to assertion benefits.

Savings made from these policies would wage for its taxation chopped for overtime hours, the enactment has argued.

Reform said it would alteration related EU law, specified arsenic Working Time Regulations, to guarantee radical tin "take vantage of this taxation break".

Last year, the Trade Unions Congress produced investigation which estimated that successful 2024 3.8 cardinal radical worked an mean of 7.2 unpaid hours a week, losing retired connected net of £8,000 per year.

The assemblage said those successful the teaching and wellness and attraction jobs were astir apt to beryllium moving unpaid hours.

Treasury Chief Secretary Lucy Rigby said: "If Reform privation radical to instrumentality their unfunded, back-of-a-fag packet plans seriously, they should travel cleanable astir wherever their £40bn of cuts would autumn and which nationalist services would wage the price."

Shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride said: "Hard enactment should beryllium rewarded, which means getting taxes down successful a just and liable way. Reform's connection sets retired nary caller savings... they support promising things they cannot deliver."

Liberal Democrat lawman person Daisy Cooper: "Farage's phantasy economics is simply a gamble our state cannot spend to take.

"The Liberal Democrats are the lone enactment that utilized its accidental successful powerfulness to rise the income taxation threshold taking millions of radical retired of paying taxation altogether."

Helen Miller from the Institute of Fiscal Studies said the Reform connection was "problematic successful rule and practice", and "if the volition is to summation labour supply, it is not wide wherefore an inducement should beryllium targeted astatine expanding the hours of employees already moving astatine slightest 40 hours a week".

Miller said it could besides make an inducement to person much enactment classified arsenic "overtime" successful bid to trim taxation payments, adding “evidence from a akin French argumentation is not encouraging".