28th Oct 2026 11:35
(Alliance News) - The UK is set to hike bank taxes less steeply than feared, as Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey seeks to balance the competitiveness of the City with the need to raise funds for voter giveaways in his first budget, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
Bloomberg sources said Healey will increase the bank surcharge at the budget - currently levied at 3% on top of the 25% corporation tax rate - but won't return it to the previous 8% level it had stood at until 2023.
The measure will be temporary not permanent, Bloomberg sources said.
UK listed banks traded higher following the report. Lloyds Banking Group PLC rose 1.8% to 104.00 pence, Barclays PLC was up 2.1% at 431.00p and NatWest Group PLC was 2.2% higher at 648.60p.
Higher bank levies are one of the key measures Healey is expected to reveal in his Wednesday fiscal set-piece which kicks off at around 1230 GMT.
The 3% bank surcharge raised GBP1.2 billion for the Treasury in fiscal 2025-26, and each percentage-point increase is estimated to raise a further GBP400 million each year.
By Jeremy Cutler, Alliance News reporter
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