The government is introducing a new tax to support healthcare

The Prime Minister announced that thanks to this, the Public Health Service (NHS) and Social Welfare will receive in three years an additional amount of 36 billion pounds, which, according to him, will be “the largest compensation program in the history of the state.” NHS”.

Johnson admitted that these announcements were a breach of promises made in the last Conservative Party election platform in 2019 that there would be no tax increases, but as he made clear, “global pandemic You weren’t on anyone’s show.”

From April 2022, the National Insurance contribution, which is paid by both employers and employees, will increase by 1.25 percentage points. However, from April 2023, this increase will become a separate tax for health and social services, calculated in the same way as NI contributions. This tax will be paid by all working adults, including seniors. Dividend income from shares – received by people who own stock in companies – will also be taxed at 1.25%.

Johnson said most of the extra £12 billion a year the new tax would bring would be spent offsetting the healthcare backlog from the coronavirus pandemic. As he said, the capacity of hospitals will increase and there will be opportunities for nine million visits, medical examinations and operations. He promised that by fiscal year 2024/25, the Public Health Service would be able to accept 30 percent. Change emergencies more than they were before the pandemic. Part of the money – £5.3 billion over the next three years – will go towards changes to the social care system, and this amount will increase in the coming years.

What will the conservatives do?

The announcement of an increase in Social Security contributions, which had been speculated for several days, sparked a great deal of controversy, particularly among Conservative MPs associated with the idea of low taxes, and some of them openly declared that they would vote against it. Government proposal. One of the opponents of this idea was supposed to be a member of the government. But it is difficult to assume that Johnson’s ads will be rejected during the vote announced on Wednesday. It will be difficult for MEPs to explain to voters why they are voting against donating extra money to the NHS and social services when there are record queues waiting for tests and there is a widespread public perception that both sectors are seriously underfunded.

The signal of waning rebellion among some Conservatives came from questions that followed Johnson’s announcement. Many of them demanded only guarantees that the funds would be used only for the purposes indicated. Johnson stressed that there will be legally binding mechanisms in place to ensure that money raised in this way only goes to NHS and social care needs.

He said no Conservative government wanted to raise taxes, but defended the move as a “correct, rational and fair approach” in light of the pandemic in which the government has spent more than £407 billion to combat the consequences. He pointed out that neither an increase in income tax rates nor a capital gains tax would provide such an amount. “Instead, the new tax will split costs between individuals and businesses, with everyone contributing according to their ability, including those over retirement age,” Johnson said.

Later, during a press conference, the Prime Minister said that he did not want to raise taxes further, but despite being asked about it many times, he did not promise that there would be no further tax increases before the next elections.