£100m NI tax loophole to close
National Insurance loophole to be closed in the Budget, says Danny Alexander
A £100M National Insurance tax loophole will be officially announced in the Budget.
The loophole involved offshore payroll services provided through tax havens such as Jersey and Guernsey, and is believed to affect workers in the teaching, nursing and oil professions, according to the BBC.
Chief secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander (pictured) warned that the 100,000 people using the scheme might fail to realise that their employers were not paying national insurance on their behalf, and as such are not necessarily covered for statutory sick pay or maternity pay.
Other details of Wednesday’s Budget have been leaked, including the potential for an extra £1.5bn towards childcare costs.
Shadow chancellor Ed Balls has called for temporary borrowing to fund a cut in the basic rate of income tax, and would also welcome a temporary VAT cut.