IMF deputy director Helge Berger, speaking in Bangkok, urged John Healey to target pensions and welfare rather than banks in the budget later this month. With UK taxes around 40% of GDP, Berger said reforming property taxes or VAT could be options if more revenue is needed. UK Finance warned that restoring the bank surcharge from 3% to 8% would cut GDP by £1.2bn and lending by £10.4bn by 2029-30. The TUC said the Treasury has already lost £6bn since the surcharge was cut in 2023, while the four largest lenders reported £29.2bn in profits in the first six months of the year. Former banker Philip Augar argued a moderate tax rise of £2bn to £3bn a year is justified, though some banks have threatened to move jobs abroad.
Summary written by Upside AI from the original article. Read the source for full details.
Read the original on aol.co.uk ↗
Related news
- John Healey poised to raise taxes on banks in budget
Chancellor John Healey is reportedly set to raise the bank surcharge from 3% back to 8% in his 28 October budget, to offset the public finance damage from the Middle East war. The move could raise about £2.25bn a year according to TUC analysis, as rising borrowing costs erode the £24bn headroom Rachel Reeves had built. HSBC, NatWest, Barclays and Lloyds generated £200bn in pre-tax profits over five years, yet bank lobbyists warn higher taxes could push staff and business abroad, and JP Morgan's Jamie Dimon had threatened to scrap a £3bn London headquarters. The TUC wants a 16% rate, while Revolut and Shawbrook seek to lift the surcharge threshold from £100m to £500m. The IMF has urged Healey to stay the course on deficit reduction.
- John Healey poised to raise taxes on banks in budget
Chancellor John Healey is reportedly planning to raise taxes on Britain's banks in his 28 October budget to offset the hit to public finances from the Middle East war, according to the Guardian. One option under discussion is reversing Jeremy Hunt's cut to the bank surcharge, which would raise more than £2bn a year, and industry sources expect the surcharge to rise from 3% to 8%. The four largest lenders generated £200bn in pre-tax profits over five years, and the TUC has called for a 16% rate that could raise £24bn over four years. Banks have lobbied against the move, warning it could push them to shift staff and business abroad, while specialist lenders such as Revolut and Shawbrook want the surcharge threshold raised from £100m to £500m.
- Why a bank tax could be bad for you : Banks make huge profits but John Healey plan could backfire
Chancellor John Healey is expected to raise the bank levy from 3% to 8% in this month's Budget, aiming to bring in an extra £2 billion a year to cover a multibillion-pound shortfall. The move comes after the top four banks made about £29 billion in profit in the first six months of the year. Industry groups warn that higher taxes could hit investment, drive up business and mortgage costs, and push international banks to move out of the UK. The article cites a total tax rate of 46.5% for a typical London corporate and investment bank, compared with 42.2% in Amsterdam, 39.1% in Frankfurt and 27.9% in New York. Savers could also lose out if banks cut savings rates or shareholder payouts, and JP Morgan's Jamie Dimon has previously said he would scrap plans for a £3 billion HQ in Canary Wharf.
- John Healey faces calls to hike taxes on bumper profit of banks as Iran war hits public finances
- IMF warns John Healey to consider spending cuts rather than raising bank taxes
The International Monetary Fund urged the UK to cut public spending rather than raise bank taxes ahead of Chancellor John Healey's 28 October Budget. Its deputy director Helge Berger said taxes at roughly 40% of GDP are historically high for Britain, and suggested modernising property tax and broadening VAT as revenue options, while putting the emphasis on spending measures such as removing the triple lock and better targeting social benefits. Healey is reportedly considering reversing a cut in the bank surcharge from 8% to 3%, a move that unions and think tanks say could raise more than £2 billion a year. The TUC called for a 16% surcharge that could raise £24 billion over four years, while UK Finance and the CBI warned that higher bank taxes would weaken competitiveness and discourage investment. The Institute for Public Policy Research has proposed a temporary windfall surcharge within a £16 billion package to help struggling households.
- This one chart from the IMF tells the entire story of the world economy this year
Related markets
Latest news
- Why Meta's Q3 earnings could be a little hard to interpret
Meta is reporting its third-quarter earnings after the market closes Wednesday, and Yahoo Finance's Brian Sozzi says the report will be hard to interpret. Recent good news on Meta's AI products, including new models and an AI agent, may not appear directly in the results but will likely be discussed on the earnings call. The key uncertainty is how investors will react if Meta raises its capex outlook again: it could be seen as fueling those products, or as overspending on offerings not yet reflected in financials. Sozzi expects the market to give Meta the benefit of the doubt on higher capex, as long as the increase does not shock investors.
- Zerohash rolls out a new tool to move crypto without copying wallet addresses
Zerohash launched AUTH, a service that lets users move crypto, stablecoins and blockchain-based stock tokens between linked exchange accounts or self-custody wallets without copying wallet addresses or choosing a blockchain network. To transfer, users pick an account in an app that offers AUTH, sign in and approve the move, while the service handles routing and settlement and each app sets which assets and transfer types it allows. AUTH supports more than 600 connections, including Coinbase, Robinhood, Gemini, MetaMask and Phantom, with Coinbase, Robinhood and Gemini live and Kraken in beta. The launch comes as Zerohash's application for a national trust bank charter, returned by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in July, remains pending after a narrower refiling on Aug. 18.
- 2 charts show why Wall Street is right to worry about tech stocks
Rising cost of capital could affect the financial statements of hyperscalers such as Oracle (ORCL) and Google (GOOG, GOOGL) in 2027, as they need fresh debt to fund AI infrastructure and free cash flow may turn negative. JPMorgan strategist Mislav Matejka forecasts hyperscaler free cash flow will turn negative in 2027, implying credit markets will drive more of the AI build-out. Consensus estimates for 2027 capital expenditures are already rising from levels experts believe are too low. Morgan Stanley sees total 2027 capex among hyperscalers reaching $1.6 trillion, up from $978 billion estimated for this year. Dan Ives of Yorkville expects capex to reach the trillions and over 1,000 datacenters to be built in the next few years.
- Update on loan rate cuts as of the evening of Oct 19: MB, VietinBank, SHB, OCB join in
SHB, MB, VietinBank and OCB have announced loan rate cuts, following Agribank, Vietcombank, BIDV, ACB, LPBank and VietBank, with typical reductions of 1.5-2% per year. MB is cutting 1.5% per year for five priority sectors, to rates from 7.9% per year, and up to 2% in some cases; VietinBank is cutting up to 2% per year, while OCB offers up to 2.25% per year on some medium- and long-term loans for OCB Priority Banking members. SHB is cutting 1.5-2% per year for businesses and households and offers rates from 5.5% per year for lecturers and students at some universities. Vietcombank commits to cutting at least 2% through year-end, BIDV applies rates from 6% per year on short-term VND loans from 15/10/2026, and VietBank runs a VND 3,000 billion package. Specific benefits depend on borrower type, loan purpose, term and program conditions, following directives from the Government and the State Bank of Vietnam.
- Nvidia wins CPU business from Modal, previously exclusive to AMD and Intel
Modal, a San Francisco-based AI cloud startup that previously ran its AI agent workloads only on Intel and AMD processors, will begin using Nvidia's new Vera CPU. Early tests showed the Nvidia chip doubled work capacity for AI agents, and Modal plans to run it alongside Intel and AMD chips, assigning each task to the most efficient hardware, though integration requires substantial software changes. Modal recently raised $750 million in a round led by Accel at a $15.75 billion valuation and expects $1 billion in sales over the next year, with usage tripled and revenue up more than 15 times year-over-year. Nvidia projects at least $20 billion in Vera chip revenue this fiscal year in a market it estimates at about $200 billion, and says OpenAI, Anthropic, Oracle and Perplexity also plan to use the chips.
- America's EV Plans Have Died
Billions of dollars went into EV factories, dealerships and marketing after President Biden set a goal for 50% of new US car sales to be zero-emission by 2030, but EV sales have since fallen sharply. US EV sales dropped 30.7% in the first nine months of 2026, after the $7,500 tax credit expired on September 30 last year, and gas prices near $4.50 per gallon have done little to lift them. According to Kelley Blue Book, the average transaction price of a new EV was $54,754 in August, above the $50,089 average for all new cars. Ford's EV sales fell 80.2% to 6,047 in the third quarter, and it has no new EV planned until its Fathom launches next year, while Tesla holds over 50% of the market and no other major automaker has even 10%. The article says EVs could recover if gas prices reach $5 and stay there for months, but that is uncertain.
Get the briefing on Telegram or Zalo
Join the Upside Telegram channel or Zalo group for the Vietnam stocks and gold briefing at 8:00 and 19:00 (Vietnam time) on trading days, plus a weekly wrap on Saturday morning.