UK Chancellor John Healey Explores Four Non‑Tax Measures to Boost Budget Reserves
Current overview (not historical)
John Healey, the UK Chancellor, is considering four strategies to strengthen fiscal buffers without raising personal income tax, VAT, or national insurance. The options include: 1. Increasing the bank surcharge, which could generate an additional £10‑20 billion per year. 2. Doubling the tax on gaming machines, potentially raising £2.75‑4.6 billion annually. 3. Requiring large e‑commerce platforms to collect VAT, estimated to bring in about £10 billion each year. 4. Cutting welfare spending, a measure that faces significant political and social opposition. These proposals aim to provide immediate revenue while avoiding direct tax hikes, though the welfare cuts remain the most contentious of the options.
Written with AI from the reporting · updated 10/25/2026
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- 1Unclassified fact stationOct 25, 00:00recorded Oct 25, 14:35single sourcerevised
UK Chancellor explores four ways to raise money without hiki
Read original source ↗ BBC BusinessReplay this moment in the explorerEvidence & revisions · 1 source records
- Subject：
- UK Chancellor John Healey
- Action：
- exploring four ways to raise money
- Object：
- government budget and fiscal rules
- Occurred (fact side)：
- Oct 25, 00:00
- Published (valid side)：
- Oct 25, 14:00
- First seen (known side)：
- Oct 25, 14:35
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- BBC BusinessRelated fact: single sourceSource report revisedUK Chancellor May Raise £12 bn by Making Big Online Marketplaces Collect VAT
Report first recorded Oct 25, 14:35
John Healey is expected to announce that large online marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay and Temu will be required to collect and remit VAT on sales made by third‑party retailers on their platforms. The Treasury estimates that this change could recover about £12 bn a year in VAT revenue that is currently lost. The measure would help restore the government’s fiscal buffer, which has fallen from roughly £24 bn to as low as £11 bn in the last six months, while avoiding increases to income tax, VAT on consumers or National Insurance. The proposal is part of a broader set of options being considered to meet the budgetary headroom needed to reduce borrowing and support spending on defence and cost‑of‑living measures.
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