UK Autumn Budget to close 20-30bn gap with tax rises and cuts

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is preparing an Autumn Budget on 26 November that is expected to combine tax increases and spending cuts to close a fiscal shortfall now estimated at about 20 billion to 30 billion pounds, Treasury officials and economic forecasters say. The government is also considering measures to increase its fiscal buffer after borrowing recently rose and national debt approached 2.9 trillion pounds.

The Office for Budget Responsibility is due to publish updated forecasts ahead of the Budget that will set the scale of the gap ministers must fill. Reeves has signalled she will seek additional headroom to protect against economic shocks, saying in Washington that "in a world as volatile as it is today, having a bit more of a buffer can help absorb shocks" and that creating more headroom involves trade offs between raising taxes and cutting spending.

Options under consideration span a range of targeted revenue measures and base-broadening changes. Treasury officials are reportedly examining plans to extend employers national insurance obligations to certain limited liability partnerships, a change estimated to raise about 2 billion pounds and likely to affect around...