Super-wealthy laughing all the way to the actual bank' after taxes slashed

Harrods food hall, London - the richest 5% will get nearly 45% of the chancellor's £45bn tax cuts

- Rupert Neate

The government stands accused of introducing a "simply staggering huge tax cut for richer households" that will leave "the super-wealthy laughing all the way to the actual bank", while allowing hundreds of thousands of already struggling families to fall deeper into poverty.

Kwasi Kwarteng, the chancellor, yesterday announced a string of tax giveaways and other measures that, economists claim, will hugely benefit the super-rich at the expense of hard-working people. They include:

• Scrapping the 45p additional tax rate on earnings above £150,000.
• Axing the cap on bankers' bonuses.
• Scrapping the planned rise in corporation tax to 25%.
• Doubling the stamp duty threshold. on property purchases to £250,000.
• Allowing the overseas wealthy to shop duty-free anywhere in the UK not just at airports.
• Reversing the 1.25% rise in national insurance contributions.
• Tightening the benefits rules to make it harder for part-time workers on universal credit.

The combined package of measures announced in the "mini-budget" means that someone who is currently paid £1m will gain £55,220 a year, while someone earning £20,000 will be just £157 better-off, according to calculations by the Resolution Foundation.