Tory tax break for banks has cost UK public purse £6bn, says TUC

TUC analysis found cuts to the bank surcharge – an extra levy on lenders’ profits – from 8% to 3% led to £6bn in lost tax revenues over three years. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Tax cuts for big banks have deprived the UK government of £6bn in revenues, according to campaigners, who are calling on the chancellor, John Healey, to increase taxes and force lenders to pay their “fair share” in the budget.

Calculations by the Trades Union Congress (TUC), which represents unions with more than 5.3 million members across England and Wales, shows that the public purse is billions of pounds worse off as a result of tax cuts introduced under the Tory chancellor Rishi Sunak in 2023.