HMRC puts 200 billionaires on UK tax crackdown hitlist

By: Kalyeena Makortoff Banking correspondent

29 October 2026 at 15:54

‘Compliance managers’ to have discussions with authority’s wealthiest customers in attempt to raise tax revenues

Business live – latest updates

The UK’s tax authority is assigning dedicated “customer compliance managers” to more than 200 billionaires as part of a crackdown meant to raise £500m for the public purse.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said it had for the first time compiled a list of billionaires who are required to pay tax in the UK, regardless of whether they formally live in the country, to tackle a “wealthy tax gap” caused by those who do not pay what they ought.

‘Scattergun’ budget will still leave Britons facing higher energy bills, says thinktank

World news | The Guardian

By: Phillip Inman

29 October 2026 at 12:10

Healey’s attempt to provide ‘breathing space’ gives rich almost as much as poor, says Resolution Foundation

John Healey delivered a “scattergun” budget that did little to boost living standards and left Britain facing “a painful second half” of the parliament, a leading economic thinktank has warned.

The Resolution Foundation said on Thursday that measures to ease household gas and electricity costs would still leave energy bills higher this year than during the last energy shock.

‘I earn £126,000 – but nothing’s left at the end of the month’: readers react to the budget

World news | The Guardian

By: Sarah Marsh

29 October 2026 at 11:32

From a young chef and a single father to business owners and a pensioner, Guardian readers reveal how John Healey’s measures will affect them

What the budget means for you

Louie, 24, a chef living in London, says a lot of people have “written off the idea of even considering getting a property” in their 20s.

Budget 2026: Healey hikes taxes on banks and landlords to fund £100 handouts to 20m households

World news | The Guardian

By: Heather Stewart · Jessica Elgot and Richard Partington

28 October 2026 at 23:09

Few surprises as chancellor uses low-key speech blaming ‘global economic storms’ for stoking energy prices and cost of living crisis

John Healey raised taxes on banks and landlords to fund a £100 winter handout for 20 million families as official forecasts made clear there is no end in sight for the cost of living crisis.

In his first budget, the chancellor blamed “global economic storms” for the grim outlook, as the war in Iran drives up oil and gas prices.

Billionaire Palmer Luckey isn’t leaving California over the wealth tax

TechCrunch

By: Julie Bort

27 October 2026 at 16:01

"It's causing a lot of people to run who I don't want to be running," native Californian Palmer Luckey said. "But I'm planning on staying in California. I'm going to keep fighting it."

Mark Zuckerberg’s creative plan to pay California’s proposed billionaire tax without losing control of Meta

TechCrunch

By: Lucas Ropek

23 October 2026 at 02:50

A newly launched stock class being offered was partially engineered to help Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg pay the "billionaire's tax," should the measure be voted into law.

Reading view