The Association of British Insurers has written to the new Chancellor to oppose tax increases in the Autumn Budget.

As the UK's new Chancellor of the Exchequer, John Healey, prepares his first Autumn Budget for October, the British banking sector is intensifying its lobbying efforts with the government, strongly opposing any further increases in industry taxation. On Thursday, UK Finance, the nation's most influential industry association, wrote to Healey making it clear that raising taxes on the banking sector in the Autumn Budget would "damage the UK's international competitiveness." Earlier in the week, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon delivered a similar warning to Healey during a phone call, noting that additional taxes on banks would trigger capital outflows and a loss of financial sector jobs.David Postings, CEO of UK Finance, expressed unequivocal opposition in his letter. He pointed out that the effective tax rate on the UK banking sector currently stands at 46.6%, significantly higher than in other major international financial centres such as Amsterdam, Dublin, Frankfurt, and New York. In addition, the UK imposes a non-deductible balance sheet tax on top of the existing banking surcharge, creating a dual taxation structure that is highly uncompetitive internationally.Postings highlighted that last year the banking sector paid over £43 billion in taxes, accounting for 4.3% of the country's total tax revenue, and that over half of high-value jobs in the sector are located outside London. He warned that, with competitors like Germany striving to strengthen their own banking sectors, any further sector-specific tax hikes in the UK would not only undermine the government's scheduled economic growth agenda but could also weaken the country's position as the world's leading destination for investment in financial services. He urged the government to align tax policy with regulation to support the sustainable development of the industry.