Chancellor Rachel Reeves is being urged to increase tax on banks’ ‘bumper profits’ to raise investment for Britain’s strugglinh hospitals, schools and local councils.
Rachel Reeves is being urged to increase tax on banks’ “bumper profits” to raise cash for Britain’s struggling public services.
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) said the big four banks have been making almost a billion pounds per week in profit so far this year. It criticised the Tories for having cut the bank surcharge from 8% to 3%.
The TUC said a 16% surcharge, double what it originally was before the Conservatives cut it, would deliver £20billion over the next four years.
It said a 35% surcharge, which would be the same level as the windfall tax the Conservatives imposed on energy companies, would deliver £50bn.
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Reversing the Tory cuts and setting it at 8% – which the TUC said is the “bare minimum” – would raise £8bn over four years.
The Treasury did not reject the TUC’s calls, but a spokesman said: “The Budget will strike the right balance between making sure that we have enough money to fund our public services while ensuring we can bring growth to boost living standards.”
TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said: “After the Tories slashed the bank surcharge, high interest rates have created a profits bonanza for banks. Banks have done very well out of the British people.
“It’s only right that they use their bumper profits to pay a bit more in tax to invest in our hospitals, schools and local councils.
“That’s why at the Budget, the government should be asking those with the broadest shoulders – like banks – to pay their fair share.
“After 14 years of Conservative cuts and austerity, the damage still runs deep with the country in dire need of sustained investment. Getting banks to pay a little more to help rebuild Britain is just common sense.”
The TUC pointed to figures from campaign group Positive Money showing the top four banks made £24.1bn in just the first half of 2025, which amounts to £0.93bn a week and £132m a day.
The figures come ahead of the big four, Barclays, NatWest, Lloyds and HSBC, posting their latest quarterly profits this week.
In 2021, then-Chancellor Rishi Sunak set the bank surcharge at 3%.
He also announced an increase in the rate of corporation tax from 19% to 25%, meaning the overall rate for corporation tax on banks increased to 28% in 2023.
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