Cuts on tax will have to wait for another six years, says David Cameron
David Cameron today gave the clearest indication yet that middle income earners will have to wait until the end of the decade for tax cuts, despite the economic recovery.
The Prime Minister said that delivering Conservative ambitions of tax cuts for higher-income households would have to wait until the deficit was 'dealt with'.
Only when the public finances are in surplus will ministers be able to cut taxes on the middle class, Mr Cameron said.
But he also hinted that he is planning further action to reward marriage.
- Follow live updates and analysis on the Autumn Statement on Expressandstar.com tomorrow
His comments have fuelled hopes that Chancellor George Osborne may use tomorrow's Autumn Statement to announce details of a transferable tax allowance worth £200 a year to an estimated four million couples from 2015.
The allowance is expected to be available to married couples and civil partners where neither spouse earns more than the higher rate tax threshold of about £42,000 and one earns less than the personal allowance level, which will be around £10,000 in 2015.
Mr Cameron said: "We will be making this change to back marriage in the tax system. It's a change I strongly support.
"It's very similar to what we set out in our manifesto.
"It's something I have long wanted to do so I am pleased we will be achieving it.
"I believe in marriage, I believe marriage should be recognised in the tax system. I see this as, yes, a start of something I would like to extend further."
Mr Cameron has always proclaimed himself to be a tax cutter 'by instinct' but he said that delivering sound public finances was more important, insisting that balancing the budget was the 'first duty' of government. On Treasury plans, the deficit will not be eliminated until 2018 at the earliest, and George Osborne will tell MPs tomorrow that several more years of austerity lie ahead.
Speaking during his three-day visit to China, Mr Cameron trumpeted that Britain's economy was recovering and growing more quickly than any other developed nation. The recovery has reduced the Chancellor's borrowing and led to Tory calls for tax cuts to allow middle earners to share in the economic revival.