Fact

In a comment piece for the Telegraph, the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said the government has “reduced the income tax and national insurance paid by someone on the average wage by about £1,100 a year”. 

When Full Fact asked the Treasury about both these claims, it told them that someone on the average wage will pay over £1,100 less in income tax and national insurance contributions (NICs) this tax year than if tax thresholds had gone up with inflation since 2010. The same would also apply to someone on the minimum wage. 

Mr Hunt did not explain that the £1,100 figure is based on a counterfactual estimate. Full Fact explains that in cash terms, someone earning the minimum or the average wage in 2023/24 can actually expect to pay more in tax than they would have in 2010.

See FullFact for their full calculations.

Verdict

The lack of relevant context and caveats means that Chancellor Jeremy Hunt was open to the charge of misleading Telegraph readers.

We emailed Jeremy Hunt’s parliamentary office and HM Treasury offering him the chance to respond. The email was received by both, but no reply.