Around 1.3 million more working age adults are to be dragged into paying the higher rate of income tax.

By the end of this Parliament, nearly six million people will be subject to a minimum of 40% tax.

This is more than twice the number of people who paid the higher rate in 2010! The move could raise almost £50billion more in revenue for the Treasury.

Yesterday, two major audits found that Rishi Sunak’s decision to raise taxes amid a squeeze on the cost of living left millions of middle-income families worse off.

According to a major report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, inflation and higher taxes will outweigh wage increases for middle-income earners. It warned that middle earners would be around £180 worse off next year compared to their present income.

A separate study by the Resolution Foundation think tank warned that, thanks to the Budget, tax bills for the average household will be £3,000 higher by the end of the Parliament than when Boris Johnson became PM.

The Chancellor delivered his autumn budget statement to the House of Commons on Wednesday.

The House of Commons was presented with the autumn budget statement by the Chancellor on Wednesday.

These conclusions were made just days after the Chancellor presented his Budget along with official forecasts that showed the overall tax burden increasing to its highest level since 1950s.

The Office for Budget Responsibility also warned that inflation could reach its highest rate in 30 years. It predicted that inflation would rise from 3.1% now to about 4% in 2022. This could lead to higher interest rates and mortgages.

Yesterday, Paul Johnson, director at the IFS, stated that a combination tax increases and high inflation would result in very slow growth of living standards over the next few years.

“The government’s concern is that the voters may not feel the same despite the cheerful delivery of the Chancellor.

“A middle earner is likely be less fortunate next year than they are now, as high rates inflation and tax increases more than offset small wage increases.

According to IFS, 5.9million people will need to pay the higher rate at the end of Parliament. This is an increase from the 2.6 million who paid the Tories’ 2010 coalition government.

The original purpose of the 40 percent higher rate was to capture the highest earners in the country. Only 1.7 million people were in the 40% bracket 30 years ago.

However, this number is expected to rise after the Chancellor pledged to freeze income tax thresholds up to 2026 rather than increasing them in line to inflation.

Anyone whose earnings rise above £50,271 over the next five years will have to pay 40 per cent tax on anything above that amount. On anything above £150,000, they will have to pay the additional rate of 45 per cent.

Experts call this a’stealth-tax raid’. It means that 1.3million more people will be forced to pay the higher income tax rate over the next three year as workers’ wages rise, but the threshold does NOT. The higher rate is currently paid by 8.5 percent of the population, or 4.6million people.

A worker on just £25,000 will end up paying £1,101 more in additional income tax between the 2022-23 financial year and 2026-27, as they fall into the frozen thresholds in a phenomenon known as fiscal drag.

Paul Johnson (pictured), director of the IFS, said: 'Over the next several years a combination of tax increases and high inflation will mean very slow growth in living standards'

Paul Johnson (pictured), director IFS, stated: “Over the next several decades a combination of high inflation and tax increases will result in very slow growth in living standard’

By freezing the income tax thresholds until 2026 – including the lower levels, meaning people on more modest salaries will also be dragged into higher tax brackets – Mr Sunak is forecast to raise a total of £47 billion. The money will be used for his lavish spending plans. This will allow him to funnel cash to departments of the Government such as justice and education, which have been in dire need of funding for more than a decade.

Harry Fone of the TaxPayers’ Alliance campaign group stated: “Taxpayers are rightly furious that their tax bracket is higher rate. The Conservatives claim they are the party of lower taxes, but they have repeatedly hammered hardworking individuals.

The IFS’s analysis yesterday said that over the next 12 months, middle earners – those on around the median salary of £25,000 – will lose out. Once taxes are taken off, their pay will fall by about 1 per cent, or £180 per year, after inflation.

Since the 2008 financial crisis, wages have remained flat and the IFS predicts that this trend will continue for at least a few more decades.

This means that Britons are likely to see a 20-year trend of wages staying the same for the first time in 20 years.

The IFS said the average worker earns £13,000 less today than they would have done if earnings had kept pace with pre-crisis predictions made in 2008.

If the forecasts had come to pass, someone earning £30,800 today would be taking home £43,700 instead.

The IFS report was not as positive as Mr Sunak’s Budget speech, Wednesday, in which the Chancellor claimed that he was bringing in a new era of optimism.

Johnson stated that voters may not feel the same with high inflation, rising taxes, and poor growth.

He stated that these factors will result in living standards ‘barely rising’ and ‘for many, falling’ over the next year.

A report by the Resolution Foundation think tank claimed that tax bills for households will be £3,000 higher since Boris Johnson entered Number 10

A report by the Resolution Foundation think tank claimed that tax bills for households will be £3,000 higher since Boris Johnson entered Number 10

The IFS's analysis yesterday said that over the next 12 months, middle earners - those on around the median salary of £25,000 - will lose out. Once taxes are taken off, their pay will fall by about 1 per cent, or £180 per year, after inflation

The IFS’s analysis yesterday said that over the next 12 months, middle earners – those on around the median salary of £25,000 – will lose out. Once taxes are taken off, their pay will fall by about 1 per cent, or £180 per year, after inflation

He expressed concern about the possibility that inflation will reach its highest level in over three decades, warning that “millions” would be worse off in short-term.

Johnson claimed that welfare payments will increase by about 3% while inflation could rise to 5%.

The director stated that this would be a real – but temporary – hit of hundreds and thousands of pounds per annum for many benefit recipients.

“We are not at 1970s levels, but we are experiencing enough inflation that real pain is felt as low income households – most have little in the way financial assets – wait longer than a year for there incomes to catch up.

“For some, work may never happen.”

Meanwhile a separate report by the Resolution Foundation think tank claimed that tax bills for households will be £3,000 higher since Boris Johnson entered Number 10.

It stated that wages will not rise in real terms due to high inflation. The increase in real wages between 2008 and 2024 will be around 2.4%, compared to a one-third increase in the 16 years preceding 2008.

James Smith, the Foundation’s research chief, stated that tax take will reach its highest level since 1950 by 2026/27.

He said, “We’re becoming an even bigger state and a more tax-friendly state.” The total increases in taxes since Boris Johnson has become Prime Minister is equivalent to around £3,000 for each household in the UK, so this is a really chunky change, although most of that falls on people on higher and middle incomes.’

“Slow growth is really casting an overshadow on what’s happening in the overall health and outlook. Household finances are still in pretty poor shape and a huge challenge.

Downing Street claimed that the Foundation’s per household calculation was unjust because it included increases in corporation tax, and others not paid individually.