Rachel Reeves is predicted to impose additional "sin taxes" on British consumers, according to leading forecasters, a move widely viewed as regressive taxation that could impact those on lower incomes.

The Chancellor is faced with the task of raising £20bn in taxes in this year's Autumn Budget to replenish her "already paltry" margin of £9.9bn in headroom, as per Pantheon Macroenomics, as reported by City AM .

UK economists Robert Wood and Elliott Jordan-Doak from the firm suggest that costs arising from welfare savings U-turns and lower than anticipated tax receipts could diminish her fiscal buffer.

They propose that Reeves might turn to sin taxes, potentially including levies on gambling and junk food, to rebuild her buffer, while a "stealth tax" through extending a freeze on income

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