Chancellor summons UK bank chiefs amid industry calls not to hike taxes

Chancellor John Healey has summoned the chiefs of the UK’s biggest banks for a meeting ahead of his autumn Budget statement, amid growing calls from the industry to avoid targeting lenders with a tax raid.

The meeting will take place in person next Tuesday, Sky News reported.

Reports said the chief executives of lenders including Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays, HSBC and NatWest Group have been asked to attend, along with invitations to the bosses of Santander UK and Nationwide Building Society.

The Treasury did not comment on the reports and has indicated that it does not comment on speculation or proposals surrounding the Budget.

Trade association Trades Union Congress (TUC) and campaign group Positive Money have both called on Mr Healey to increase taxes on the profits of Britain’s banks, arguing that the money raised could help bolster cost-of-living support for households.

The prospect of lenders potentially being targeted has prompted industry leaders to voice concerns that such measures could damage confidence and investment in the City.

David Postings, the chief executive of UK Finance, said in a recent report that the “increasingly cumulative tax burden” on the financial sector threatens to gradually erode the UK’s position as a global financial hub.

“If we want the UK to thrive, we must ensure our operating environment attracts international capital rather than pushing it elsewhere,” he said.

JP Morgan chief executive Jamie Dimon has also warned against hiking the surcharge on banks’ profits, saying it could push investment to other countries.

Tax paid by the banking sector increased by 8.5% to £39.1 billion in the 2025-26 tax year, compared with the previous year, HMRC figures show.

Receipts from the surcharge, which banks pay on their profits, jumped by a fifth year-on-year, largely because profits across the industry have risen.

The surcharge is levied at a rate of 3% but the TUC is among those calling for that to rise to at least 8%, which it said would raise £9 billion for the Treasury over four years.

Chris Hayward, policy chairman of the City of London Corporation, said his message to Mr Healey was to “do no harm”, adding: “That means no bank windfall tax, no other sector-specific tax rises, and keeping the VAT exemption for financial services.”

It is understood that Mr Healey is focused on the Government’s priorities, including to give families and businesses “breathing space” and to deliver “growth in every postcode”, while meeting the fiscal rules that the Government sets for itself.