Reeves’ Tax Hike Deals Bigger-Than-Expected Hit to UK Businesses

A payroll tax hike on UK employers by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves is proving more costly than initially predicted, threatening to worsen the drag on the economy as businesses cut jobs to cope with the cost.

The government generated £47.5 billion ($64.1 billion) from national insurance contributions from April through June, the first three months of the fiscal year, a £7.6 billion jump from a year earlier, data from the Office for National Statistics released Tuesday showed.

The collections were also £1.7 billion more than the Office for Budget Responsibility had predicted in March, the month before the ...