UK chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to prolong a freeze on personal tax thresholds beyond 2028 in a “stealth” tax move that could raise £7bn a year and help plug a £40bn fiscal shortfall. Government officials said Reeves was looking to lengthen the freeze — announced in 2021 under the Conservatives but due to expire in 2028 — in what will be seen as a covert rise in income tax.