LONDON, March 23 — Britain will raise the amount of earnings exempt from social security tax payments by £3,000 (RM16,684) to £12,570 in July, the same threshold as income tax, finance minister Rishi Sunak said today.

"From this July, people will be able to earn £12,570 a year without paying a single penny of income tax or National Insurance,” Sunak said in a budget update, adding that the change will save workers more than £330 each.

Social security payments — known in Britain as National Insurance contributions — will rise by 1.25 percentage points to 13.5 per cent in April to pay for health and social care reform, the government said in September.

Sunak also said today that the basic rate of income tax would be cut to 19 per cent from 20 per cent in 2024, saving more than 30 million people a total of £5 billion. — Reuters