The former minister and GB News presenter said the Chancellor may have a surprise in store.
Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg has hinted that a planned rise in corporation tax in the Budget may be scrapped by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt.
He told GB News: “I happen to think there’s quite a good chance that corporation tax won’t rise in the Budget.
“I think that may be the rabbit out of the hat.”
He added: “People’s money is their own government has no money. It’s always taxpayers’ money, and low taxes are the right thing to do.
“It creates prosperity for all, people spend their own money better than the Government spends it for them.”
On James Dyson warning against higher taxes, he said: ”Global wealth is mobile and that if we have tax rates that are too high, the richest in society will simply move and there’ll be less tax revenue for public services.
“There are lots of other stable countries in the world and isn’t it AstraZeneca that’s just said it’s not going to invest here?
“It’s going to invest in the Republic of Ireland which has a 12% tax rate.”
He added: “The thing that I think is forgotten about all of this is not whether companies leave or not, but that when they’re considering new investment, they’re interested in their net return rather than their gross return.
“And that therefore the UK becomes less attractive, or they put prices up or reduce employment, and therefore the overall effect of increasing corporation tax is bad for the economy.”
Mr Rees-Mogg pointed to the US experience with corporation tax: “The American example is the other way around that the rate was much higher and it was reduced by Donald Trump to have a lower rate with fewer write offs.
“A huge amount of money, tens of billions of dollars came from outside the US into the US because previously if you brought money into the US, you were taxed, I think at 35%.
“He brought the rate down, which led to more revenue and more investment, so it was a very successful policy, cutting corporation tax.”
