Making higher tax-free mileage rates permanent and the removal of import taxes on some food items are among the measures being announced ahead of Wednesday’s Budget.
The BBC understands the government will also freeze fuel duty again in the Budget, while the Times reports it may also slow the pace of pay increases for younger workers on the minimum wage.
The series of small announcements is part of Chancellor John Healey’s pledge to give families what he is calling “breathing space” with the cost of living.
The government is also planning to end the so-called cliff-edge for those receiving carer’s allowance payments.
Speaking ahead of his first Budget, Healey said that the ongoing wars in Iran and Ukraine had “hit families here at home through higher everyday costs”.
“We can’t control global events, but we can act where we can make a difference,” he added.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds defended the government’s plan to remove tariffs from 100 food items, which it calculates could save households up to £21 per year – or 40p a week – when combined with existing tariff suspensions that were introduced in June.
“We’re not going to say it is everything,” he told the BBC, but taken alongside the changes implemented in the summer on goods such as pasta, fruit juice and tuna, he said it would save around £500m a year.
Other measures the government announced include:
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Making permanent a 55p per mile tax-free mileage rate for those driving up to 10,000 miles for work, with the rate rising from 25p per mile to 35p above that
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Allowing carers to earn more than an existing earnings limit without losing their entire allowance, replacing it with a taper mechanism instead
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Giving two weeks of paternity pay to self-employed fathers, who have previously missed out on payments of up to £194 a week for the period
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And rolling out hundreds of additional Post Office drop boxes to make sending parcels easier
The government will also freeze fuel duty again in the Budget, the BBC understands. The 5p duty discount is also set to continue. That discount was first introduced in 2022, and was due to last 12 months, but has been extended ever since.