BRITS are braced for tax rises this year — as fears grow drivers will be hit by higher prices at the pumps.

It came as Rachel Reeves was warned that she might have to target pension pots and the wealthy in autumn to balance the books.

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An extension to the freeze on tax thresholds by two more years into the next decade could bring in £10billion, economists said.

And drivers were warned that all forecasts were based on the assumption fuel duty would rise.

The Chancellor yesterday stopped short of ruling out any punishing tax rises, saying such a move would be “grossly irresponsible”.

But the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ Paul Johnson said: “There’s a good chance economic and fiscal forecasts will deteriorate between now and an autumn budget.

“If so, she’ll need to come back for more, likely meaning raising taxes further.”

Ms Reeves is sitting on a financial cushion of £10billion but this could be wiped out by Donald Trump’s tariff war.

She had to find £14billion of cuts in Whitehall and a welfare crackdown to retain that headroom in this week’s Spring Budget.

If fuel duty is frozen, about half her rainy day money will be wiped out.

She said fuel duty policies at the Budget were a “significant commitment” given the challenging position.

The Sun has helped maintain a 5p a litre discount since 2022 with its Keep It Down campaign.

Yesterday, Sir Keir Starmer did not explicitly rule out future rises, saying: “We’ve not taken the decision to increase tax. That indicates the mindset that we bring.”