The Budget 2026 document and the Chancellor's speech of 28 October 2026 make no change to the Digital Services Tax, and GOV.UK has no earlier Treasury or Downing Street statement cutting or pausing it.
History. 2 of 6. We looked at six cases where the US threatened tariffs over a tax like this. Canada and India dropped theirs within five weeks; Britain twice, France and five other countries kept theirs.
Hunch.
The Budget market resolves on GOV.UK: YES if, by the end of 28 October 2026, the Budget documents or an earlier HM Treasury or Downing Street statement announce a repeal of the Digital Services Tax, a rate below 2%, a higher threshold, a pause of the tax or an exemption for some companies. A delay to payment dates, a promise to remove the tax once a global deal takes effect, talks and leaks do not count; if GOV.UK is unclear, BBC News and the Guardian reports settle it.
We looked for cases where the US named a trade punishment to make a country drop a tax that falls mostly on American tech firms, and that country's government had to decide. We found six since 2019, two of them British. Canada and India dropped their taxes, both within five weeks of the threat. Britain twice, France and five other countries kept theirs. Where the US announced tariffs over such a tax, it suspended them at once.