Wannabe PM Rishi Sunak does not expect to be able to cut personal taxes until autumn 2023 at the earliest, the Mirror understands.
The former Chancellor is under pressure from his Tory rival Liz Truss to slash taxes as they do battle to win over the Conservative membership in the race to succeed Boris Johnson.
Right-winger Ms Truss pledged to hold an emergency budget to reverse the national insurance rise, scrap the planned corporation tax increase and suspend the green levies on energy bills - at a cost of £30billion a year.
By contrast, Mr Sunak has repeatedly warned against cutting taxes while inflation spirals to a 40-year high.
If he became PM, he would not expect to make tax cuts until inflation is reined in, which may not happen until the middle of next year, according to a source close to him.
Even then, cuts would be unlikely to come into effect until the start of the new tax year in April 2024.
As Chancellor, Mr Sunak committed to knocking a penny off the basic rate of income tax by the end of the current Parliament in 2024.
Mr Sunak is also said to be concerned about rising energy bills in the autumn, particularly if Russia curbs gas supplies to Europe further.
Economic policy is likely to a be dividing line in the second round of the leadership contest, where around 160,000 Conservative members will pick the next PM.
Early polls suggest he is less popular than Ms Truss with party members going into the six-week run-off.
But Mr Sunak privately thinks that Tory demands for immediate tax cuts are at odds with mainstream voters, a friend said.
He is worried about the threat of inflation - which is already at a 40-year high. And he has warned about letting Labour attack the Tories over “fantasy economics” - accusing Ms Truss of “socialism” in a recent TV leadership debate.
Ms Truss insisted her tax-cutting plans were “not a gamble”, adding: “It's an economic reality that the higher taxes you have the more growth is choked off.”
But she admitted to the BBC that her plans will cost around £30billion a year and refused to say in detail how they’ll be funded.
Today, Mr Sunak’s campaign handed out “ready for Rishi” packages with branded sun cream that offered “guaranteed protection against Labour”.
The campaign box also held a mini can of Sprite and a Twix - which Mr Sunak normally scoffs to give him a boost before a big event.
He was previously mocked for calling himself a “total Coke addict” - due to his love of Coca Cola.
But now he limits himself to a single can of Coke a week on a Saturday night, after slashing his soft drink consumption which he blames for his seven fillings.
