Tax Rises!

Which taxes should the Government raise?

  • Income Tax

    Votes: 26 23.6%
  • National Insurance Contributions

    Votes: 9 8.2%
  • VAT (including VAT exemptions)

    Votes: 10 9.1%
  • Corporation Tax

    Votes: 52 47.3%
  • Capital Gains Tax

    Votes: 37 33.6%
  • Fuel/Car Tax

    Votes: 16 14.5%
  • Council Tax

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Pension Tax Relief

    Votes: 6 5.5%
  • Inheritance Tax

    Votes: 22 20.0%
  • Lifestyle Taxes (e.g. Sugar Tax)

    Votes: 34 30.9%
  • Online Shopping Tax

    Votes: 32 29.1%
  • Tax on Income from Savings (including reducing personal allowance and ISA allowances)

    Votes: 4 3.6%
  • Business Rates

    Votes: 15 13.6%
  • Other Taxes (please specify)

    Votes: 3 2.7%
  • Government should pursue an austerity agenda (public sector cuts / reduced public spending)

    Votes: 13 11.8%
  • Do not raise taxes at this time

    Votes: 26 23.6%

  • Total voters
    110
Yes that's what I was trying to illustrate, it's a problem at most levels.
In the charity sector they offer crazy money and still get the wrong people, bumbling fools at the top and the Middle, not much better on the ground floor either.
 
You can argue over whether taxes will hit more the people at the bottom or the top of the income scale. But the problem for every government is that of aspiration - people at the bottom (or middle) aspire to do better and earn more, and therefore aren't too keen on taxes hitting further up the income scale where they hope to be earning and sitting down the line.

The UK's headline corporation tax rate might also seem low compared to other developed economies, but we have fewer exemptions and allowances - so a rate that appears higher in other European countries can often actually result in a lower amount of tax being paid there despite our 'lower' headline rate.

I therefore think the government will be hard pushed to increase any of the direct or main taxes in any meaningful way. We're likely to see tweaking around the edges - increasing Insurance Premium Tax has been an old favourite in recent budgets and there's a suggestion it should eventually equalise with the VAT rate. I think we're likely to see taxes like that increased which people are much less likely to notice but can still bring in meaningful extra tax revenue.
 
I can't think of a worse time to raise taxes: we need to stimulate the economy, not penalise it.
Note that although Rishi has borrowed big, it is at a mere 0.2%. So in my mind, instead of comparing our debt to GDP, we should look at the debt interest against GDP, which makes more sense. (Think how much we could borrow if we could get loans at 0.2%!!!)

So other than 'death' (inheritance), pension and lifestyle taxes, we should be looking at reducing many of the other taxes. I'd slash VAT to 10% and increase the income tax basic rate threshold to £15k.

I also don't believe that we should have a special tax for Online sales. Many companies saw the writing on the wall for High Streets many years ago. Landlord greed and Council greed have caused the High Street to start to wane and covid has just accelerated what was already accelerating quickly. The entrepreneurial companies spent billions setting up cheap warehousing, distribution and deliveries top meet our needs, so I don't see why they should be punished for the efforts.

What we should do (immediately after Brexit) is stop multinationals from fiddling the tax books by installing offices elsewhere where taxes are lower (or in some cases, nonexistent due to collaboration by governments).

If we overtax either businesses or individuals now, we will never recover and simply spiral into the inferno. The left will love it if we are all poor! We'll all be taking staycations in our back gardens. (I must invest in some camping companies.)
 
My personal opinion is that taxes do have to rise - we can't leave this vast debt to grow and grow for future generations. I strongly oppose hitting pensions or savings as I believe people should be encouraged to save for their future as it derisks the state having to support them. I also think Income Tax is already very high.

The only way to raise significant revenue is to raise one of the big taxes so I think VAT would be my preference. I also think its fairer as the more you buy, the more you pay. I think taxes on businesses, many of whom have reaped huge benefits from the Government payments during the pandemic, are also fair. Lifestyle taxes, such as a Sugar Tax, seem sensible to me as a means of derisking healthcare costs to the state in the future. Significant hikes in fuel duty would help reduce the congestion on our roads.
I'm pretty sure that VAT is considered a right wing tax.

If your on minimum wage with no money left over each week and VAT went up to 25% your going to be stuffed.

If your on 50k, then not so much.

If your on 200k you won't notice it.

So while it may raise more money, it would come at a decline in consumer spending, and also hit the poorest in society the hardest.

I think UK gov was looking to tax the American tech giants, but geopolitics is making it clear it will end badly for us if we go down that road.

Much of the problem is with Multinationals gobbling up all the profits off shore. Simple example is if Starbucks "on paper" sends their beans via Switzerland, the swiss company charges the UK company a higher price, meaning the UK company makes zero profit year after year, all profits remaining in the most low tax regime.

So we need creative taxes targeted against the multinationals who do physical transactions in the UK, have more than 50 outlets for coffee? you get 5% tax extra, more than 500, 10% and so on, they can afford it, or they can increase their prices leaving room for the independents to compete.

Amazon needs taxed, how to do it I'm not sure, maybe a parcel tax, add 5% tax to every parcel shipped (small guys will lie on the value but big guys would end up in jail if they try it)

Digital taxes have the same issue, if someone clicks on a google add then 20% of that revenue should be going straight to the tax man, in reality they too play the game of offshoring stuff leading to small profits being made in the big core markets. (USA has a similar problem, vast profits from their companies sitting offshore untaxed)

The idea the world can get together and fix this is a non starter, look at the opportunistic behaviour of Ireland with Corporation tax in the EU,
 
The tax increases to pay for the current crisis will be astronomical
 
We should lower our corp taxes to attract the companies from Ireland.

You have to think that the current tax laws currently are a 20th century solution to a 21st century issue.
 
There's something very wrong with the tax laws when it's more beneficial to spend millions on tax consultants/lawyers to come up with creative ways to legally avoid paying tax, instead of just actually paying tax.
 
New taxes could be considered, Drive my kids to school tax that would crack 2 problems with one stone.
 
The tax increases to pay for the current crisis will be astronomical
Yes and even more so after the £300million per month package announced today. The future is going to be very grim.
 
When an unprecedented crisis arrives at our doorstep and government coffers drain then the slack has to be taken up in better times to fill them again .

Luckily enough the austerity measures introduced in the aftermath of the banking crisis may actually be of benefit now in this crises .

Pretty fudged up I know but that austerity inflicted upon us may be not the burden we once thought .
 
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Yes and even more so after the £300million per month package announced today. The future is going to be very grim.

Good job it never has to be paid back then:D
 
Sunak's speech to the Conservative Party Conference yesterday re-affirmed the intention to 'balance the books' in the medium term. Brace yourselves!

 
Reminds me of the boy who cried wolf.

I dont think anyone believes any party and their, “balance the books” rhetoric.

They're simply incapable of making the really tough decisions that are needed (to balance the books).

Markets don’t seem to pay much attention either.
 
When an unprecedented crisis arrives at our doorstep and government coffers drain then the slack has to be taken up in better times to fill them again .

Luckily enough the austerity measures introduced in the aftermath of the banking crisis may actually be of benefit now in this crises .

Pretty fudged up I know but that austerity inflicted upon us may be not the burden we once thought .

The austerity measures didn't work, national debt kept increasing. The only thing it did was reduce the deficit slightly. At the cost of child poverty rising, life expectancy stalling and also falling in the poorest areas (for the first time in over a decade), more zero hour contact jobs, NHS waiting times rising, the list goes on....

A couple of good articles to show what it really did.


 
The austerity measures didn't work, national debt kept increasing.

Spending more than you're receiving, simply isn't austerity (in my book).

That's why it didn't work.
 
Empirically, those who earn the least always proportionately pay the most tax.
So when taxes rise, you can guarantee that those who get hammered the most will be the poorest people.
This is the tory way.
They won't bite the hand that feeds. That's why the furlough scheme benefits those most who earn the most. The tories always keep their traditional supporters happy with handouts.
 
That's why the furlough scheme benefits those most who earn the most.

How so? Genuine question.

Furlough has a cut off point, and only a certain percentage of that is paid.

So really it doesn't benefit the very high earners.
 
When an unprecedented crisis arrives at our doorstep and government coffers drain then the slack has to be taken up in better times to fill them again .

Luckily enough the austerity measures introduced in the aftermath of the banking crisis may actually be of benefit now in this crises .

Pretty fudged up I know but that austerity inflicted upon us may be not the burden we once thought .

Austerity didn't work, the national debt kept on going up. Having to spend massively due to COVID-19 is what pushed the UK debt into the stratosphere, though the IMF seems happy for countries to borrow to get through the crisis (and worry about paying it back at a later date). Given people on lower incomes had the tightest of squeezes on living standards due to austerity, it's likely poor diet choices due to lack of money will put some at risk of worse outcomes if they become infected with COVID-19.

Osborne did not return the UK to the kind of growth he was promising and nor did any of those who followed in his wake. We've had anaemic growth at best. Now flattened by a pandemic. The leaky roof wasn't fixed.

Those who earn the least pay no tax.

So long as you fall within the Government's threshold for not paying tax. Even then you will still pay tax in the shape of VAT.
 
Next week's budget looms large on the horizon. It looks like Income Tax thresholds, Corporation Tax and potentially Capital Gains Tax are all in the gunsights.
 
Corporation tax should be looked at first!
 

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