Tory tax changes ?

BobProperty

I get an email weekly with stories like this so apologies if you've already seen it:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2282819,00.html

scooter100_2

what a superb idea.instead of paying £1300 a year to get my bin emptied i will instead pay £2500 with a tv licence thrown in.and the tories wonder why they are in opposition.

lynzpower

genius

And of course you have to wonder what further slashbacks there would be in services to fund these tinpot ideas.

WFTC? Sure Start? Health service? the mind boggles

WHA

If it makes the UK tax system any simpler and less costly to administer, it would get my vote!

Looking at the proposals, it would probably cost me more than I'm currently paying each year now, and I don't expect to pay either CGT nor IHT, but I am still in favour as I want simplicity in the tax system and I can see the bigger picture in that it is fairer to the average person, and harder to avoid, so hopefully the super-rich who are in a position to avail themselves of the various tax-saving strategies would finally have to pay their fair share of tax.

But it's all a pipedream - it'll never happen as there are too many vested interests - for a start, the politicians themselves and their cronies would have to pay more tax on their expensive properties - those same people who decry the "ordinary" folk for trying to use loopholes to save tax, yet never seem able to close the loopholes for the super-rich - funny that!!!

Jay1b

hmmmm... this is a hard one to call. But i'm largely in favour of it. I dont agree that people with properties worth under £70,000 would get it free. Yes they are poorer, but then they would pay £700 instead of the £1400 that i would have to pay, currently my council tax is about £800 so it would increase by about £500 for me (after TV license is removed). I despise that fact i have to pay the TV license separately (i only watch sky, so i hate the bbc fullstop), on this note it would be a huge improvement.

The tax system at the moment is a complete mess and needs tidying up. I've long thought that the TV license should be added to the council tax. Another thing i hate is income tax and national insurance. I really think they should ditch NI and change income tax accordingly.

I would also hope that the tax burden would be the same or less for the average person, at the moment i believe its about 42%. With me paying another £500 this way, i would hope that would allow them to reduce other taxes to a similar amount.

Incidentally i think they should raise standard VAT to 20% as well. I dont really have a problem with inheritance tax either, but it does need to be reworked away from the way its working now.

BobProperty

Interesting comments. I note it did not say it was revenue neutral which is interesting in itself. I can see some advantages, especially the loss of IHT which is renowned for being "voluntary" and the simplification of the system. It would also appeal to the "disgusted of Tunbrigde Wells" in that they don't need to worry about IHT planning any more. I suspect it fails for the "little old lady" widow in a large house in Weybridge, which would cause some tinkering (= complexity) to make sure they weren't overly penalised.

andyboyo

i agree they are destined to stay in opposition with policies such as these

Andy_L

Here's a better article on the scheme:
http://money.guardian.co.uk/tax/story/0,,1827526,00.html

Which mentions that stamp duty goes as well and a flat rate income tax of 38% on income over £11k and the plan is (claimed to be) revenue neutral

Andy

scooter100_2

a flat rate tax is considered quite revolutionary by i presume right leaning economists and thinkers.however where ever a flat rate tax has been proposed any where else it is in the %10-%20 range.only in this country would they consider a flat rate tax of %38.

david29dpo

one BIG problem. no matter who you vote for, the government always get in!

Andy_L

Scooter, Generally the people who propose a move to a flat rate tax at that sort of rate reduce the total tax take at the same time - refreshing honesty by the Bow Group to keep it tax neutral.