Non-partisan mini-budget predictions thread

sevenhills

I think inheritance tax is the best tax there is, it takes money from dead people, not working people. It should be taxed at a low level though, because it's easy to avoid.

techno12

If I'm dead I don't give a hoot about inheritance tax so tax it to the hilt.

 I'd be super miffed if they mess with salary sacrifice tho - I'm shoving 57% in as my company pays the statutory min 3% but gives all sal sac NI savings to my pension, so don't want govt to mess with that!

Kim1965

The majority seem to think 40%tax relief on pension contributions will not be axed. Why? Surely it would be a popular policy. 

MK62

Kim1965 said:

The majority seem to think 40%tax relief on pension contributions will not be axed. Why? Surely it would be a popular policy. 

....probably not with higher rate taxpayers.

NedS

dunstonh said:

 I would not be surprised to see either 1) the allowance to be removed entirely or 2) the rate to be harmonised with income tax. Dividends have been under attack since 2014 with an ever increasing ratchet on something that had been untaxed for basic rate taxpayers (if we ignore the silly notional credit thing)

The reason dividend tax is lower is because the earnings linked to it have already had corporation tax paid against them at 19%.   Next year CT rises to 19% on the first £50k, 26.5% on the next £200k and 25% thereafter.

If they tax dividends under income tax, that would mean company earnings being taxed at upto 26.5% + upto 45%.    Why would anyone want to own a company with that level of taxation?

Company directors can always choose to pay themselves by PAYE as a deductible business expense, and pay the same tax as everyone else. I very much doubt any business owner would knowingly choose such an inefficient way of taking money from the business, and if they did their account would need sacking.

EssexHebridean

MK62 said:

Albermarle said:

Specifically, if we had 650 adults in charge, instead of 650 power-hungry narcissists, the Tories could have said
"clearly manifesto commitments to not raising income tax, NI or VAT were made prior to Covid and the ruinously expensive policy of lockdown.  Therefore we're chucking those in the bin."
Labour in turn, could have replied "we fully supported lockdown, so that's fair enough".

 when we look at our leaders we are really looking at our own reflection in a mirror, especially in a democracy, where leaders are elected into office by the people they lead.

One small issue with that though.......few people got to elect Liz Truss, and even fewer "elected" Rishi Sunak......

Actually, it’s the other way round. In the 2019 election it would appear Truss gained 35,500 votes in her constituency, while Sunak got 36,600. Not a huge amount in it though. 

MK62

The comment was in relation to their "election" as party leader and PM, rather than their election as MPs.......

EssexHebridean

Fair enough, that wasn’t entirely clear. Of course it’s always the case that a tiny number of people (relative to the population as a whole) elect a party leader - and that “tiny number” is also never representative of the general population either, regardless of which party is involved. Sunak’s appointment as party leader was slightly unusual in the way it occurred, but I’m assuming that change of method still has no relevance to the majority of us on here even, anyway. (For correctness of course, there is no “election as PM” - our system doesn’t work that way.)

phillw

dunstonh said:

Bearing in mind the constant reminders that we must address the debt and that there will be lots of pain, my prediction is that there will be zero reductions in MP's salaries or lavish expenses.

MPs are woefully underpaid in this country. That is why you either get high net worth individuals at one end or low skilled people at the other.     

MPs aren't underpaid. It attracts rich people, because they like power and making even more money.

phillw

EssexHebridean said:

Sunak’s appointment as party leader was slightly unusual in the way it occurred, but I’m assuming that change of method still has no relevance to the majority of us on here even, anyway. (For correctness of course, there is no “election as PM” - our system doesn’t work that way.)

It's not unusual. Like all good democratic decisions, you keep voting on it until you get the right answer.

Boris couldn't stand the first time, the only unusual thing that occurred is he interrupted bunking off from parliament to return to the UK to inform us that now was not the time for him to return.

While legally our system doesn't work that way, that didn't stop politicians claiming that only Boris had a mandate. When it's convenient to talk about electing a PM they say you elect a PM, when it's convenient for them to say you elect an MP and the majority form a government they say that.