On the news that the Government faces a revolt on the 10p tax issue, a ‘Treasury source’ attempts to explain that compensation for those hardest hit may not be that straightforward.
Saith he:
“The Chancellor hasn’t any money,” … “There is no secret stash up his sleeve.”
Isn’t that part of the problem? The idea that the money belongs to the Chancellor in the first place, and if ‘his’ stash is running out, then ‘he’ can’t help.
Only when they grasp that the money belongs to the taxpayer will we begin to see any real change. For starters, if they recognised that basic fact (i.e that our money is our own), they wouldn’t take so much of it from the poor, and then force them to jump through hoops in order to get it back in the form of ‘credits’.
April 23rd, 2008 at 2:43 pm
I know you’re busy, but as my favourite tax lecturer, I would love it if you could explain how this 10p tax business affects poorer people.
Admittedly, my knowledge of tax goes no further than what I see on my payslip, but I have to say it is all so confusing.
Why is it that removing a tax band doesn’t automatically benefit everyone?
April 28th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
just a couple comments…and i should admit up front all we know about this topic in the us is from watching “question time”…
–the question of how lost revenue would be replaced doesn’t seem to be part of the discussion here…but as i understand it, your thinking here is if the “tax and rebate” process didn’t exist in the first place, revenue needs would decrease.
–i don’t hear cameron making that point, however, which actually surprises me, as that (at least in theory) is a natural argument for him.
–if i understand how all this works correctly, the local councils depend on income from the central government, suggesting council members of all parties benefit from the collection and redistribution of income…and also suggesting that the drive to reduce overall taxation will create political resistance from all sides who need to “protect their phoney-baloney jobs up here”, as mel brooks one so aptly assessed the situation.
May 9th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Spot on - time to give people their money back! Not very socialist, but then the public left socialism behind in the 1970s! Brown needs to realise that.
May 11th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Hi Biodun,
Sorry for delay; will get back to you on this asap.
Hope you’re all keeping well.