We all know about 'stealth taxes'. The Daily Mail will relish in describing how Middle England is being ravished by a miriad of tax increases, all introduced in secret by the evil gnome Gordon Brown. Such as in this article: Tax rises under Labour
Gosh. Thats a lot.
But wait, Gordon Brown doesn't just raise taxes. He also cuts them. In effect, the 'tax burden' or the average amount we pay in tax is about the same as in 1997, it's just that the balance between the lower earners and higher earners has shifted. 'Middle England' is really not that badly off - How often do we see figures of '£50,000' or '£100,000' as 'middle england' type wages or household incomes, and how many people actually have that kind of money coming in? The Average salary is less than £25,000.
But, courtesy of snowflake who got the details from the Treasury, I can list 41 of the tax cuts since 1997 you may not even have noticed! Now we can reveal how that sneaky Mr Brown has been putting money right into your pocket. Do you wonder why you feel better off under Labour, while people around you are moaning...
1. Cutting VAT on domestic fuel (electicity and gas) from 8% in 1997 to 5% now.
2. Cutting basic income tax from 23% in 1997 to 22%.
3. Introduction of the 10p starting rate of tax (lowest starting rate since 1962) for £2150 of earnings above the personal allowance.
4. Cutting large company corporation tax from 33% to 30%
5. Cutting small business corporation tax from 23% to 19%
6. Capital gain tax for long term business assets cut from 40% to 10%
7. Stamp Duty threshold raised from £60,000 in 1997 to £125,000 now
8. Vehicle excise duty for 38 tonne and 41 tonne lorries cut by 500 pounds; the 40 tonne class lorries rate cut by 1,800 pounds; for all other heavy lorries rates frozen. (2000 budget)
9. Abolition of the 2% employee N.I. "entry fee" payable on earnings from £0 - LEL, when earnings crossed the lower earnings limit.
10. Abolition of the 3% employer N.I. "entry fee" payable on earnings from £0 - LEL, when earnings crossed the lower earnings limit.
11. Abolition of the "stepped" employer N.I. rates, saving companies administration hassles.
12. Alignment of the LEL with the Income tax personal allowance. This involved increasing the LEL sharply from £64 per week in 1998 to £87 in 2001 and £97 per week today, which means the exempt threshold has increased by 51% since 1998 (or at a rate of 5.33% per annum, considerably faster than the rate of inflation).
13. Class 2 flat rate of self-employed N.I. reduced from £6.55 to £2.10 per week.
14. Freeze on duty on spirits since 1997.
15. Employee shareholders capital gains tax cut to 10%
16. Business investors in new and unquoted companies who invest between 5% and 25% have capital gains tax cut to 10% on investments above 5% held for four or more years
17. For small and medium companies, the 40% capital allowances are made permanent
18. Research and development tax relief introduced for business
19. Tax relief for intellectual property and goodwill introduced (2001 budget)
20. Abolition of withholding tax on payments of interest and royalties between companies in the UK.
21. Abolition of withholding tax on interest paid on international bonds
22. Working families tax credit introduced
23. Child tax credit introduced and extended for families who earn £58,000 and below
24. Introduction of stakeholder pensions which for the first time are available to the unwaged, giving then a tax-free savings vehicle where a contribution up to £2808 also attracts tax relief of 22%.
25. For businesses with turnover of up to £58,000, VAT is not charged at all.
26. To bring disused properties back into use, VAT on residential property conversions cut from 17.5% to 5%
27. For cleaning up contaminated land, an accelerated tax relief, set at 150%
28. To help revitalise high streets, government provided 150% first year capital allowances for bringing empty flats over shops back into the residential market.
29. For churchs, for repairs started after April 1st 2001, a new grant, the equivalent of a VAT reduction from 17.5% to 5%. This was further abolished to 0% in the 2004 budget.
30. Vehicle excise duty abolished for tractors
31. Betting duty abolished for pools.
32. Exemption for companies from corporation tax on the gains from the sale of substantial shareholdings. (2002 budget)
33. Automatic entitlement for business to reclaim VAT on bad debts after six months, introduced for the first time.
34. Betting duty abolished for bingo players
35. A 20p per litre reduction in fuel-duty for bio-ethanol
36. A 20p per litre reduction in fuel-duty for bio-diesal
37. Fuel-duty frozen for petrol and diesal since 2003.
38. Halving of beer duty for pubs that brew their own beer
39. People with disabilities who got back to work entitled to tax credit
40. Child-care tax-credit introduced for people who place their children in nurseries
41. Vehicle excise duty cut to £0 for cars emitting less than 100 CO2 g/km (saving of £65), cut to £40 for cars emitting between 101-120 CO2 g/km (saving of £35) and cut to £100 for cars emitting 121-150 CO2 g/km (saving of £5).
Please note that while the Mail lists 80 rises, they had more time than snowflake to do the research, and they put every single year for Council Tax (so if it was the Tory County Council who whacked up the bill, they still blame Labour). There may be more than these 41 cuts. Who knows, that Brown is so sneaky, he could be cutting more taxes AS YOU READ THIS!!!
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13 comments:
Where to start – each of these “cuts” – I think the labour term is “re-distributions” was a political move calculated to have the least possible impact on treasury intake.
We could go through them all, but we’ll just take 2 as illustration:
1. “Cutting VAT on domestic fuel (electicity and gas) from 8% in 1997 to 5% now”. This was a labour election promise in 1997, based on the fact that little old ladies couldn’t pay their gas bills. I wonder how come they can all pay them now with prices so high? Oh yes, it must be that the extra 3% reduction in VAT makes it all OK.
7. “Stamp Duty threshold raised from £60,000 in 1997 to £125,000 now” you should have carried on “now that we can see the asset price bubble in housing is coming to an end and the take will slow down anyway.
A freeze is not a tax cut.
Good Lord ,
If you honestly belive the tax take is lower under Nu-Labour you must be as blind as a bat.
Try looking up the term 'Fiscal drag' then see how well the poor and pensioners are REALLY doing in the UK.
The poor have also had there wages suppressed by Nu-Labs immigration policy , thus keeping them a slave to P*** poor living standards and probably having to borrow to make ends meat.
Nu-Labour
No Britain
Regards
Tories always talk about "fiscal drag" - sounds grand doesn't it - but can you prove that tax thresholds increased faster than the rate of inflation under Tory governments? No - of course you can't.
The biggest achievement of this government was to remove the "entry fee" on employers and employee's N.I. on earnings from 0 to LEL, and to raise the LEL limit sharply - that did more than anything to make it worth-while to take on low-paying jobs and reduce unemployment.
As for the business of wages supressed - nonsense. Government introduced the minimum wage and has increased it in line with earnings. And wages have been growing at a nice clip of 4.4% p.a- nearlu twice the rate of inflation.
What on earth are you all moaning about?
So would you care to enlighten us all how to buy a house on 5 quid an hour then snowflake?
Especially in this 'No more boom or bust' housing cycle.
And do you seriously believe CPI to be true measure of inflation.
Nice trick by GB that one to make the BoE target CPI.
Oh and try not to include bonuses in you wage figures.
Average earnings excluding bonuses, or regular pay, rose by 3.8 per cent in the year to April 2006, down from 3.9 per cent in March. Average earnings including bonuses rose by 4.4 per cent in the year to April, up from 4.2 per cent in March. The increase (in the including bonuses rate) is due to higher growth in the private sector services sector and in manufacturing only partially offset by weaker growth in the public sector.
In the year to April, pay growth (excluding bonuses) in the private sector was 3.8 per cent, compared with 3.5 per cent for the public sector. Including bonus payments, private sector growth stood at 4.5 per cent compared with 3.8 per cent for the public sector.
In the year to April 2006, consumer prices increased by 2.0 per cent, which is below the rate of earnings growth.
Get a grip
get a life - of course you can't buy a house on the minimum wage, just as you can't buy a house on your starting salary.
It's always been the case that you start at the bottom, and then work your way up, saving as you do it to build a deposit on a house - and then buy in your late 20's when you get married and have two incomes. Since when has the criteria been that you should be able to buy on your own, on your starting salary?
It's ridiculous to complain that just because some 18-yr-old in his first job can't afford a house, that the government has failed.
On the contrary, they'd made it possible for people to have jobs in the first place - sorry to state the obvious, but without a job, you can't buy a house at all. The evidence shows that once people are in work, their salary rises within a few years - it's important to get them onto the ladder in the first place.
This government has achieved an awful lot in just nine years - Rome wasn't built in a day. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar - or has no intention of being in government, they just prefer carping from the sidelines.
BTW - when you look closely at those who moan that they can't afford to buy a house, it becomes clear that it's because they haven't saved a deposit, and that's because they've frittered their money on Saturday night binges and mobile phones. When I was saving for my first house, I was on an economy drive, carefully squirreling money away and doing without in order to achieve it - I even took a second part-time job. Life is about choices - you choose whether to save for a deposit or whether to fritter your money away, and then you take responsibility for your actions - you don't blame the government, who after all didn't have any say in what you decided to do with your money.
Oh, and if you can't afford to buy in London, move to another part of the country - provincial England, Scotland and Wales are much nicer places to live anyway and much cheaper.
A freeze IS a tax cut when inflation exists.
As for impact, the Tory argument always was that lower taxes would not cut government income, as more people would be happy to pay and would be 'incentivised' to earn more money.
So, what is the difference between a tax cut which lowers the bill for poor people and encourages them to earn more, and one for the rich that does the same?
And, people always moan about taxes - but they soon complain if the local school/hospital is underfunded don't they? Where does the money come from?
you don't blame the government, who after all didn't have any say in what you decided to do with your money.
Apart from the 40%+ they take in tax of course.
As for saving deposits , under this government you now need to save around 30% of the cost to get on the ladder.
They've created - GB in particular - a debt enslaved under class , whilst i might add jollying it up.
Oh and lets not forget all those expenses for those 2nd homes , of which of course anything under £250 doesn't even have to be proved!!!!
Nu-Labour
No Britain.
Watch as the UK goes down the toilet over the next couple of years. GB must be dying to get into No:10 before it all goes pear shaped so he doesn't have to take the blame for his 'Miracle'economy.
Oh and by the way , under Nu-Labour the ave first time buyer is now in their mid 30's. Deposit , fat chance , their still trying to recover the money he's lifted from pensions , £100Bn at the last count.
Get 'em out and get 'em out now , before they all drown in their own champagne.
get a life - of course you can't buy a house on the minimum wage, just as you can't buy a house on your starting salary.
Perhaps you'd care to check out Bradford & Bingley who are now currently trying to ensnare students ffs!
LOL , what with all the tax and debt it's almost barely worth hanging around in the UK.
And for your info , I don't live in London and still can't afford to buy , I don't drink and I don't smoke , but I DO pay a lot of tax for my trouble which Labour keep pouring into public sector pension pots!
GaG
A freeze IS a tax cut when inflation exists.
WHAT?
Tell that to the unions when GB asks them to take a 2% pay rise.
Of course Nu-Labour never mention to the public that 'low inflation' is actually going to leave the millstone of all that debt hanging around thier neck for an awful long time.
Buy a house , under Nu-Labour you'll be lucky to have cleared your student debt by the time you reach the grave.
So, what is the difference between a tax cut which lowers the bill for poor people and encourages them to earn more,
For starters the poor under labour pay a higher % of their income in tax than everyone else.
And secondly WHAT incentive, when with tax credits you get topped up to around £20K+ per annum.
This government has achieved an awful lot in just nine years.
Well they've certainly killed a lot of people I'll give you that.
They've also achieved the highest ever house price to earnings ratio at the same time as selling more council housing stock than the Tories ever did.
BTW - when you look closely at those who moan that they can't afford to buy a house, it becomes clear that it's because they haven't saved a deposit, and that's because they've frittered their money on Saturday night binges and mobile phones.
That is a rather distasteful aspersion to be throwing around.
and lastly:
and then you take responsibility for your actions
Which is a lot more than the current government do.
Jeez.
GaG
Get a grip - err, I'd say 'Get a grip yourself' but that's too predictable...
The Government has not made house prices rise. If anything the anti-house building lobby which has stalled development have done more for that that the government has. People on low wages have never been able to afford a house, although with lower interest rates and higher wages, I suspect it's easier now in some cases. The property boom is less acute outside London anyway.
I don't get your ire, anyway. A 5-10% deposit is still the norm at the moment, not 30% I know noone who looks to save that much.
The 'Pensions' tax (or removal of tax relief in reality) is much less than 100bn (more like 5bn), and of course it affects larger funds more than lower ones - so it's the rich who are losing out, not the poor. The middle-classes do pretty well out of the UK as it stands, they just like to whinge all the time, and considering the reality compared to the perception, I'm getting tired of it:
Crime is falling - fear of crime is rising
More jobs are being created
Poverty is falling
Inflation is low
If you don't want to pay more tax, fine. Just don't complain that services are underfunded.
I may be counted a weird, but I actually don't hate tax, I kind of like paying it. When I was a councillor, and my tax code was wrong, I called the IR to tell them to send me a tax return - because I actually want to know that I've paid my dues to society.
The Government has not made house prices rise.
Of course they have , you don't really belive the BoE is 'Independant do you?
Most of the members are approved by GB himself all bar about 2 , they being Merv and his deputy.
They also control the body which measures inflation and have adjusted the weightings over the years.
The CPI ( GB's preffered measure) is a con as well , it doesn't include mortgage costs , council tax or house price inflation. Anyone with any sense should realise cpi doesn't reflect the true cost of living.
If anything the anti-house building lobby which has stalled development have done more for that that the government has.
If that is the case then why doesn't the government step in and force the issue.I'll tell , because if they did that and the housing stock that was needed was actually built , the whole market would come tumbling down. This wouldn't be to helpful to GB as equity withdrawal is all that has been running the UK for the past 6-7 years. There is no economic 'miracle' , it's all down to debt and lots of it.
The property boom is less acute outside London anyway.
Well tell that to thse living just about everywhere else in the UK , I think I know what the response would be.
The 'Pensions' tax (or removal of tax relief in reality) is much less than 100bn (more like 5bn),
It started at £5BN PER YEAR . It ahs increased year on year and the TOTAL is near £100bn imho.
and of course it affects larger funds more than lower ones - so it's the rich who are losing out, not the poor.
Now that is just tosh.
A tax credit is a tax credit , it don't matter where the money is , it still gets had. Why on earth do you think people don't like pensions anymore? The poor get hit just as well as the rich.
I may be counted a weird, but I actually don't hate tax,
I don't hate tax either, but for myself - earning under the so called £24K average - I'm paying too much imho. while others get topped up at my expense it seems.
I'll tell you what , i have another challenge for our Snowflake.
Name me something I can do in the UK , a hobby or activity maybe , without paying tax.
All I'm after is a bit of fairness which hasn't been forth coming over the past 9 years.
GaG
Pensions tax of £100bn? What on earth are you talking about? The government abolished ACT (Advanced Corporation Tax), and because it was abolished, there was no tax relief to claim back on dividends from Uk companies. The change was accompanied by a cut in coroporation tax from 33% to 30%. This meant that profits after tax rose, which the company could distribute as extra dividend or retain in the company for further investment. Further the increase in profits after tax/earnings per share means that the share price increases (because shares are valued on Price/Earnings ratios.
In addition, most pension funds, due to the ageing profile of their members, invest in bonds. The coupons on UK Gilts still attract tax relief if owned by pension funds. Most UK pension funds are at least 30% in bonds. Some such as the Boots pension fund are invested 100% in bonds. And investment into overseas shares is unffected as the ACT didn't apply to them in the first place.
I suspect that you didn't know/understand any of the above and plucked out the fantasy £100bn figure out of thin air.
You asked what hobby you could do without playing tax - well you can play football or cricket on your local common, you can go to libraries. Some local art galleries don't charge for entrance. I suspect you are thinking about fancier stuff though, arn't you. But there was never a time when that was cheap. (and you should be made aware that it was old tax-raising Thatcher that raised VAT from 8% to 17.5%).
(and you should be made aware that it was old tax-raising Thatcher that raised VAT from 8% to 17.5%).
Yes and don't forget my NIC's , in 97 they were 6% now they are 8% coupled with the LPL being dropped from £7K to sub £5K , a double whammy if you will.
Oh and don't think I'm some posh git because I certainly ain't.
Football/cricket on the common - council tax + Vat on sportswear.
Library - council tax.
Art galleries - Income tax or council tax.
Try harder.
As for Boots , the reason they are in bonds is to do with risk after the collapse in 2003 accompanied by GB's tax theft , not ageing population or tax.
I suspect that you didn't know/understand any of the above and plucked out the fantasy £100bn figure out of thin air.
No.
because shares are valued on Price/Earnings ratios.
You don't say.
Gordon Brown would be had up in court if he were in business for the 'off balance sheet' stuff lurking around in the background. Along with mortgaging the youth of today into the future with PFI , it doesn't look pretty even from where I - a former Labour voter - am sitting.
Never again will I vote Labour while my money is being spent on croquet mallets and lining Blairs deep pockets with a pension he should be ashamed of , not that he probably cares.Afterall there is cheries hair to look after.
Pensions tax of £100bn? What on earth are you talking about?
Well he's being very coy about the amount isn't he.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5099428.stm
GaG
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