The Politics Thread

[Hoboh]

It's a thing of gentlemen, after you!

No, no, I insist... after you...

A little restraint with the wine and you may sleep better, its late old chap, bonus nox noctis

[mummywhycantieatcrayons]

What on earth are you guys on about?!

[Worthy4England]

What on earth are you guys on about?!

It's a highly charged political debate about WW III. Careful you don't get dragged in.

[Zulus Thousand of em]

What on earth are you guys on about?!

One is grooming the other. Not sure which one yet. I'll let you know as the relationship develops.

[BWFC_Insane]

Tax cuts for the wealthiest, under a Tory government. My god. Who'da thunk it?

"All in it together........" my arse.

[thebish]

Tax cuts for the wealthiest, under a Tory government. My god. Who'da thunk it?

"All in it together........" my arse.

how does it all balance up? are there any extra measures for income raising amongst the wealthiest?

[BWFC_Insane]

Tax cuts for the wealthiest, under a Tory government. My god. Who'da thunk it?

"All in it together........" my arse.

how does it all balance up? are there any extra measures for income raising amongst the wealthiest?

Increased stamp duty I believe......on £2M plus homes.

And they are bringing in further "anti avoidance" measures. Which balances it up. Along with lowering the 40% threshold.

Apparently.

[The Axman]

Increased stamp duty on £2million + houses. Shit, I'll never be able to afford that Aston Martin vantage now.

[mummywhycantieatcrayons]

I think it's a very well balanced budget, economically and politcally.

Very interesting to see Osborne take the plunge with the general anti-avoidance rule - a lot of people wrote about the possibility of a GAAR when I was studying tax law. In an ideal world, you wouldn't have one, but I think it's the only weapon against the massive tax avoidance industry that makes sense - I look forward to reading the details later and seeing if they took on board the advice of an advisory committee that reported to the Treasury on this at the end of last year, a member of which was my tax teacher, a very nice, shrewd and fair-minded bloke called John Tiley. http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/gaar_fi ... 111111.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[thebish]

Tax cuts for the wealthiest, under a Tory government. My god. Who'da thunk it?

"All in it together........" my arse.

how does it all balance up? are there any extra measures for income raising amongst the wealthiest?

Increased stamp duty I believe......on £2M plus homes.

And they are bringing in further "anti avoidance" measures. Which balances it up. Along with lowering the 40% threshold.

Apparently.

there is SOME sense in that... income tax (because of clever accountancy strategies) is a notoriously blunt tool for wangling cash out of the rich... it could be argued that the most difficult asset to move offshore is their house... - so hitting that might be more effective in actually getting the cash...

the 50p tax rate is (I suspect) a bit of a totem for the left - not actually that effective in prising the cash out of their cold dead hands!!

[BWFC_Insane]

Tax cuts for the wealthiest, under a Tory government. My god. Who'da thunk it?

"All in it together........" my arse.

how does it all balance up? are there any extra measures for income raising amongst the wealthiest?

Increased stamp duty I believe......on £2M plus homes.

And they are bringing in further "anti avoidance" measures. Which balances it up. Along with lowering the 40% threshold.

Apparently.

there is SOME sense in that... income tax (because of clever accountancy strategies) is a notoriously blunt tool for wangling cash out of the rich... it could be argued that the most difficult asset to move offshore is their house... - so hitting that might be more effective in actually getting the cash...

the 50p tax rate is (I suspect) a bit of a totem for the left - not actually that effective in prising the cash out of their cold dead hands!!

Well stamp duty only matters if they move or buy an additional house. Saying 'well its ok we will stop them from avoiding tax' is a fooking joke IMO. That should be a given and shouldn't take a sop of lowering income tax to do.

I've never liked the idea of helping out the very best off, they don't fecking need it. They should be helping out the rest of us. They also appear to be squeezing middle income families most, ie those that work hard for a living but don't earn obscene amounts stuck straight into offshore accounts.

[thebish]

Well stamp duty only matters if they move or buy an additional house. Saying 'well its ok we will stop them from avoiding tax' is a fooking joke IMO. That should be a given and shouldn't take a sop of lowering income tax to do.

I've never liked the idea of helping out the very best off, they don't fecking need it. They should be helping out the rest of us. They also appear to be squeezing middle income families most, ie those that work hard for a living but don't earn obscene amounts stuck straight into offshore accounts.

I'm with you in sentiment... but I don't think I agree that the totem 50p tax rate is as effective a tool at bleeding the rich as some might have you believe...

equally - I'm not sure (until we see how it works out in practice - and whether the HMRC are given the resources to do it properly - currently no evidence of this) that the GAAR that mummy champions will be any MORE effective... only time will tell...

[mummywhycantieatcrayons]

equally - I'm not sure (until we see how it works out in practice - and whether the HMRC are given the resources to do it properly - currently no evidence of this) that the GAAR that mummy champions will be any MORE effective... only time will tell...

Much bigger brains than mine have advocated a GAAR. I'll read the details tonight and the paper I linked to and comment then.

I think there are some ways in which a GAAR reduces the resources required to collect the tax.

[mummywhycantieatcrayons]

I'm with you in sentiment... but I don't think I agree that the totem 50p tax rate is as effective a tool at bleeding the rich as some might have you believe...

Actually, I don't think I've even seen advocates of the 50% tax rate making the case for it in those terms - the preferred line is all this weasely, vacuous, intellectually lazy crap about the 'wrong priorities'.

[Hoboh]

The tax rate should be the same across the board with no exceptions, that’s fair. Pay or end up in the nick with all assets confiscated that should ensure payment. OAP's should be tax exempt, benefits payed for a max of 2 years and all foreign workers sent home.

[thebish]

The tax rate should be the same across the board with no exceptions, that’s fair. Pay or end up in the nick with all assets confiscated that should ensure payment. OAP's should be tax exempt, benefits payed for a max of 2 years and all foreign workers sent home.

[Hoboh]

The tax rate should be the same across the board with no exceptions, that’s fair. Pay or end up in the nick with all assets confiscated that should ensure payment. OAP's should be tax exempt, benefits payed for a max of 2 years and all foreign workers sent home.

Whatever the "Norm" basic tax rate is should apply across the board it would probably raise about the same revenue when I read once some one like Branson only pays about 5% in reality.
Anyone past state retirement should no matter what pension or income they get, not have to pay any tax. The cash will come back via more folk falling into inheritence tax.

[thebish]

The tax rate should be the same across the board with no exceptions, that’s fair. Pay or end up in the nick with all assets confiscated that should ensure payment. OAP's should be tax exempt, benefits payed for a max of 2 years and all foreign workers sent home.

Whatever the "Norm" basic tax rate is should apply across the board it would probably raise about the same revenue when I read once some one like Branson only pays about 5% in reality

I was querying why you said NO EXCEPTIONS - then exempted OAPs!!

[Hoboh]

The tax rate should be the same across the board with no exceptions, that’s fair. Pay or end up in the nick with all assets confiscated that should ensure payment. OAP's should be tax exempt, benefits payed for a max of 2 years and all foreign workers sent home.

Whatever the "Norm" basic tax rate is should apply across the board it would probably raise about the same revenue when I read once some one like Branson only pays about 5% in reality

I was querying why you said NO EXCEPTIONS - then exempted OAPs!!

Pedantic! hobo has a heart!

[BWFC_Insane]

The tax rate should be the same across the board with no exceptions, that’s fair. Pay or end up in the nick with all assets confiscated that should ensure payment. OAP's should be tax exempt, benefits payed for a max of 2 years and all foreign workers sent home.

So seeing as OAP's are the main group being hit in the latest budget, what are your comments?