Here’s a circular argument. Government is imposing the 50p income tax because it thinks top businessmen are overpaid. But the high tax rate is likely to push executive pay higher still.
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If the government is so against looting, what is the 50p income tax? It is a raid by those who feel deprived on those they think others have too much.
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The top rate of stamp duty on property UK house purchases rises to an unprecedented 5 per cent in April 2011 but chancellor George Osborne will feel under no pressure to scrap this tax rise. While the rest of the property market needs a stimulus, the £1m-plus bracket to which the 5 per cent applies is defying the gloom.
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HM Revenue & Customs have been told by the chancellor to find just how much the 50p income tax band raises. There is no doubt that the answer he wants the evidence that allows him to abolish it.
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British motorists should not hold their breath waiting for the government to introduce a fuel duty stabiliser that cuts taxes as oil prices rise. The prime minister floated this vote-winner when in opposition in the summer of 2008, but for all his teasing, it looks no more practical now than it did then.
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Do the protestors trying to stop shoppers using Top Shop and Vodafone outlets really understand what tax avoidance is? It is what those shoppers are doing when they buy goods before the VAT rate rises.
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Vince Cable should be careful about setting up long-term inquiries into his pet subjects. By the time they report he may no longer be business secretary.
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Before Wolseley Plc (LON:WOS) upsticks from Reading to Switzerland to cut its tax bill, did the FTSE 100 company ask where the UK government gets the funds from to buy the company’s building materials? If you don’t pay tax you can’t expect to receive orders from the state.
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Before the government cracks down on tax avoidance by individuals and companies it should ask who introduced the capital reliefs, who invented ISAs and who permits pension contributions to be offset against income. The change has to come from government, not taxpayers (or tax-voiders).
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The reason Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is promising a soft approach to settling tax disputes is because it wants to get as much cash into its coffers as soon as possible rather than hold out for what it is owed.
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