Taxes HAVE to rise so is VAT the best evil?
Discussion
I don't think there's any doubt that taxes have to rise as well as government spending being cut back so if we accept that which tax is fairest?
The trouble with income tax / NI is the 'tax on jobs' argument and of course it only hits those who have jobs / don't have accountants to help them minimise their tax burden. So, is VAT actually a pretty fair way of doing it? I know you can't avoid VAT with it being on pretty much everything but at least if you want to minimise it you can choose to not buy that new plasma TV or whatever...plus, all those folk living on benefits who seem to be able to afford luxury items would also have to pay it (in no way shape or form wishing to cast aspersions on the genuinely unfortunate who have every right to get the state help they deserve to avoid genuine poverty).
BBC are sayng 20% VAT by end of 2011 - personally i think I'd rather that than a hike in income tax.
The trouble with income tax / NI is the 'tax on jobs' argument and of course it only hits those who have jobs / don't have accountants to help them minimise their tax burden. So, is VAT actually a pretty fair way of doing it? I know you can't avoid VAT with it being on pretty much everything but at least if you want to minimise it you can choose to not buy that new plasma TV or whatever...plus, all those folk living on benefits who seem to be able to afford luxury items would also have to pay it (in no way shape or form wishing to cast aspersions on the genuinely unfortunate who have every right to get the state help they deserve to avoid genuine poverty).
BBC are sayng 20% VAT by end of 2011 - personally i think I'd rather that than a hike in income tax.
Out of EU now.
Sack all of the regional development agencies.
Lock council tax as it is now and councils get taxed 10% of this. They can sort out their own waste as there is enough of it.
Get rid of ridiculous cosmetic stuff on the NHS.
Make people pay 50% for their dentistry.
Drop the amount of money that PCT's wave around. Sorry doc's there are far too many of you not employed who would do it for £60k rather than £100k.
Alter the way education is funded and have staff tender for their own contracs. ie:- where there are 100 staff for every job, price is lowered, central London, they will get paid a decent rate. 4 year contracts as well so they pull their socks up.
Make all public sector staff responsible for sorting out their own pensions.
Get rid of ofsted and have some Civil Servants doing spot checks on various schools.
Stop wasting money on green energy/plant food gas nonsense.
Waste some more money on conservation projects. Not run by vegetarians.
Cut the dole so that their pips squeak.
Stop buying fancy police cars, back in the Escorts you lot.
Overhaul the way disability benefit is metered out.
Increase both the threshold of income tax and then make it flat all the way up at an averaged out level. None of this commie stepwise stuff.
Put tax on coffee. (I drink far too much). It's in a similar order to booze and fags. (sounds daft, but think of starbucks). Too many of those cluttering up our streets.
Abolish NI, leave Vat roughly the same.
Raise tax on new cars. They are truly bad for the planet. Maaaaan.
Put a small tax (not VAT) on Temp staff.
Encourage companies to start extracting coal/minerals by subsidising the planning costs.
That's about it for the moment.
Sack all of the regional development agencies.
Lock council tax as it is now and councils get taxed 10% of this. They can sort out their own waste as there is enough of it.
Get rid of ridiculous cosmetic stuff on the NHS.
Make people pay 50% for their dentistry.
Drop the amount of money that PCT's wave around. Sorry doc's there are far too many of you not employed who would do it for £60k rather than £100k.
Alter the way education is funded and have staff tender for their own contracs. ie:- where there are 100 staff for every job, price is lowered, central London, they will get paid a decent rate. 4 year contracts as well so they pull their socks up.
Make all public sector staff responsible for sorting out their own pensions.
Get rid of ofsted and have some Civil Servants doing spot checks on various schools.
Stop wasting money on green energy/plant food gas nonsense.
Waste some more money on conservation projects. Not run by vegetarians.
Cut the dole so that their pips squeak.
Stop buying fancy police cars, back in the Escorts you lot.
Overhaul the way disability benefit is metered out.
Increase both the threshold of income tax and then make it flat all the way up at an averaged out level. None of this commie stepwise stuff.
Put tax on coffee. (I drink far too much). It's in a similar order to booze and fags. (sounds daft, but think of starbucks). Too many of those cluttering up our streets.
Abolish NI, leave Vat roughly the same.
Raise tax on new cars. They are truly bad for the planet. Maaaaan.
Put a small tax (not VAT) on Temp staff.
Encourage companies to start extracting coal/minerals by subsidising the planning costs.
That's about it for the moment.
Dick Seaman said:
musclecarmad said:
i wouldn't mind vat being at 25%. I'd much prefer that than more income tax.
Agree. Taxes on consumption are inherently far fairer than taxes at source.Magog said:
Surely VAT is a regressive tax, it hits the poorest hardest as a percentage of income. I can't see the Lib Dems being up for that much, but maybe it'll be give with one hand, take away with the other.
It only hits them on stuff they don't really need. At the moment, anyway.cmsapms said:
Magog said:
Surely VAT is a regressive tax, it hits the poorest hardest as a percentage of income. I can't see the Lib Dems being up for that much, but maybe it'll be give with one hand, take away with the other.
It only hits them on stuff they don't really need. At the moment, anyway.Who are you to say what people need? A major part of politics is ensuring a persons standard of living can be raised. It is incredibly arrogant of you to tell people what they do and don't need. You come across as if you know what is best for individual persons, and as if you're above everyone else...
It does affect the poorest the most, like most taxes. Which is why hopefully VAT won't be applied to foodstuffs.
130R said:
I'm totally behind a VAT rise to 20%. This is the best way to reduce the deficit in combination with spending cuts and it is much preferable to a NI rise. Everyone has to pay VAT, not just people that work for a living.
bang it up to 25% on luxury goods, zero rate it on food and domestic fuel bills. If you have the cash to splash go ahead if you can't afford it just now........WAIT.Edited by 130R on Thursday 13th May 17:02
Mojocvh said:
130R said:
I'm totally behind a VAT rise to 20%. This is the best way to reduce the deficit in combination with spending cuts and it is much preferable to a NI rise. Everyone has to pay VAT, not just people that work for a living.
bang it up to 25% on luxury goods, zero rate it on food and domestic fuel bills. If you have the cash to splash go ahead if you can't afford it just now........WAIT.Edited by 130R on Thursday 13th May 17:02
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