If Labour raises taxes what will you think?

Well no one is happy about tax increases but the alternative is to cut. People cried about the winter fuel allowance being means tested, they moaned about cuts to welfare....so what's the alternative.....climb a bean stalk and steal a golden egg.

The reason they are going for income tax is because it is broad (it will hit everyone who works and earns above the tax free allowance). It raises the most amount of money. And it's why Reeves did her interview this morning to prepare everyone for the fact that everyone (who is working) is having to pay for the govt's economic incompetence

They raised £40 bn in tax one year ago (when the alleged black hole that the Tories left that the OBR could not find was £22 bn). When they took over dont forget inflation was 2% and growth was the highest in the G7, job vacancies were high.

Look at the situation now 16 months later. It's a disaster. She's coming for another £35-40 billion and if you work you are a target

Billionaires /millionaires have left in their droves - look at Milan and Dubai which have generally been the recipients. Read what the CEO of Revolution said when he left. Read what Charlie Mullins of Pimlico Plumbers said when he left. And read what the poster below said about the success of Ireland and Luxembourg that have super low corporation tax rates and are a magnet for businesses .

So now the rest of us have to pay

A land tax perhaps to replace council tax was something that piqued my interest.

Billionaires are always flagged as the magic way to raise money but billionaires don’t generally have a lot of cash. They mostly have shares in businesses, the sort of successful business you want to attract to the UK and keep trading here. Of course, one way you could make more money off such businesses is do what Ireland and Luxembourg do and drastically cut taxes for them.

I just can’t see that an increase in income tax is going to be enough to sort this mess out. It needs something radical, creative and forward thinking. There’s only so much money left in middle England to be scraped from the bottom of the barrel. I would have liked to have heard a hint towards the billionaires taking a hit today but no sign.

Yes, £30k and having to do quarterly returns
And - the ultimate insult - having to buy the software to do the Returns. There are so many impositions on business. If you pass wind they want to regulate it and tax it. There is too much Red Tape!
Many people my age are just fed up with it all and are throwing in the towel. Which could, of course, be the result that 'They' want.

I’d think they’d lied. But what can we ever expect t from politicians? They all lie.🤷‍♀️

Making Tax Digital is coming soon.

I don’t think people realise how brutal and irritating that will be.

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/making-tax-digital-for-income-tax-for-businesses-step-by-step

Yes, £30k and having to do quarterly returns

utter utter madness

To make matters worse this government is proposing lowering the VAT threshold to £30k…. Someone further up said that this government is instituonailsing low productivity in not just the public sedor, where it has fallen again this year, but in the private sector as well because they don’t understand how business works, what motivates people or the impact of their polices. And I agree with that poster.

I will go further with what I stated about my business. I only set it up in July, it’s been a great success, and I know it should be expanded.
However, I do not want the extortionate costs of employing staff - I can’t even fire them now if they are shite, and I also do not want to get into the VAT threshold this year.

I meet many small business owners now and I know of many who literally close the doors before reaching the VAT threshold.

The £90k threshold is a killer. £90k turnover, so £90k minus all business running costs, is nothing. And cross that threshold and you open up a whole world of admin hell and cost, so it means many people, myself included, will close the doors before going over that.

It’s dire.

This.

It will confirm to me that they won the election on a pack of lies.

This is lethal. Completely predictable given pre GE messaging but just watching it unfold is still bad.

I fully agree with your summary but for me the scariest part is the no improvement in productivity.

Tax increases discourages behaviour (eg smoking or even speeding fines are a kind of discouraging tax). Government support, benefits or subsidies encourage behaviour.

Now as we can see from this thread there are a number of posters (either in employment or small business owners) that are feeling "what's the point anymore ".

It's very easy to destroy ambition and motivation and therefore growth and increased productivity through high taxation. It is incredibly hard to recreate it again once it's gone, except through a lot of pain (eg not being able to afford to feed your family will motivate you but it's not very pleasant).

I fear that we are institutionalising low productivity not just in the public sector but also the private sector and even amongst small business owners.

This is really worrying and creates a culture of "not really giving a shit anymore ".

I agree but I also think they must have always known this was on the cards. Therefore I am going B. They knew they'd have to do this sooner or later but they lied and promised they wouldn't, because if they'd been honest they never would have got elected.

Rishi Sunak was absolutely spot on. But this is Labour, so it should never have been a surprise to anyone that this would happen.

This………

There will be no productivity improvement.

Welfare spending will increase.

More money will be poured into the incredibly wasteful and failing NHS.

Those who work will continue to be rinsed for more and more tax.

The crazy NET ZERO policies will continue. Delivering the world’s most expensive energy prices to factories, business, and homes.

Pensioners will continue to be enriched by the younger generations through the unsustainable and decadent triple-lock.

And overall, things will get worse and worse, and worse.

Why are people allowed to send unlimited amounts of money out of the country? That is money that could be spent in our economy.

Why is the govt funding political charities? They can raise their own money.

Full reform of councils. I have seen the criminal profligacy. 99% of councillors are a complete waste of money. Our council tax pays for generous allowances for minimal - extremely minimal - input.

Yep.

I will think I made the right decision in the summer to leave the country for a while. Hopefully my move is complete before the chancellor appropriates some of my money for having the temerity to do so :)

I feel quite angry and upset that Labour are breaking their manifesto!

They are blaming Tory spending, but surely they should have known. They need to target people who are not contributing and those avoiding tax, not hard working people and those who already contribute to the tax system. We are getting poorer and working harder - what’s the point?!? My salary at work is not going up in line with everything else, it’s beyond a joke.

There are so so many other ways to raise money, and they need to start looking at cut backs in my opinion e.g. public sector pensions, those who avoid paying child maintenance, those who are out of work but can, those who avoid tax by cash in hand etc etc

Here's a picture of U.K. inflation vs the euro zone. You can see the impact of Labour's policy decisions on inflation (adding NI and increased minimum wage to businesses) in March and the impact it has had on costs which companies have passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices. Reeves lying in her interview that this is a global problem - no it's a U.K. problem and with inflation sticky at these levels, interest rates won't be cut

Not to mention she made it “perfectly clear” last year she wasn’t coming back for more borrowing or taxes. Not so clear now Rachel are we,

Oh and she "fixed the foundations" in her last budget with her "fully costed manifesto"

Lies lies lies