Give everyone £48 and scrap the tax free personal allowance

[Cherrypi]

Sounds like a great idea to me. What does everyone else think?

www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/mar/11/scrap-tax-free-personal-allowance-and-pay-everyone-48-a-week

So people like me, in the middle earning 26k. But a single parent already struggling with childcare cost, cause I earn a little bit too much to get any help dont get any benefit. While people who dont work do

I’m sure there would be reductions to other benefits if this system came into play.

It looks interesting. I was never convinced by the Universal Income idea. I thought it would help individuals get jobs but would cause inflation. Turns out it doesn’t even help more people get into work.

Tax system definitely needs overhauling but I’m not sure this is the answer.

I wonder what proportion of income the top 1% receive?

According to google the top 1% have 21% of wealth and pay 28% of all income tax. So they pay disprotionately more tax by around 33% from income tax alone, if you presume that their tax take should be proportional to their wealth.

I’m sure there would be reductions to other benefits if this system came into play.

That helps me how? My point being is that is never the people in the middle. And as a single mum, earning an ok wage but only having one ok wage to pay all the Bill's for 1 adult and 2 kids.......you get fucked everytime.

No point trying to better yourself. Start earning more and get fucked anyway.

Like I said might as well sit back, forget my career and do the bare minimum.

And if it fucks over people on benefits, what about those who have no choice but to be on benefits?

If it wont help them, wont help the middle and take more off the top earners.....who does it make it better for? Oh no no one, but enables people to get one over on higher earners.

Wonder which party came up with this?

....who does it make it better for?

People who earn absolutely nothing benefit the most.

This policy is designed to appeal to full time university students who are abandoning the Labour Party in their millions.

But it’s only tory voters who vote in self-interest, right?

This policy is designed to appeal to full time university students who are abandoning the Labour Party in their millions.

Great plan.....then they start work and realise what they voted for will screw them over for the rest of their working lives.

Excellent plan.

Why would anyone vote labour?

According to google the top 1% have 21% of wealth and pay 28% of all income tax. So they pay disproportionately more tax by around 33% from income tax alone, if you presume that their tax take should be proportional to their wealth. That's confusing two sets of figures. The top 1% in wealth terms have 21% of the wealth. They overlap but are not necessarily identical to the top 1% in income terms.

Income tax is not the major source of tax revenue. The top 1% in wealth terms do well out of Council Tax, which after a certain point doesn't increase no matter what the worth of your house, and the top 1% in income terms pay NI at a lower rate once their income is over a certain amount. Then there's all the indirect taxes.

Has nobody noticed how good this would be for families who don't want to both work full time? It would give an income to sahm/ d and allow people to have a better family life. It would also help a lot of the people in their 50s and 60s who can no longer work full time but don't yet qualify for pension.

allow people to have a better family life.

Except single parents? Wont help their family life.

That's confusing two sets of figures. The top 1% in wealth terms have 21% of the wealth. They overlap but are not necessarily identical to the top 1% in income terms.

Unfortunately I was unable to find any figures about what proportion of income the top 1% earn so that was the best figure readily available. Secondly, yes, income tax is the major tax income for the government. Followed closely by NI, then VAT, both of which the higher income you are, the more you invariably will pay (as NI is a % of income, and the more income you have the more you can spend and so the more VAT you will pay). Whichever way you look at it the wealthy overwhelmingly pay the majority of tax in this country.

I’m not arguing against that, I’m just saying if you want this new measure as a “redistributive” attempt, the tax system is already pretty redistributive and you might as well just out-and-out increase the high rate of tax to say 50% and the highest rate to 70% and say “we’re in it to take more from the rich to increase benefits/reduce national debt, etc etc”.

Don’t pretend this measure is anything but that and stop thinking delusional things like “it’ll be cost neutral for those who don’t pay higher rate”.

It would also help a lot of the people in their 50s and 60s who can no longer work full time but don't yet qualify for pension.

It may help some people int their 50s and 60s, but not all.

What about the person who has taken a modest employer pension early in order to look after a disabled relative and tops up their income wih carers allowance? They may be no better off whatsoever as both their pension and carers allowance will be subject to 20% tax.

A part time worker earning as litttle as 8K will lose over 2/3rds of the allowance.

This is incredibly badly targeted and poorly thought out. The fact that the man who thinks this is a ‘good idea’ could be chancellor is terrifying.

Free money!!!!!!

Honestly. As if the labour election promises weren't enough BS for people to see through, now they're going to give out cash? Why give me money, then take it away in tax? It will cost a fortune to implement and be an absolute bureaucratic nightmare.

"Why give me money, then take it away in tax? It will cost a fortune to implement and be an absolute bureaucratic nightmare."

I wonder if that's what they are after. Remember Gordon Brown saying it was the job of the government to create work?

I was very interested to hear about UBI initially but not in combination with removing tax free personal allowance. As a pp said, they aren't issues that should be conflated.

I am nervous of voting for this version of Labour because I have a horrible feeling they will simply do mad stuff like this and leave the super rich alone, in much the same way other parties do.