To think now is not the right time for tax cuts

[jm9138]

So Hunt wants to cut NI having already cut it last Autumn. The total costs of these cuts will be £13.5 bn. To put that in perspective, this would more than cover the £9bn real terms cut in the education budget since 2010 and with the total NHS dentistry bill being £3bn he could double that and cover the education budget fall with £1.5bn left. Maybe with that he could, I don’t know, fund some private operations to reduce some of the NHS waiting times. AIBU to think that maybe there are other things to focus on now than tax cuts?

I absolutely agree. Now isn’t the time. And tbh I don’t think it should be. Funding is needed and where does it come from. Taxes.

Of course, but this is traditionally how the Tories try and buy votes. If anything, raise the tax threshold to help low earners.

Tax cuts in the wrong area maybe. I could stump up more NI, esp if it meant i could have a dentist!? But recognise many cant

To add, I live in a borough with high council tax. Excellent amenities and schools and hospitals. You get what you pay for

Tories are selfish. They want their voters to be happy with a bit more money in their pockets.
I don’t think their voters think too much about how their taxes might benefit other people.
if you can afford to pay taxes you should be paying them. If anything they need raising for the higher earners.

I am no economist, but it makes zero sense to me to put less money into the system at this point, as it is struggling.
I would rather pay more tax and being able to see a doctor, get surgery on a reasonable time and for children to have a good education, safe streets with a good police presence, and so on.
I suppose less taxes may be a good thing for the rich people they govern for. But not for the rest of us.

Agree.
Everyone wants, in an ideal world, to pay less tax.
But I want that with a tiny fraction of the intensity with which I am desparate that I want a country in which there is a health service when it's needed. I am furious that none of my adult children can get any dental treatment whatsoever ( even the one of them who could afford to pay and go private can't find a private dentist to take them on). This is like living in a third world country.

But this is not about asking you to pay more NI. Instead of paying less NI Hunt could instead choose you just pay the same but have significantly better services.

These past and potential NI reductions are pissing me off. I passed State Pension age last year and so don't pay NI anymore. This bastard Government are reducing my savings every time NI gets reduced - bastards

And obviously, I'm not being serious. 😉

With the COL crisis, surely the Government can think of better ways to help people. But I suppose that would require the Tories to actually give a flying fuck about the 'normal' people in this country who don't earn mega amounts or have a family rolling in ££££s to carry them through.

Everyone wants, in an ideal world, to pay less tax.

I don’t mind tax if the services are worth it but there is too much burden on PAYE vs other income sources.

It's utterly irresponsible given the state of public services. I guess the Tories feel that they have nothing left to lose now. They're assuming that they won't be in power to clear up the trail of destruction that they leave behind, so they're attempting to buy as many votes as possible to limit the damage on their numbers at the election.

Hopefully, most voters will see it for what it is, but I'm sure that there will be some who are delighted by it. And cutting taxes will encourage the Tory right to pipe down for a bit, which will take some of the pressure off Rishi.

So I can see why they're doing it. Of course it isn't good for the country, but there isn't much evidence that that was ever much of a concern for this government.

I am a professional economist so don’t worry. You really don’t need an economics degree to understand how this is dumb.

Well I imagine one aim of cutting tax is also to lay a trap for any incoming government who will have raise taxes to pay for stuff.

They need to increase tax on higher earners. But they’re never going to upset their mates

I agree. So would have less of a problem if he said we are cutting NI by raising capital gains tax. I would be happier still if he just said we are raising capital gains tax to fund better public services

Higher earners (on PAYE at least) already pay enough. We need to tax wealth rather than income. Agree the Tories won’t do that, though, because they won’t upset their mates.

I think they need to raise tax on unearned income. Earn another £10000 pay between 29% and 65% in tax. ‘Make’ £10000 on the stock market pay 20%. Make £1 million from your house price going up pay 0%. That does not make sense to me.

Sure, just saying, I would even stomach an increase just dear god give us decent services, dental situation is pretty victorian rn

You are no doubt right. But I actually think they would have a better chance of winning over voters if they used the money on public services. Realistically they will not win whatever they do but they could at least do the right thing for the country as a whole. It is depressing to think we all know that is a naive view.

I think it’s wrong time and ridiculous
but I get the impression every party is promising less tax more in your pockets

They always try to bribe the voter at election time. It’s a standard, tired, ploy and I don’t think it will work this time. It’s depressing but not surprising that they won’t spend the money on improving services, schools, transport, health, or any one of a 100 things that could actually make things better for people.

Yabu. Taxes are the highest they've been in decades. Its not sustainable to keep taxing people who work, time to look at cutting spending and waste.

YABU, For the past 25 years, workers have borne the brunt with ni rises (only imposed on wages) and loss of child benefit and free childcare due to the cliff edges. Those living on investment income, BTLs, pensions, etc generally havn't been affected as much. That's meant high marginal tax rates which is a disincentive to work more shifts or take promotion, all contributing to worker shortages including shortages of GPs and dentists. Workers have had their pips squeezed and need a break. If the country needs to raise tax revenue, it needs to come from a broader base, ie higher income pensioners, those living on interest/dividends, BTL and holiday lets owners etc who currently don't pay NIC!

We've had very high taxes for a very long time. The government believe interest rates have peaked. They may have gotten public finances into a position where there's enough in the kitty to start leaning more towards borrowing to fund the services described (which is where most of government investment comes from), particularly if intesrest rates fall further over the next year as expected.

Ah well first good laugh of the morning. I agree we should shift the tax burden to unearned income, but we have had 14 years of 'reducing waste'. Looking at the state of public services I think we moved past 'waste' some time ago and have stopped even pretending we even stock the fridge for several years.

Inefficiencies can be found anywhere - but that cuts both ways. You can be inefficient because you fail to dedicate enough resources to actually meet the minimum outcomes you need from a service.