Tax increases imminent

[Iwishicouldflyhigh]

Heavy hints that taxes will rise in the next Budget after the recent climb down (as the ‘taxes won’t rise again’ was based on a 5 billion saving in benefits).

I can’t lie, I’m so pissed off about this. I don’t think anyone wants to see someone who is genuinely unable to work to be further penalised, but we all know there are thousands of people who could work but don’t.

this country is going to absolute shit . We pay more and more for less and less.

They could surely provide a letter stating an "underlying entitlement to DLA " like they do for pensioners who claim carers allowance but can't be paid it.

Totally agree. If my parents died tomorrow, the estate would be well over a million. So my two sisters and I would get £333k each, plus 20% each of the rest (40% tax on anything over a million, leaving 60% split between the three of us). Of course that should be taxed more. Much much much more!

@Vinvertebrate

In terms of charging for services and avoiding the 80% of people don't pay for it you make everyone pay - just at different levels.

So with your £20 to see the GP

children = £5 , taken from next month's child benefit so no one can claim no access

unwaged/ on jsa - £5 again taken from benefits for same reason

Low wage/income - £10 , paid at point of access

Higher wage/income - £20 again paid at point of access

OAPs pay according to their income, not their age

It's not meant to cover all costs, it's meant to make people consider before they book their 5th GP appointment for an issue they have already been given the information on how to manage

BUT.... GPs need to improve access - not OOH which just isn't the same - there needs to be more appointments that are ONLY available to those working - so 7-9am and 7-9pm AND weekends , other people have more ability to attend daytime appointments

State support should function as a safety net, not a permanent life raft for everyone regardless of circumstances. The focus should be on providing targeted help for those who truly need it—support, not substitution or dependency.
Child benefits and universal credit, while created with good intentions, sometimes lead to unintended consequences, like discouraging work or making large families financially sustainable through state assistance rather than household income. This approach isn’t sustainable long-term and doesn’t always serve the best interests of children.
For disability support, nuance is critical. Many people with disabilities absolutely need and deserve full assistance, but others could lead fulfilling, independent lives with the right encouragement and opportunities. Empowering them to thrive is far better than fostering dependency under the assumption they’re incapable.
Ultimately, it’s about dignity—ensuring those who can’t work live without shame or poverty, while giving those who can contribute the chance to do so. Families able to contribute more to the care of a disabled child should be expected to do so, allowing state resources to prioritize genuine need. To maintain a strong safety net for the truly vulnerable, we must focus resources wisely and avoid stretching them thin.
Rebuilding a culture of contribution is essential, where independence is supported wherever possible, and the truly vulnerable are prioritized instead of being treated with a one-size-fits-all approach.

These very few very expensive treatments are a drop in the ocean and will be cheaper main stream treatments in the future, you can't just stop progress, if we do we will all regret it.

Try telling people who have paid into a pension fund all their working lives that they won't get anything back and you are giving it all to benefit claimants who often have never done a stroke of work. Fair enough a very small minority really can't do any work, but it's getting to be a joke.

I'd discourage early retirement - pension pots only to be accessed at pension age. We need more people working and paying taxes.

Why do the people who have worked for many years have to carry on working to support those that don't work?

PIP isn’t an out of work benefit, so why would you link it to being able to work in a different industry ? It’s aim is to contribute to the extra cost of living with disability - it focuses on what people are able or unable to do in a series of activities looking at the difficulties they have in daily living and mobility. It is not, and never has been, intended to assess someone’s ability to work because the cost of disability would be the same whether someone works or not.

UC isn’t a universal benefit, it’s already adequately means tested and not particularly generous unless you have additional needs and qualify for the appropriate premiums.

And PIP already has built in safeguards for whether people get better or not. If a disability or health condition is likely to improve, then a short term award is made so that the claimant can be reassessed and if they have improved the award can be reduced or stopped.

It's a mess, things are certainly going to get worst.

The detail of our benefits and spending aside, I feel that Labour have little plan, little vision and then cock up any implementation ideas they have. I should be grateful it is not the lying, cheating and nasty Tories, but it is still different.

As for tax rises, I already pay nearly £1800 a year more as I live in Scotland so I have no issue with having higher taxes. BUT, those taxes have to be more progressive to me, ramping up more and more as you earn.

I feel that things like council tax is deeply unfair having a cut off at Band H - perhaps we need to add 6 more bands onto council tax and spread them across house values some more?

My other feeling is that the value from so many of our services is being reduced. It feels like our overheads have risen massively - and so any tax increases are simply swallowed up into the rise in cost to deliver public services. I would be interested to know how we compare to other similar countries in Europe on our spend and value for money..

Very true about the coalition's "adjustments", @Rosscameasdoody, and a prime example of how, if strategies are relaxed, there will always be those who'll rush to take advantage

And FWIW I don't blame you at all for taking a more aggressive stance around your tax arrangements, @indigovapour, since it sounds as if you intend doing it within what's allowable

I myself am currently involved with HMRC because I genuinely forgot to mention something on my tax return. It really was an honest mistake involving only a small amount, so I contacted them myself to sort it out, and frankly I'm wondering why I bothered

perhaps we need to add 6 more bands onto council tax and spread them across house values some more?

CT should absolutely be based on house value but again older voters who have most of that wealth will complain.

You need to focus on the U.K. not US, emojis wont do it. Look at what the markets did in last couple of days re Reeves.

That’s reacting to prospect of higher borrowing. I mean push for what you’re after, and see if it works.

I would be interested to know how we compare to other similar countries in Europe on our spend and value for money..

Most comparable European countries tax lower and middle earners more & spend more on healthcare etc however a lot of people there do see value eg reduced childcare costs etc. But housing costs are higher in general here so lower earners potential tax money is going on housing.

I find it bizarre that people think increased taxes aren't inevitable or that Reform will deliver this with better services!

Or to simplify it, £5 for everyone over 18

Agree this is part of the problem. Public sector pensions are being taken in large numbers at age 55. Half my facebook ( Nurses and teachers) are taking them at 55 and working very little or very part time after. I don't blame them I plan to do the same but can't take my NHS pension until I'm 60 as I have left the NHS. as soon as I can though I will survive on that or go very part time and pay very little tax. There does seem to be so many doing this I wonder who is actually still working ? In my office of about twelve people there are only two of us working full time, the rest are so part time they will barely be paying any tax. I'm not saying that these colleagues are claiming benefits but they aren't contributing much either. They've raised the state retirement age but many can get by retiring early and managing just on private pensions/ inheritance/ savings etc. Most people after a lifetime of working have had enough by aged 60 !

So people with disabilities and health conditions which require significant input from GP’s are going to be significantly disadvantaged then aren’t they ? As are older people who develop health conditions as they age.

@Notyomama and yet co-pay is a very normal part of many health care systems.

Once you have ID which must be used for health it will be fairly easy to charge people for the services they use - it costs very little for a charging unit and those that want it taken from their benefits simply put their details in and it is garnished from there.

I don't believe it will cost more than it raised and even if it did it works because it would stop the large amount of people that constantly overuse services to the detriment of other people.

As to 'can't afford it' - you will have to budget for it, because it will simply be a cost of living, like other costs.

Somehow other countries, European and other western manage this without the wailing and gnashing of teeth.

As to means testing - means test it all - Child benefit already is, so now means test PIP, Pension and every thing in between.

Labour might have a few more years to figure out how to reign in spending but if they don't we're going to get a Reform government. So you probably want to enjoy your PIP etc whilst you can.

Most of us can’t access it anyway.

My toddler has a skin problem and it’s 3 weeks to see a GP even after I sent in photos on the laborious online form. After my C section (where the hospital was dirty and the care was shocking), I received no after care once home and a 6 week post partum checkup via phone. My child was checked once at 10 days and never again.

Im struggling to see the benefit of sinking yet more money into a failing healthcare system at this point.

Haven't reform said they will raise benefits? Or at least some of them ?

Labour pledged as such at the GE so I guess ask them why it’s not inevitable

I would be interested to know how we compare to other similar countries in Europe on our spend and value for money.

I know Spain well. There is no UC, instead families rely heavily on family support - entire families living off the grandparents pensions, grandparents looking after DC so saving on childcare, when you're in hospital you are expected to have a family member with you day and night helping out. The elderly are helped out lots by their children and grandchildren.

Plus they get lots of EU funding (lots of it gets wasted though).

Although their economy is growing and the tax receipts are at record levels, their infrastructure is beginning to crumble due to lack of investment and their pension system is a Ponzi scheme about to go burst.

’Enjoy’ your PIP while you can ? Really ? Given that PIP is paid to support disability l would have thought that most recipients would enjoy far more, not having the disability and not having to claim it.