So it's Budget day

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If you were the Chancellor, what would be in your budget?

Freeze duty on petrol.

Keep tax breaks on childcare vouchers, since they allow half the women in the country to go to work and without them, his tax receipts will fall.

Dump the ID card idea - we can't afford it regardless of whether it's a good thing or not. Ditto the child database and the patient database.

Require all new houses to be built with solar panels etc. If we really have to build tens of thousands of new houses in the next ten years, getting the big construction companies to install green electricity generation as standard would reduce the cost per unit massively and slow down our need for new powerstations in the future, create economies of scale in their production and make it cheaper for everyone else to install.

Treble council tax on second homes. No, make that quadruple the council tax on second homes.

I agree Gramercy, how can they justify a discount !!

Gramercy- wouldn't that just push rental costs up as landlords will pass the costs on to their tennants?

I'm bloody glad I'm not the chancellor as there's no way to solve the problems of the country without making someone unemployed, but if I was and I had the issues he has I would:

Raise duty on ciggies and alcohol (except on Villa Maria SB )

Announce job cuts in the middle tiers of the cvil service (not front line jobs). Freeze all new consultancy spend by the public sector. On these lines, agree that nice to haves like the ID card schemes just have to go on hold. One year pay freeze in the public sector generally.

I'll ditto Kathy and gramercys suggestions.

I'd also remove winter fuel allowance from expats in hot climates and give it to people who are disabled.

Give tax breaks to lcal companies who can't afford the rates in their local high street. Also to food co-ops.

Something needs to be done about the universities but can't think what!

have taken the afternoon off tomorrow so I can watch.

landlords don't pay council tax on their 2nd homes - the tenants (or council if the tenant is on benefits) do.

Double cigarettes and alcohol you can destroy your health but you can also fund it!
Agree re second homes
I personally think second homes are a luxury and should be taxed to the hilt unless part of a regulated rental scheme where the tnants are the priority

Ok- I think I Gramercy's post- I think she's refering to second homes that are not let out- eg holiday homes.

The current discount is only applied if they're not lived in. Whilst this is partially fair- council tax is supposed to reflect usage of local services, I think the discount should be removed.

I dont agree with a doubling/quadrupling though as I dont believe in a tax system designed to "punish" the rich for having the audacity to be successful.

Increase the tax threshold to £15k.

Increase the maximum childcare tax credit from 80% to 100%.

Increase the social fund budget so that people aren't forced to use Provident etc.

Provide funding for all schools to have affordable before and after school care clubs.

Bring back the assisted places scheme.

Pay for this by ceasing the exemption of people's own home from capital gains tax (if over £150k.

Increase income tax to 99% for people earning more than 10x national average pay.

Increase the minimum wage to £8ph.

Increase alcohol duty so that drinks are no less than £1 per unit.

Duh, just twigged why there is a discount on council tax for second homes... every MP worth his/her greedy self owns one!

Oh, I agree no winter fuel allowance for people living abroad. Ludicrous waste of money.

Get rid of "baby bond" or whatever it's called. Money could be much better directed elsewhere.

absolutely get rid of the baby bond. When so many cut backs are being made at the moment, is probably one that would have the least impact on anyone.

forevers student- if you think that lot's going to be funded just by a 99% tax on people earning 10x the national average you need to review your maths.

Not sure if anyone told you this but we're supposed to be reducing the national debt, not tripling it.

We could just abolish the House of Lords then the bit that isn't being used any more could be turned into flats for mps and abolish the second home allowance. That would cut spending a fair bit.

If you cease the exemption from CGT on people's homes, you are then perhaps pushing a burden on the state for those who are selling their home to downsize and fund their retirement/care needs when they are older.

Increasing income tax to 99% will drive all those who earn that much out of the UK, and the jobs of the people they employ will disappear. This has a ripple effect on the wider economy.

I would freeze the fuel escalator as petrol is about to go through the roof and would leave VAT alone.

I don't see that he has much room for manoeuvre as he is trying not to frighten the horses / the voters either way.

Increase all forms of tax on private cars (with exemptions for the disabled) and introduce a congestion charge in all major cities.

Use the money raised to improve public transport and introduce a nationwide oyster style method of payment.

Get rid of child trust funds, use the money to improve educational opportunities, especially out of school, so make theatre tickets cheaper, allow all children to have free exams and music lessons, etc.

Give extra tax credits to SAHMs-it is daft that I would get more government money if I was working and paying someone else to look after and educate my children.

Um, foreverastudent - if you tax people 99% of their income even if it is eg 240000,that would only leave them £200 a month to live off, so they would then be able to claim lots of benefits - which are paid for by taxes. So quite apart from driving high earners to live in other countries which is bad for the economy, a 99% tax is actually a really stupid idea, sorry!

Oh and I agree - scrap child trust funds. I have 2 kids, and both theirs have gone down - I know they might go up, but frankly I would rather the country was in less debt than my kids be given £250 which is now worth less.

to be fair to foreverastudent, I assume she meant tax income over £250k at 99% not the whole lot. However, this would still not pay for all the tax lost by her proposal to increase the tax allowance to £15k, let alone everything else. Mind you, if she could make it add up she'd probably get a lot of votes.

Also, punitive tax is self defeating as rich people tend to also be very geographically mobile. They can move somewhere else and pay less tax.

People can hate the rich all they like but ultimately they pay people's benefits, employ people, buy a lot of stuff in shops and restaurants and tend to underuse public services.

Bump up tax on tobacco and alcohol

bring down tax on fuel.. this affects everyone even those who don't drive.
( and it's handy to be able to afford to get to work whether it's on public transport or by car, etc.)

Tax supermarkets on amount of food wastage

get rid of the £250 for babies.

have a very very close look at what the government spend doing government things and how much this actually cost, stop fiddling with different departments, costing more money for systems that still don't work and spend more money trying to fix it. this stupid spending should be published and stopped.

-MAke prisons 'pay for themselves' - i.e. working in a factory type format
-Community service- RELEVANT to the community they come from and the crime.

-14yr + in the holidays should have to do 10 days working with disadvantaged people within their community or community improvement schemes

-Less paperwork and change for the sake of it within public sector. Most change is reactionary or is done because the high level managment has changed and the new people want to look like their progressing etc

-invest in wind farms etc

-Take the choice out of school places- so that all schools get goood and bad pupils.

-Make it easier for people who work temporary to recieve benefits when they are out of work

-Have nationalised crime data bases etc- why the council have to pay for a crimianl records check for someone who already has an up to date one within the area is beyond me

-Higher fees for international students

Scrap child trust funds
Increase duty on tobacco and alcohol
Increase inheritance tax (yes, increase it)
Raise threshold tax rate
Reduce the number of Ministers and size of the House (I know, that's probably not in my power as Chancellor)
Make loan sharks illegal and put in place alternatives
Increase funding for university places, as tens of thousands of qualified applicants won't get in this year
Increase all forms of tax on private cars (with exemptions for disabled people) and introduce a congestion charge in all major cities. (I nicked that idea from Butterpie)
Use the money raised to improve public transport and introduce a nationwide oyster style method of payment. (and that one!)
Increase taxes on buy to rent
Increase stamp duty threshold in London

they keep increasing tax and tobacco products..........and every time they do they lose more and more tax from people getting it cheaper in Europe and bringing it here....

Scrap Trident.

Scrap child trust funds

scrap baby bond

Second homeowners should have to pay 110% council tax. The extra money could go towards helping the community they are ruining.

A cap on chief executives of local councils pay. I fail to see why they often earn more than the prime minister. Frankly mot of them are crap at their jobs.

Scrap VAT on tampons, Mooncups etc.

Scrap id cards. We can't afford it.