How will you look to mitigate Labour’s tax hikes? (Part deux)

[EverythingAllatOnceAllTheTime]

How will you look to reduce the impact of Labour’s seemingly endless (imminent) tax hikes?

Whilst it would still only be those earning who pay - and higher income workers would still pay more - it's still at least slightly spread.

Increasing work participation is a whole separate thing for the government to address.

Basic rate tax obviously, not base rate. Not even sure whether that was autocorrect or a brain glitch!

Gawd it's 1997 class war again. Without the Britpop glamour.

VAT on independent schools. Why?

Smoking ban. Without any reduction on VAT or tax, why?

Ban on trail hunting? Why?

I’ll be taking a serious look at my earnings, investments and tax burden. I’m seriously fucked off with feeling on the edge of burn out, not getting quality time with my family and being taxed at every turn! We need to fill the coffers though economic growth, not by increased taxation and certainly not by removing the winter fuel payment from some of our poorest members of society who are unable to earn an income to replace it!

A really interesting thread.

We are in a slightly different position in that we had planned to return to U.K. next year primarily for schooling. We had private schools lined up for our children and plans set in place.

However, we are now seriously u-turning with this new govt. My DH holds shares in his company which are owned by PE. They will sell in the next year or so, triggering CGT. We have no control when that happens. It is a significant investment. The U.K. presently has no rules for rebasing assets upon arrival either (which is asinine) so we are told by professional advice.

I am saddened that we may have to u-turn, but this probable onslaught on "the broadest shoulders", coupled with many colleagues in London who will be similarly affected hinting they may have to flee rapido, is not inspiring at all.

Where we are now is 0 CGT on longer held assets. It's very business friendly too with other concessions for impatriates.

It's not just individual reaction it's business too listening to the news this morning on this

The IoD's monthly Economic Confidence Index is now minus -12

If Labour continue to stuff up then that list from the pp with all the things they want from taxes others pay is going to recede even more

But taxes will still go up, maybe more than included this time round

I’ll be advising my mother to see if there’s anything she can do to sell one of her houses quickly (yes I will get some of the proceeds) so that she’ll ‘only’ have to pay the government 18% CGT.

I don't like ping pong!

You nor i know what tax rises, if any, Labour plan to introduce or change.

But at least we seem to agree that Hunt chose to damage the UK for short term political gain.

i'd like to see him & Sunak held accountable for that, the IFS said at the time, these cuts would need to funded by either tax rises elsewhere or funding reductions, he went ahead regardless.

Yes i listened to that piece too.

You ve taken one months figures and blamed them on Labours tax plans, which are as yet, unknown, despite most posters thinking they have seen the October budget already.

The true picture is rather different, there are a whole range of negative indicators, all based on policies and decisions made under the Tory Government.

Highlights how stupid Starmer is to rule out real economic partnership with the EU.

https://www.iod.com/news/uk-economy/iod-press-release-economic-confidence-amongst-business-leaders-hits-four-month-low/

Seriously? You want Hunt held to account for a budget decision he made 6 months ago - in line with his party's goals - with no significant irreversible knock-on effects - which Labour could easily reverse?

Or is it somehow Hunt's fault that Labour made a committed to not increase Income tax or NI for 5 years? Labour really can't pretend they didn't know about the just-implemented NI reduction.

Are you seriously suggesting that Labour should have opposed these cuts in the lead up to a GE?

Hunt was just as irresponsible as Truss (someone else who should be in court) different scale but same old Tory economic incompetence & know it turns out Hunt didn't budget for any compensation schemes - 'blood and post office, 10s of billions.

However, yes i do agree Reeves should reverse them and she might for all we know.

She is going to have to do a lot more than increase CGT and almost certainly borrow more too.

Of course Labour could have said they were going to reverse them in the run-up to the GE! It wouldn't be remotely against Labour values - which is what voters presumably voted for - to say that they wanted to prioritise public spending over an unsustainable cut.

Or at the very least not made a completely pointless and stupid manifesto commitment.

What Liz Truss did was outrageously incompetent and has had enormous consequences. Fwiw, I'm glad that RR introduced the OBR fiscal lock.

What Hunt did was just normal government even if you don't agree with it. He was aiming to increase work participation - which an NI reduction is specifically targeted at - in order to increase economic growth. Perhaps it would have worked, in the absence of the work-participation-destroying measures Labour have floated.

Let's see how RR does, in terms of impact on the economy.

I cannot think of any Chancellor (Kwarteng aside) who has introduced billions of unfunded tax cuts and these is also the timing, months before a GE, it was an electoral bribe, nothing more, no evidence whatsoever it would have increased participation in the workforce, why should it?

Even Lawson saw economic growth first before tax cuts.

I don't know what the electoral impact would have been had Labour not backed these cuts, they might still be in opposition, it was a trap set for Labour, with no concern for the wider economy.

Reeves now has to fund them.

what anti work measures is Labour floating?

It's reported in the press from the organisation including quotes, you can read up on what is being said there

As for relationship with EU I covered that pre GE, too late now

I recall some mad posts about it being 'a trap' for Labour. Unfortunately for the UK they were too worried about whatever including press

Extra taxes including those that impact businesses will compound it, and I assume there will be discussion from various groups if new taxes do harm rather than help

I worked for 2 years after state pension age and was surprised when no NI deductions were made for those 2 years - would making it payable for all who are still working, i.e. pensioners, help fill a little bit of the black hole?

NI is primarily for the state pension though so would seem silly to pay it.

How could it ever be silly to be paying money in?

Quoting Louis Ashworth in the FT on all the black hole scaremongering going on:

“Is this good politics? We would guess yes, probably.
As Michael Saunders, formerly of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee and now at Oxford Economics, put it in a note ahead of Reeves’s black hole revelation: Any political costs from higher taxes could be outweighed by the scale of Labour’s majority and, using the cover of the review, putting the blame on the weak fiscal position left by the previous Conservative government. This strategy of early tax hikes was adopted by the first Blair government (1997—2001) and was followed by two further election victories.]… Such a windfall might provide a platform later on from which — if needed for political purposes — fiscal policy could be loosened closer to the next election.

Is it good economics? No, of course not, we’re British.”

For fuck sake. Why are we getting a constant stream of these useless politicians? Where is the patriotism and doing what is best for the country VS what is best for the party? Why are they not held to acting in the best interests of the country? The political system IS BROKEN. People will hate Labour as much as they hate the Tories now. People are far cleverer than these politicians think. It is an insult to our intelligence.

Where is the patriotism and doing what is best for the country VS what is best for the party?

Oasis tickets: Dynamic pricing row prompts government probe - BBC News

"Ministers are set to look into the use of "dynamic pricing", amid an ongoing row about the "depressing" and "vastly inflated" cost of tickets to see Oasis next year.
A consultation into ticket resale websites had already been announced by the government, and will start in the autumn."

Don't you see how much patriotism is there? it's only day 60 of the new government, they already took WFA from those old scrooges and now review gigs ticketing to help working people? isn't this great?

FFS

Well, as 1997 was the last time labour got into power after a long period of Tory rule, it would be a bit like that.

Vat on independent schools because they're a luxury and do not fulfill charitable aims.

Smoking ban - Tories were signed up to phasing out smoking. Probably impacts working class people most. Not class warfare, maybe trying to save lives and save the NHS money.

Ban on trail hunting - because it's cruel and horrible?

NI may be primarily for the State Pension but while still working age it also gives access to New Style JSA/ESA.

You'd be better, would you? Politics is hard. You never make everyone happy. We had Johnson types brushing the hard stuff under the carpet, now it's time to sort it out. It's smart to frontload the painful stuff.

If we get poor politicians, it's mainly because they could earn a lot more elsewhere without the hate, impact on family life, endless travel, sudden end to careers.

I'm glad we're getting some grown ups in at last. I hope tugendhat wins the Tory leadership and there will be sensible policy debate after the brexit Punch and Judy years. People like Nadine dorries, Liz truss, priti patel, braverman should never have got so far in politics.

Angela Rayner - a grownup.

I must confess - I am seriously struggling with that description. The equivalent of a diversity hire. Unqualified. A trade unionist.

Would not last five minutes on the world stage.

And she’s DP.

The mind boggles.

That ‘grown up’ line is getting a bit tired, they seem somewhat out of their depth.

They should try to avoid damaging business confidence as they continue to lead otherwise we’ll all feel it.