What other ways could Rachel Reeves have raised more money?

[Katypp]

As a former small business owner (thankfully former!), the additional costs would have crippled our company.
But according to some posters on MN, we should just have sucked them up from our profits and if we could not afford to do so, should not have been running a business in the first place. If only life were as simple as some (who clearly have never run a business) seem to think it is.

Anyway, I wondered if any other posters would like to contribute to a thread of suggestions of alternative ways money could have been raised. Specifics if possible, not general Tax The Rich type posts.

I'll go first ...

1. Restore employees' NI to the level it was before Jeremy Hunt tinkered with it last Budget. We've only had the uplift a few months so the pain would be minimal
2. Get rid of the pension triple lock and put pensioners on a level footing with other benefits increases.

Target the black economy. Traders doing cash in hand jobs and not declaring the profits thus tax evasion and often accompanying benefit fraud. Same target against businesses and individuals employing people “off the books”. Then duty free fags and booze sold in dodgy pubs and shops. Money laundering Turkish hairdressers, nail bars, phone accessory shops, American candy shops and ethnic supermarkets who never have any customers. Target fake self employment such as just eat drivers, etc. The official tax gap of the black economy is billions. Increase HMRC, police and council staff to enforce the laws and generate billions in tax revenue and save billions in benefit fraud.

A reduction in generous tax reliefs on inheritance, whilst at the same time extending the length of time before the inheritor has to pay inheritance tax on the sale of property.

No you are not being taxed on money you've already been taxed on through your life. You will be dead, it is your inheritors who will be paying tax on the unearned windfall they receive. And before anyone comes for me, yes it's very sad for someone close to you to die but it's sad for those who inherit nothing too (and the stress to boot of scraping the money together for a funeral).

As someone on another thread put it, I'd rather have properly funded services for all than provide a windfall for a few of my relatives (especially whilst I'm still alive to see it)!

Raise money from taxing carbon heavy industries (oil, gas, cement), raise corporation tax for companies with turnover above a certain threshold, close loopholes and exemptions for the super rich

And get some inheritance tax off King Charles. £21 billion pound estate right there…

How much is that actually likely to raise vs, money spent on enforcement? I don’t disagree with any of it in theory, but things like duty free fags are extremely costly to enforce fully - I can envision spending more to enforce than you gain in revenue.

bit like the non dom status - hypothetically I agree with scrapping it, but as it is unlikely to raise any money at all it feels more like virtue signalling than actual fiscal policy.

Cut overseas aid - we can't afford it.
Increase income tax by 1p in the pound for all.
Give a flat rate of child benefit.for a maximum of 2 children across the board regardless of parental income. If they can restrict UC to 2 children they can do the same with CB.
Make a small per night charge for all adult hospital stays e.g £2.50 say?
Address immigration by investing in better border controls. I simply don't understand why the people coming on the boats aren't being taken straight back to France as soon as they land here? Who cares whether or not France agree to this they are clearly turning a blind eye!.

I’ve never understood why we don’t charge a tourist tax in popular areas e.g 2.5% on hotel bills. Loads of cities do it all over the world and I don’t think it would discourage tourists.

I wish they had changed the non-domicile scheme (where you can choose not to be British for tax reasons) and transfer all your wealth offshore for tax purposes. However much that costs now, it's not enough. All the really rich people don't pay tax. It's so wrong!

To those suggesting crackdown on fraud, tax Amazon, close loopholes for the rich etc.
Genuine question: Do you not think the Tories (or Labour before them) would have done this if it was a simple fix?

We are a poor, rich country now, headed into a slow decline.

Is that a bit too much? I just thought maybe a short blitz with a definite timescale might be better than the constant drudgery of years and years of higher taxes, 2% higher here, 5% higher there etc. Just get it all over and done with in one go?

This ^
plus:
-windfall tax on oil and gas companies much much higher
-small fee for GP appointments £5
-someone mentioned increasing duty for alcohol at supermarkets, I don’t mind it.

Align the age you get free NHS prescriptions and sight tests at with state pension age, rather than it being 60.
Make working pensioners pay NI
Increase income tax by 1p in the £. Decrease benefits by the same amount, so everyone is contributing
Reverse Jeremy Hunt’s increase in the child benefit income cap
Tax gambling winnings over a certain amount (£1,000?) including Lottery winnings

Trouble is it’s endemic and getting worse due to lack of enforcement, just like road traffic law breaking etc. A few decades ago there was real enforcement and deterrent via local tax inspectors checking records of businesses in their area - it was a real deterrent. Now the dodgy people know their risk of challenge or check is zero so don’t even attempt to hide their tax evasion.

No, these people and corporations have outsized influence on government and spend time and money protecting their interests. Not to mention that they themselves often ARE the government - couldn’t imagine Rishi pushing for measures that reduce his own family’s wealth, for example

I think even people with a really solid faith in government would shy away from allowing the treasury to seize all money of theirs for three months that wasn’t considered “necessary” - seems a bit of a slippery slope to embark on, putting it rather mildly…!

It might be a good opening chapter to a dystopian novel though 🤣

Reduce immigration and cut the welfare budget.

To all the people that think immigration is bad for the economy:-

Small boats are a tiny % of actual legal net migration and are just used as headline grabbers to make us buy newspapers
Immigrants need goods and services like everyone else - £8000 per year on university fees for example
Immigrants are cleaners, doctors, electricians, nurses, carers, lawyers,

This. It is truly terrifying that they'd rather go after our farms and small businesses than this

^NHS - mandatory prescription reviews every 6 months.|

That will cost millions in GP and nurse prescriber appointments for no purpose. People don't magically recover from long-term conditions.

Don't allow people to remain on welfare with MH/Anxiety if they refuse to engage in their recovery. Think of a staggered reduction in benefits after a certain period of time.

You do realise that the waiting lists for adult mental health care are measured in years? Not months, years? People on benefits already die because they run out of money. This suggestion, if actioned, would be mass murder.

Scrap the triple lock.

It's unaffordable and unsustainable. We have an aging population and soon our demographics will mean that there are not enough working aged people to pay for all the pensioners. This isn't me being agist before the usual crowd piles in. It's a cold, harsh, economic truth.

Link state pension increases to average wage increases instead.

Yes, and this indicates a problem! People have become so fixated on the idea of pensioners being the only group who should always be privileged.

Decrease benefits by the same amount, so everyone is contributing

Benefits are assessed as "what the law says you need to live on" and are already pitifully low. Taking even 1% of someone's benefits is putting them below what they need to live on.

They aren't privileged - the benefit factors in the fact they they cannot work, unlike younger people.

Restrict disability benefits for working age people to those with very severe disabilities and divert some of the saved funds to create proper mentoring and support for those with mild anxiety and depression who would actually benefit from having something to get out of bed for in the morning, some routine and self esteem.

I think 80/20 rule very much the aim here - no idea what we are achieving at the moment, but no country has ever successfully eliminated black markets.