If Labour raises taxes what will you think?

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Typing on my phone so not sure I can do a poll? But, if the government raises income tax or NI at the budget, will you think:

A - let’s get real, they had no other choice
B - those duplicitous / inept bastards

Kemi is on fire with this speech

That was a very strong delivery by Kemi Badenoch. I think the Welfare Party may stick!

I thought she was weak, she was in the previous Govt that allowed Welfare to boom.
She therefore lacks credibility, hence her poll ratings, which considering where Labour are, should be much better, both for her and her party.

On Welfare, sure have reform and cut it back, i'm all for it...... then hear the screams of protest when people realise it hits them, not least in SEND a MN favourite, the Tories £47 billion in welfare cuts will mean a lot of genuine hardship.

When Labour tried to cut it back, as well as his own back benchers, it was Tory supporting media that also criticised it too, the Cons also refused to back it.

I think a couple in Labour will have sour grapes but most agree she did a great job.

Yes, absolutely. I thought that packaged up the budget well. The Welfare Party nails the direction of travel and perfectly frames the Labour government as it bribes its frothing backbenchers into compliance. £15bn to unleash the two child benefit cap and increase benefits to the tune of inflation, which is artificially high because of the increase in minimum wage - which is fuelling unemployment...behold the doom loop for the next three years. Rachel from Accounts strikes again.

Does anyone else wonder what she will do next year at the next budget. That it’s a slippery slope; so for example new levy on homes over 2m. Next year it will be over 1m, the year after 500k, she will raise vat, or income tax and say well I held off for two budgets.

thst it is going to be never ending misery till they go? They are as far left as it gets. Just dressed up in a suit.

Hell! have you got next weeks lottery numbers?

She has doubled her fiscal headroom, something she should have done last year.

Hard left? i don't think so....

She'll be out on her ear next year after the local elections.

Do you trust a word she says?

No more or less than any other Govt minister of any party.

Plus no one knows what the world will give us... the most obv one is Ukraine, Russia wins there and Defence spend will quadruple.

The LLs income tax though is stupid, that'll be passed straight on to higher rents.

@Alexandra2001 .
I'm saying slash the welfare bill, 6 million spent on immigrants per day and recover the fraudulent Covid money. I haven't mentioned stopping money for building and infrastructure.

Why are you making excuses for a government unable to make simple decisions?

Not many working class people are on £37000 per year. A 37 to 40 hours contract per week does not earn someone £37000.

I don't care how tricky it is to get taxes from companies like Starbucks who avoid paying tax. Either they pay the required tax or it's the government's job to close them down immediately.

She’s taken money out of the average working persons pocket, and given it to benefit claimants. That’s what she’s done not taxed the rich and given it to the poor, she’s went after average working people. Head room, she can fuck off with her head room, people are struggling as it is, without emptying their pockets to pay more benefits.

where is our headroom?

THANK YOU

I've never understood the tax avoidance either.

Maybe I'm naive, but if Starbucks wants to trade in the UK, I think that should be conditional on it paying tax on its UK income, regardless of where its headquarters are situated. If it fails to submit its UK accounts, then we should tax it based on our own estimate of its UK income. If our figures are wrong, then it's up to Starbucks to prove us wrong by submitting its accounts plus supporting evidence.

it Is tax optimisation really but people always call it tax avoidance as it sounds more contentious, most multi nationals optimise tax, and they flow earnings through the country with the most favourable tax rates, the uk having unfavourable corporate tax is in part, the issue, make it more favourable and more tax would be paid.

starbucks paid about 7 million in tax in the uk last year, they pay royalties to their parent company, which reduces the burden, and the parent is then taxed in the country it is in, which will have a more favourable corp tax rate than the uk. It is likely only one or two percentage points, but will make a massive difference in the amount of tax paid globall. They pay tax, they just optimise it

star bucks is also publicly traded, so it has a duty to its shareholders to maximise dividends, which will impact many things, from pensions to savings for those who hold shares.

I’d also add, if we reduced our tax rates and made it more favourable more countries would flow their income through snd pay more tax. If we take oil and gas, due to the increases Labour has put in, inc windfall tax it is now 78 percent tax, meaning these companies are effective jumping ship, which results in even less tax being paid into the uk economy. The uk is seen as tax hostile.

the issue is not fundamentally that multi nationals optimise tax, that’s to be expected, it is that our tax rates mean it would be remiss of them to pay in the uk, when they quite frankly don’t have to, but they always pay, it is simply a question of where.

if we reduced our tax rates instead of keeping increasing them, the issue would resolve.

edit to add, we have many tax burdens that Labour has increased since they came to office, the increased national insurance is one everyone has heard of, costing millions a year for large companies, and now we have so many others from increased nmw, making the uk very expensive to do business in and this government is seen as increasingly hostile .

Lastly as labour increases the tax burden to employers, the large companies either downsize of flow income elsewhere, paying tax in other countries, akin to the wealthy leaving. This means we then get less tax paid, which in turn deepens the economic hole we are in. And then workers need to pay more tax to cover it.

Where has she hit the average worker?

Who hasn't got ISA's (which may well make people more money) hasn't got a salary sacrifice pension, hasn't got a 2m house? doesn't drive an EV and hasn't a buy to let (who we are all told don't make any money from their property!) or a shares portfolio.

Its all hype, as most of these measures won't happen for several years and might never come in.

Income tax TH are already frozen until 2029, no changes until 2030, by which time, Labour will be out and Reform and/or the Tories will claim they are just following Labours policy.

Just as Reeves has blamed the Tories..

Did you not understand there was tax threshold freeze extensions?

And many average workers do drive Evs and have Isas; average worker is not min wage,

Did you not understand my last paragraph? the freezes don't kick in for another 3 years, there is no change.

& in 3 years time, Reform or the Tories can reinstate them.

She has also scrapped some Green levies, so bills will fall.

We can only hope they do.

So there is no change until 2030.... & we both know any incoming Govt wont unfreeze them.

FWIW, i wouldn't have frozen them at least for pensioners, not sure how cost effective that would be, as its a bit pointless paying tax on a state pension, lowering income to such an extent that the pensioner can then claim Pension Credit etc etc

Robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Record tax burden on next couple of years and £26bn on top of the last one off tax hike budget.

Our overall tax burden is still far lower than most countries in Europe, whose public services we so admire.......

Germany's is higher, yet historically attracts inward investment and has had v good growth.

We are low in the OECD taxation table too.