Which taxes should Burnham put up?

[Toohotforwork]

It seems pretty clear that in the Autumn we are in for another massive tax rising budget. Starmer has done of the ground work to show what we need to spend and how there isn't any money, I'm sure the "blackholes" were co-ordinated with the new team for messaging. Labour don't have it in them to cut the welfare bill and to be fair the Tories didn't either - so I can't see that changing.

Which taxes would up increase to fund the country properly?

Personally I'd go the easy route and put 1 or 2p on the basic rate of income tax. It would break the manifesto but one short sharp initiative has got to be better than death by a thousand small increases.

I think the care proposals of getting rid of inheritance tax and replacing it with a 10% charge on everyone is very sensible.

Equalising income tax and capital gains tax seems an easy win as well.

Thought it might be useful to see where it’s all currently spent:

UK Welfare Spending Breakdown
(2025–26)

State Pension £146.1 - 45.3%

Universal Credit £60–65 - 18–20%

Housing Benefit £37.3 - 11.6%

PIP £24–26 - 7.5–8.0%

Child Benefit £15–16 - 4.8–5.0%

ESA £14–16 - 4–5%

Attendance Allowance £7–8 - 2–2.5%

Pension Credit £6–7 - 2%

Carer's Allowance £4–5 - 1.2–1.5%

Winter Fuel Payment £1.5–2.0- 0.5–0.6%

Source: Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Benefit Expenditure and Caseload Tables
(Spring Statement 2025), with forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). Figures
are rounded and percentages are of total welfare expenditure (~£323bn).

There is a lot to cut back in that list.

The country is on its knees due to record high tax rates and spiralling welfare spending. We are so far round the laffer curve any further tax increases will result in less tax being paid . We need tax cuts , particularly corporation tax and deep cuts in public spending to have any chance of avoiding the IMF stepping in and imposing massive restrictions.

Extremely rocky road ahead , buckle up folks

Controversial but scrap the minimum wage for disabled peeps, I know people will say it’s exploitation but in my son’s case (AuADHD plus lots of other things !) he’s a qualified mechanic so no ‘big’ employers, he can do the job well but probably not as quick as the next person, no employer will take him on at minimum wage when he’s doing £7 an hours worth of work - they are going to take on the other person, but if they where allowed to take him on at £7 we’d all be happy! The alternative is sitting at home forever on pip/Uc - which helps no one. I live in this world and see it playing out everywhere. I could possibly name 200 young adults caught in this trap and it’s not going to get any better. In the old days employers had to take a percentage of disabled people on. Scrap the new employers NIC / pensions, small business just cannot afford young people. Tax all estates regardless of value, inheritance is ‘extra’ (and I will benefit from inheritance). Stop taxing private health cover, more people would pay/use it and it saves the nhs a fortune. Sort out the nhs dentists, thousands of people are living with bad dental health which in turn has health implications. Overweight ? - give them WLI free, the long term health savings would out weigh the costs. Put solar panels on every roof.

Controversial but scrap the minimum wage for disabled peeps, I know people will say it’s exploitation but in my son’s case (AuADHD plus lots of other things !) he’s a qualified mechanic so no ‘big’ employers, he can do the job well but probably not as quick as the next person, no employer will take him on at minimum wage when he’s doing £7 an hours worth of work - they are going to take on the other person, but if they where allowed to take him on at £7 we’d all be happy! The alternative they spend a lifetime on pip/uc. I work in this arena and see hundreds of disabled young people who do nothing and unless someone comes along and gives them a chance will continue doing so. Scrap the new employees Nic / pension rules. They just can’t afford to take people on. Years ago employers had to take a percentage of disabled people on, bring this back. Stop taxing private health - more people would buy it bringing the nhs lists down. Get more nhs dentists, thousands of people have bad teeth health which later correlates to bad health outcomes! Overweight? Give everyone WLI - the costs would be minimal compared to the long term health issues it costs. Inheritance tax should be paid by everyone on the estate, inheritance should be a bonus not an expectation. If you taxed everyone’s estate, more of the older generation would spend some of it, instead of sitting on it for ‘their children’

get more mental health professionals out there, on UC for anxiety etc you need to seeing a MHP otherwise you’re not going to get better! Time limit UC for these issues unless they are engaging with professionals. On UC and ‘able’ then make them do voluntary work - grass needs cutting, signs need cleaning, walls painting etc etc

They really need to look at DLA. Not for people who really need it but for the parents requesting adhd assessment via right to choose, getting a diagnosis then applying for DLA. Then applying for an EHCP. The requests we get for EHCNAs sometimes include the DLA letter and families are receiving £400 a month for a child who is absolutely fine, going to school etc. yes they may have adhd but I have no idea why this needs £400 per month

Plus early retirees.

Yes, indeed. Tax is holding back economic growth. Businesses not expanding, people choosing not to work as much as they could, small businesses collapsing, etc. The NIC rise needs reversing asap as a first step.

Not sure whether I’m on your shit list or not. DS is autistic, dyspraxic, has ADHD and sensory processing disorder. He attends specialist school. We get the princely sum of £300 a month in DLA.

I’ve spent about £30k of my net income on therapy that the NHS either does not offer (eg no CAMHS for ND kids), or offers selectively with a 5-year waiting list. He needs sensory equipment, equipment to support his dyspraxia e.g. a trampoline, nest swing and a large balance bike, visual timetables, chew necklaces, fidget toys and adapted clothing, which is £££. DS can’t cope with crowds or noise so we have to go anywhere at quiet times or book them privately. Attractions usually offer SEN times early or late in the day which often requires an overnight stay. He has no friends and typically reads a book every day to fill his time. It would take half a century of DLA to break even from the £30k NHS subsidy, even without those additional daily costs.

Oh and DH and I are both AR taxpayers. Too fucking right I claim DLA.

Absolutely, and the revisionist drivel about Kinnock (of all people) being vomited about by our soon-to-be the seventh PM in a decade makes me think the IMF will be at the door sooner rather than later.

I’m past caring tbh - if we need a third party to cure our collective economic illiteracy the hard way, so be it.

When threads fill with ways we need to tax people more, someone else of course, whilst the IMF and OECD say yeh don’t. We probably will need an intervention. There’s no end to demand for higher taxes on others.

By 28/29 Government statistics indicate 60% of ALL UK households will be receiving more in benefits and services than they contribute in all taxes. That’s just not sustainable is it?

What about growth?

What about it?

I feel like that was at 50 - 51% quite recently but haven’t checked. A big jump if so.

That was for the 60% figure

Currently 53.3% and Gov figures project it to reach 60% by 28/29.

Great post. Tax tax tax just removes ambition

Freeze all benefits for 5 years, no benefits to non-UK citizens, be much more enthusiastic about deporting illegal immigrants, increase inheritance tax, include house equity for all financial assessments.

If you are referring to economic growth, then increased taxation needed to pay for growing welfare payments slows the economy, meaning that the next year there is less tax revenue so you need to increase taxation again (or increase debt) and so on.

In order to grow the economy you need to cut taxation which is not possible without cutting Government spending particularly welfare.

Returning to the discussion of yesterday evening about housing, and social housing especially, the Times contains an article today suggesting that there are 114,000 households living in social housing with incomes over £78k (among the top 20%). The same survey found 390,000 households were under-occupying homes by at least two bedrooms.

As there's no mandatory reassessment, the author asks whether social tenancies should be finite in length, not transferable, and restricted to those on low income, with regular reviews of total household earnings. Otherwise, runs the argument, the only option is to build more social housing ad infinitum. We have an allocation problem, on top of a supply issue.

Burnham could introduce regional taxes to encourage businesses to locate in lower tax regions.

The problem with that is you will just get business owners pocketing the profits from lower taxes, and letting their staff (who will be paying income tax at the national rate) pay for it.

It's the #1 suggestion in any chatbot of choice.

Or do you mean local income tax ? Good luck with that.

Local sales tax ? Let's all be American ?

Swiss style. Works for them. Attract businesses to the regions with lower taxes.
It gives job opportunities in otherwise employment dead zones.

With 1.3m households on the waiting list for Social Housing, surely, that needs to be reviewed?
The question again though is where would those people go? The recently changed taxation for private landlords has massively reduced supply, with 220,000 privately rented properties predicted to be sold in 2026 alone. Recent trends show that only 1 in 6 of those is sold to another landlord.
Anecdotally, a couple of friends who do not need social housing have recently been trying to rent privately. Total nightmare, zero availability and obviously, as ever with supply and demand, rising rents.

Since when has the UK ever adopted something done by foreigners ?