Tax
David Cameron and the married couple’s tax allowance
The married couple’s tax allowance is back on the agenda. After Conservative Home’s exclusive yesterday, David Cameron has confirmed that he will introduce one before the end of this parliament.… Continue reading
32 Comments
About that UKIP tax policy…
Nigel Farage was on Question Time again last night. This was hardly unusual, but what was interesting was that the UKIP leader U-turned on one of his flagship policies. When… Continue reading
123 Comments
Tax transparency: Cameron says relax
When dolphins hunt fish, they gang up on them as a school, chasing them into the shallows. So it happens at the daily lobby briefing: when a morsel of a… Continue reading
41 Comments
Tories go on tax offensive
It’s 45p day in Westminster, and Ed Balls is trying to make the most of the end of a 50p rate his own party only imposed for a month or… Continue reading
69 Comments
Independent Scotland: neoliberal nirvana or Scandinavian paradise?
So, an independent Scotland. Neoliberal nirvana or Scandinavian paradise? True, these are not the only choices available but as a useful shorthand for the size of the state and its… Continue reading
40 Comments
Council tax increases, but might councils spend more wisely?
One development that IDS and George Osborne did not dwell upon in their Telegraph piece mentioned earlier was council tax, which, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, is due to… Continue reading
64 Comments
Osborne and IDS promise a ‘better deal’ for working families. But a better deal is not necessarily a good deal
As Fraser says, the welfare changes, cuts to legal aid and so forth, which have come into force today, have got a universal thumbs-down in the left-wing press. I expect… Continue reading
18 Comments
The Scottish Tories Cross Their Rubicon
Alea iacta est. And not before time. More than a year ago and at the outbreak of this independence referendum virus I wrote an article for this magazine arguing that,… Continue reading
23 Comments
Just cutting spending isn’t enough. Osborne needs to invest as well
Economic growth for the next year is predicted to be lower than 1.0%. I can’t think, offhand, or a more obvious indication that the Chancellor is gripped by some sort… Continue reading
55 Comments
Budget 2013: Ed Balls sticks to his favourite 50p attack
Ed Balls has just given his post-Budget briefing in parliament. The striking thing about Balls, no matter how much you might disagree with him, is how much he relishes these… Continue reading
77 Comments
How the Treasury could sell its tax cuts to voters
One of the big challenges for the government in tomorrow’s Budget is how well the Number 10 machine is able to sell some of the positive measures that George Osborne… Continue reading
13 Comments Forget 50p — scrap the 60p tax rate
Imagine if a Chancellor stood up and announced that those earning up to £100,000 would pay a 40p tax rate, those earning £100,000 to £112,950 will pay a 60p rate,… Continue reading
20 Comments
Liam Fox shows David Cameron how to lead the Tories to a historic defeat
I think it is fair to say that Dr Liam Fox has never been one of David Cameron’s chief chums. The former Defence Secretary has, as Paul Goodman notes, been… Continue reading
35 Comments
Lib Dems to hold mansion tax vote strategy meeting
Will the Lib Dems support Labour’s mansion tax vote? Vince Cable praised his pet policy idea last night, telling Lib Dem activists that it was an effective way of the… Continue reading
33 Comments
Revolting, Panic-Stricken Tories are doing Ed Miliband's job for him
Panic, once let loose, is hard to corral. And there seems to be plenty of panic on the Tory benches at Westminster. The Eastleigh by-election result, the stagnant economy and… Continue reading
16 Comments
The government must cut or even scrap capital gains tax
When economists get things wrong– something rather easy, given the nature of their subject – they should admit that they got them wrong. Well, the Adam Smith Institute got it… Continue reading
29 Comments
Tinkering with tax isn’t enough
Should the 10p tax rate be brought back? Should the top rate be higher, or lower? Can the personal allowance be raised further? Is a mansion tax a good idea?… Continue reading
65 Comments
Big Brother cash machine campaign costs nearly £100k
Remember those menacing HMRC eyes that Fraser found staring out at him from a cashpoint last month? Well, it turns out they’re a pretty expensive pair of eyes. A Freedom… Continue reading
27 Comments
George Osborne needs to deliver serious tax reform
‘Isn’t there a case for looking at the whole system at some point?’ whispered Isabel on Tuesday when MPs criticised the taxman again. Well, yes, there is. Last May, the… Continue reading
84 Comments Lib Dems get worked up about a vote that doesn’t matter
It seems I rather underestimated Labour when I said their forthcoming Opposition Day vote on the mansion tax would be boring and unlikely to attract any Lib Dem support. The… Continue reading
29 Comments