Tax
How George Osborne took on Ed Miliband on the cost of living
In addition to his effective attack on Labour’s welfare policy, George Osborne used the Autumn Statement to take on Ed Miliband on another key electoral battleground. Over the past few… Continue reading
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A budget for the squeezed middle
Ed Miliband may have coined the term, but it seems George Osborne has the squeezed middle on his mind too. The overall effect of yesterday’s budget* was to take from… Continue reading
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MPs criticise ‘voluntary’ tax arrangements for Starbucks and other big companies
Danny Alexander might be glad that a PR panic before the Public Accounts Committee published its report into HMRC and the ability of multinational companies to avoid paying their share… Continue reading
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Miliband’s false ‘millionaires’ tax cut’ attack
Messrs Miliband and Balls performed their pre-autumn statement double act today. If for some inexplicable reason you missed it, the Labour chiefs launched their Q&A with an attack on the government… Continue reading
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UKIP is not a libertarian party - Spectator Blogs
I’m sure, as James says, that the idea of some kind of Tory-UKIP non-aggression pact will not go away. But that’s because many Tory backbenchers are remarkably stupid. Proponents of… Continue reading
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Why do-gooding ‘sin taxes’ always stink of politics
Nutella may have been created by Italians, but it is the French who really love it. The hazelnut spread is a fantastically popular accompaniment for everything from bread for breakfast… Continue reading
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Annals of Odd Complaint: Moaning that Google Does Exactly What You Say You Want It To Do - Spectator Blogs
Via Tim Worstall, here’s Jeanette Winterson: A fiery Jeanette Winterson has called for the hundreds of millions of pounds of profit which Amazon, Starbucks and Google were last week accused… Continue reading
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Headmistress Hodge grills HMRC on tax avoidance
Ever since Margaret Hodge took over the chairmanship of the Public Accounts Committee, its evidence sessions have become rather lively: more like a fearsome grilling from the headmistress than a… Continue reading
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Vince Cable continues public campaign for a mansion tax
Perhaps Vince Cable wasn’t listening to the bit in George Osborne’s speech at the Tory conference last week where the Chancellor ruled out a mansion tax. The Business Secretary has… Continue reading
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George Osborne: ‘New taxes on rich people’ to accompany welfare cuts
Ahead of his conference speech this morning, George Osborne was on the Today Programme. Much of the interview revolved around whether or not the Chancellor would have to abandon his… Continue reading
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Why George Osborne had to kill the mansion tax
This morning the Mail on Sunday reported that George Osborne has promised there will be no mansion tax, no wealth tax and the council tax freeze will be extended. Homeowners… Continue reading
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Will the Lib Dems veto welfare cuts?
If the Lib Dem conference was all about proalition, the Conservatives seem determined to at least start their conference in a less coalicious frame of mind. This morning Chancellor George… Continue reading
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The dangerous attraction of wealth taxes
I’ve written about the deceptive attraction of wealth tax in my Telegraph column today, and I wish I was wasting my time. Once, you could say it was an idea… Continue reading
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Mitt Romney's Lose-Lose Tax Problem - Spectator Blogs
How rich is Mitt Romney? Wealthy enough to voluntarily pay $250,000 more tax than he needed to last year. That’s the most notable thing about the Romneys’ 2011 tax return… Continue reading
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John Swinney misses a trick - Spectator Blogs
There are days when Scottish independence seems a more than decent idea. Budget day at Holyrood is always one of them. I say budget day but it’s really faux-budget day… Continue reading
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The coalition’s tax trade-off
James Kirkup has an intriguing story today about how the Liberal Democrats are prepared to see inheritance tax scrapped, or the threshold raised, in exchange for the introduction of higher… Continue reading
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Danny Alexander fires shot in fairer taxes battle
Danny Alexander is clearly super-keen to remind everyone of what the Lib Dem slogan is for their party conference, which begins on Saturday. ‘We need fairer taxes in these tough… Continue reading
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Increased support for more spending, but also for benefit cuts
‘Support for an increase in public spending rises.’ That’s the headline generated by the latest British Social Attitudes survey results, out today. They show that the proportion of the population… Continue reading
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Independent Scotland: socialist paradise or neo-liberal nirvana? - Spectator Blogs
Well, probably neither actually. But there’s every reason to suppose that just as some Unionists are fooling themselves when they discount the possibility of dear old Scotia thriving as an… Continue reading
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Lib Dems prepare for fight on welfare and taxes
Nothing is certain at a Liberal Democrat conference other than plenty of discussion of benefits and taxes. The left-leaning wing of the party – the Social Liberal Forum – has released… Continue reading
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