Many MPs – from all parties – have proposed making the first £10,000 that you earn tax-free. This was first proposed by Maurice Saatchi back in 2001, with the Centre for Policy Studies thinktank. It has since been championed by many Lib Dems and Conservatives alike (for example, Platform10 here). I have argued for it for a long time, most recently with Dover MP Charlie Elphicke, as this tax-cut would make most people £700 better off, every year. That’s £60 more a month.
Experts like the Institute for Fiscal Studies sayBritain can afford it. With the crisis in Europe, we can’t afford to lose jobs and growth. As Tim Montgomerie has said:
“I urge George Osborne to spend his better-than-expected January surplus. This would give the Chancellor enough money to deliver shock-and-awe tax cuts of the kind that will boost the economy and demonstrate in a powerful and not uncontroversial way that the Conservative Party is on the side of ordinary families – rather than the very wealthy.”
Tax cutting has to be as much about morality as about economics. For Modern Conservatives, the task is clear: Any tax cut must be affordable, help the economy to grow, and be justifiable on ethical grounds. That is why we must stop talking so much about the 50p rate of tax, and show instead that tax cutting is in essence a moral creed – allowing people to keep more of their own money. Unlike Ed Balls and Labour (whose VAT-cut would line the pockets of tycoons and billionaires), Conservative tax-cutting must help the millions of British strivers: the families up and down the country who work hard, and do the right thing.
Please join our campaign, and sign this online petition, from the grassroots campaign group Right Angle, who are calling for lower taxes for the low-paid. We only have a few weeks left before the Budget. Our message is: HANDS OFF OUR FIRST £10,000!
Robert Halfon is MP for Harlow. He tweets at @halfon4harlowMP
New blogpost: @Halfon4Harlow of @UKRightAngle says let’s make the first £10,000 tax-free http://t.co/WbrIiiWN #fb
New blogpost: Let’s make the first £10,000 you earn tax-free http://t.co/KeLRKWlC
I don’t understand how its apparently fine for the coalition to suggest tax cuts, but definitely not fine (by them) for others to suggest targeted spending. Both involve a cost the exchquer. If the coalition implement this they are effectively saying Labour’s policy is also correct.
On a moral basis spending would be better because it can be targetted where it is needed, and at the poorest. By contrast the majority of money lost by the exchquer in increasing limits to 10k will go to average to high income earners.
There is also good evidence that the multiplier for public spending is higher than cuts to taxation. So the economy will get more out of it as well.
MUST READ: “Let’s make the first £10,000 you earn tax-free” by @halfon4harlowMP –> http://t.co/pEeMtsXH #Budget2012
@halfon4harlowMP writes for @platformTen: “Let’s make the first £10,000 tax-free” –> http://t.co/pEeMtsXH #LowerTaxesForLowerEarners
From @halfon4harlowMP for @PlatformTen: Let’s make the first £10,000 tax-free – http://t.co/j4suwxhJ
halfon4harlowMP for @PlatformTen: Let’s make the first £10,000 tax-free – http://t.co/q2cEn1ZL >no let’s make minimum wage tax free #ukip
The First £10,000? Its a good start anyway, but thanks to inflation its not going to mean a great deal in a few years time.
Lets say that Income Tax paid by the lowest 90% of earners makes up about 17% of government revenue (I don’t have the figures but its roughly accurate). If the government cut 17% of spending, then it could abolish income tax for the lowest 90% of earners.
Raising the income threshold to £10k is a good first step but they have to DO it first! And yes, of course, it will have to evolve as a figure over time. That’s one of the reasons I suggested a regular audit of all spending with a required reduction every so often; here.
I agree on raising to minimum wage; wrote about it here. But realistically you need to be in govt to do it…
The govt, I think, could and should go further in cutting spending – it should have asked what does a govt HAVE to do rather than doing it from the top-down and asking what could they cut.
I’d also add two small words of warning: I do think that people should have a stake in tax rates etc. So – while of course understanding that we all pay indirect taxes as well – I think that we should aim for a broad tax base, but a low one and a fair one. And separately, we do still have a gigantic debt and a gigantic deficit. Should we merrily be splashing out the small improvement we’ve gained? I think in this instance it’s worth it. But we should remember that we’re not there on fixing the underlying problem yet.
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RT @Paul_t_abbott: MUST READ: “Let’s make the first £10,000 you earn tax-free” by @halfon4harlowMP –> http://t.co/pEeMtsXH #Budget2012