Tuesday 4 January 2011

VAT RISE IS PERMANENT: 50% INCOME TAX RATE TEMPORARY


Mr Osborne, back from his estimated £11,000 (over twice the annual retirement pension) holiday in millionaire playboy ski resort Klosters has said that he considers the VAT rise to 20% to be permanent, and has indicated that he would rather reduce income tax rates than reduce VAT, and that the 50% rate Income Tax is a temporary measure. OK, that throws up a couple of points.

Last night I saw some Liberal Democrat blokey in Oldham and Saddleworth pointing out that the VAT rise was an unfortunate but necessary step taken reluctantly by the coalition, totally unforeseen by either party, prior to the election (which would explain why they both said they had no intention of raising VAT).

It was, said this blokey (whose name I didn’t get), on the BBC tea time news, all down to Labour leaving the country in such a terrible mess.

When pressed on the fact that the Liberals had said that they would not raise VAT, he said that they wouldn’t have done if they had been living in some parallel universe where the country’s finances weren’t in such a mess, but they hadn’t known about that before they won power. This begs the question, why was Vince Cable going on and on about the parlous state of the finances, indeed the only person to do that, if the Liberals didn’t think they were that bad?

Ideologically the Tories prefer a sales tax to a tax on income. Mrs Thatcher took VAT from 8% - 15% and reduced income tax in her first year in office. Mr Major put a further 2.5% on in 1991. In 1994 the Tories put an 8% VAT on domestic heating, which was reduced by Labour in 1997.

Before this election Mr Osborne said that his party had no intention of raising VAT, yet within a few weeks of taking up office he had announced his intention of making the standard rate 20% in order to pay down the deficit left by Labour. And now, on the first day of its operation, it has become a permanent feature.

Is this Osborne’s way of getting back the tax breaks for the criminally low paid under £10,000 a year, whom the Liberals have pushed them to exclude from tax over the next five years?

So to all the ordinary people who voted Conservative (or Liberal) you should be aware that unless you earn over £150,000 a year, you will be subsidising the rich with your increased VAT payment.

(As an afterthought, it is also a matter of not inconsiderable shame that it is likely that in a single week just before Christmas, while Mr Osborne was preparing to leave on that holiday, it is estimated that over 2,500 people in England and Wales died as a direct result of the cold. I have no comparable figures for Scotland, but last winter 2,900 people died of the cold.)

I hope you enjoyed Klosters Mr Osborne.

17 comments:

  1. Tris

    Of course he would enjoy Klosters he is at tory. After all we are all in this together.

    It is no surprise that torys would increase VAT, after all 2.5% on your petrol is no consequence if you earn £150000 per year, however if you are on minimum wage thats a different matter, but no consequence to a tory.

    What should have been a surprise, but now is not, is the response from the torys little helpers, the Lib Dums. They have sold out on any principle that they ever had for the ministerial Mondeos. We can only hope they get their reward for the sickening deceit and double standards in May.

    P.S. Were we not told that voting Labour would save Scotland from tory cuts? What happened to that? Another labour bwoken pwomise?

    P.P.S. I hope everyone who voted unionist in the GE is happy with Westminster rule, you voted for the worst that they could throw at Scotland and boy are we getting what you voted for.

    P.P.P.S. Im not to blame I voted for Scotland not Westminster.

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  2. Tris

    Double standards, but what would you expect from a tory.

    "If you look at the effect of sales tax, it's very regressive, it hits the poorest the hardest. It does. I absolutely promise you..it goes very very widely. VAT is a more regressive tax than income tax or council tax."

    David Cameron May 8th 2009 in Exeter.

    So two faced he could be a Lib Dum.

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  3. Such utter bollocks,as far as the comments go. Jack the Lad Straw is on a very expensive holiday in India. God knows where the Bliars are. Let's get some balance here. If you are rich you're gonna spend. Otherwise what's the point of cash. My argument is with the hypocrisy of socialists getting obscenely wealthy on my stolen pension and tax.

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  4. tris

    Penury for the working classes is permanent unyielding and backbreaking.

    Low taxes and expensive and on the expenses holidays are forever for the idle rich.

    I find the notion that any statistics on the hardships of THE disadvantaged in the United Kingdom would or could cause a fluttering of human compassion from Osborne to be...........
    RIDICULOUS!!

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  5. Or, OR, of a man saying what Mr Cameron said, as quoted by Dubbieside above, and then implementing the tax increase he just did, and saying ‘we are all in this together’.

    I am completely with you as far as the red Tories are concerned, but from Blair on they made very little secret of the fact that they were far more interested in the rich than in the poor. That is why when they gave us a minimum wage (which remember, Thatcher took away), they gave us a derisory one. One on which no one could reasonably live. That is also why the rich got a lot richer and the poor a lot poorer under Blair and the arse, Brown, that followed him. That is why Blair banned the word socialist and got rid of Clause whatever it was. There’s nowhere for the lower orders to go, so they vote Labour anyway, no matter what kind of crap you feed them... but they had to get the middle classes, or aspirational middle classes to vote for them, and they did! (Maybe partly because the Tories were such a mess.)

    I have no doubt that Straw is enjoying a wonderful holiday somewhere hot and far away from the misery that is the UK, as I have no doubt are most of the part that so laughingly calls itself “Labour”. As for Blair, I wish he was enjoying the heat of the desert in Iraq, the murdering bastard!

    But that’s not the point here. They are no longer in government. They are yesterday’s men. Who cares what they are doing. As you say; they are rich and whats the point of being rich if you have to stay in Britain, mrs Cameron is apparently incandescent that Call Me took Coulson’s advice and stayed away from a trip to Thailand for Christmas, after telling everyone that they should holiday in Britain to boost the tourist trade.

    The point is that Osborne has been telling us that we are all in this together; that we all have to accept cuts in our standard of living. Of course that isn’t going to make him poor. Of course it won’t. His money isn’t in the UK. It’s in the BVI. But if he doesn’t want lynching, it might just be an idea not to rub our faces in his wealth, especially as he dodges tax to keep his wealth. Even the Queen has asked members of her family not to flaunt their wealth for fear of upsetting ordinary people who are wondering what the hell they are going to do for money. (Of course Big Ears will ignore that. He won’t be without his 145 personal staff!! But we all know that and he’s for the chop anyway.)

    I think Osborne might want to think carefully about flaunting his tax free wealth in our faces. I’ve never, absolutely never, seen people so angry. And it hasn’t started yet.

    Of course the likes of Osborne will never meet these angry people. His servants may be poor but I expect they would be afraid of criticising him. He probably thinks everything is fine. Self satisfied twat. He’ll be laughing on the other side of his over fed (and aging) face when Downing Street is on fire!

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  6. Yep Dubs... I expect you were at Klosters too?

    I gave it a miss this year because I didn't want to rub my obscene wealth in other people's faces.

    Yes... Labour told us the only way to stop a Tory government was to vote Labour, and the sheep in Scotland voted Labour and they got a L... no wait... they got a Tory Government.

    Sometimes I wonder about Scots. The deal is England decides what kind of government we have. This is quite reasonable given the size of England and the size of Scotland. But England almost invariably votes Tory. Indeed, apart from following the disaster of Major and the attendant rubbish leaders they kept electing England has ALWAYS voted Tory.

    Scotland always votes Labour.

    Now if I had a few brain cells, I think I’d work out what that meant. As long as we are a county of England, we will get the government England elects. It will normally be Tory unless the Tories get too stupid at which time it will be Labour... but it will NEVER be our choice.... Well Duh!

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  7. So... Niko, given that I agree wholeheartedly with you. ....why do you unionists keep letting the self interested swine in?

    Vote Labour = Get Tory.

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  8. Totally wrong, this VAT increase will be fair.

    Those earning less than £15k shall have on average an extra £1.50 per week added to their budget but anyone earning over £100,000 would have an extra £10 per week added.

    Indeed, let us not forget the staple goods, food, medicine etc are EXCLUDED from VAT tax rises, so that means we aren't increasing the price of good vital to poorer households, which consume the bulk of their weekly expenditure, that remains UNAFFECTED.

    And if you expect me to apologise for prefering to tax what people CHOOSE to spend rather than what they work hard to EARN, you have another thing coming! How on earth can you get people back to work, if you tax all their earned income via income tax? How is that making work pay for the poorests?

    No, I TOTALLY support this VAT rise to 20%, besides, there is NO ALTERNATIVE. All zanuliebore can come up with is some crap "wrong time" statements. They would have done exactly the same if in power. I shall take no lessons from Red Ed and Postman Pats pathetic bun ch of Labour opportunists.

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  9. Did you not agree with Cameron when he called it a regressive tax then Dean? I was sure I read that you did.

    "If you look at the effect of sales tax, it's very regressive, it hits the poorest the hardest. It does. I absolutely promise you..it goes very very widely. VAT is a more regressive tax than income tax or council tax."

    David Cameron May 8th 2009 in Exeter.

    Incidentally, there’s not a penny piece extra in people’s pockets at the moment. I agree that in April there will be some extra for those that earn over £7,000. But that will be swallowed up by the VAT increases petrol escalator rise, inflation at nearly 5% and food inflation estimated at over 10%.

    Electricity and gas are increasing by 10% on average and train fares by over 6%; bus fares by 10% here in Dundee... and there is 4 months before a penny of the Liberal Democrat income Tax reduction comes into force.

    And no Dean, it’s not necessary to repay Zanu’s debts. Mr Osborne has made it plain that this tax is here to stay, long after they have sorted out the problems of debt.

    As I said in earlier posts, I’m not supporting Labour’s view. Miliband is simply being opportunistic in his criticism, like that tube Gray always is. Whatever the government does, slam it. Doesn’t matter what, doesn’t matter why, just criticise. It will get a headline in some cheap rag someplace... the Scotsman (printed in England) for example in his case.

    But there is no way that VAT is a fair tax. David Cameron said so.

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  10. Dean's in his own world tris which is further right wing than he alludes too, he hasn't a clue. Fuel is vat rated and as such will increase even the cost of basics that we all have to buy just to exist. Every commodity will increase over the coming months which will see a greater demise of the high street, Annebelles pet topic, as larger conglomerates can absorb these extra costs in the short term.

    I can see emergency legislation being drafted to restrict our movements as our money buys less from i week to another.

    Time to stock up on the basics as the ride is going to get very bumpy.

    Limp Dumbs

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  11. Tris,

    What is the alternative to a VAT hike? Income tax is even less fair - besides this shall be ofset by the future income tax cut, so whats the fuss.

    Cynical,

    In my own little world? Where does that put you and your pretendie world where the EU and globalisation can be wished away?

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  12. Dean who caused the World's financial problem?
    The banks who run goverments to increase their wealth and it is not the poor who should be bailing them out which is what is happening by your Tory partnership with the LibDums and would be just the same under Labour. Same rosettes different colours as the mandarins in whitehall are the ones who set the policy otherwise there would never of been so many 'U' turns as spagetti junction since coming to power in May.

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  13. H... Almost every single one of these idiots' policies has ended up in the bin.

    You must need a special kind of nerve to be a politician, because if I had sold out my supporters like these people have I couldn't even face myself, never mind them.

    To think I once thought that they were principled... what a idiot I am.

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  14. Well Dean, not according to your friend Mr "Call me" Dave Cameron. He seems to think that VAT is the most regressive tax. So too do your allies in this matter, the Liberals, according to that poster that CH links to (above).

    I wouldn't wonder that Labour think it is too, but they'd say anything, as we all know from bitter experience.

    Inconme tax hits the poor the least. And it would be fine to ignore the poor if they weren't so bloody poor.

    Most pensioners don't pay income tax. Most pensioners will have to pay VAT on anything that isn’t food, books and papers. Great. Already pensioners die in vast numbers from cold in this god forsaken country and now there will be even more, because your government has made then EVEN poorer than they were before.

    Sorry Dean. It's plain wrong! wrong! worng!

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  15. I always thought that Income tax was wrong!

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  16. I think that every month CH!

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