I love and hate, in almost equal measure, some of the quirkiness of the "mess"; it seems very "British" but I'm sure we are not unique here. I have a far too vague recollection of a dispute between the tax authority and a certain Scottish-sounding manufacturer of sweet treats, in particular, whether their orange-flavoured flying saucer-shaped product was indeed a "cake" or a "biscuit". I imagine the VAT treatment was different, one perhaps being classed as a staple food item and the other as a "luxury" confectionery item.
To my mind, a flat rate tax, for the sake of arguement lets say 20%, with no allowances whatsoever or,if push comes to shove, just a tax free allowance of £15K a year, would by far be the simpliest and most logical way forward. Everybody, including the billionaires, will pay tax on all of their incomes and the more you earn the more tax you pay- but at a rate that will not discourage people from earning more. My son paid £336K income tax last year and, no doubt, 10's of thousands more "tax" by way of NI, VAT, council tax and the like, and is, like many of his friends and work colleagues, seriously considering leaving the UK for less taxed shores.
I'm not sure moving away from progressive taxation and towards a flat tax is likely either to raise revenues or be seen as political desirable. Certainly, removing costly tax reliefs that don't seem to deliver on their reasons for existing would be a start.
And that's the rub: trying to keep everybody happy in the end pleases nobody- or at least very few. The broad church view has destroyed the Tories and taxing ever higher and paying out billions more in benefits will destroy Labour. Perhaps a return to the taxation that existed before Pitt bought in a tax on incomes in 1799 is the way forward!
I love and hate, in almost equal measure, some of the quirkiness of the "mess"; it seems very "British" but I'm sure we are not unique here. I have a far too vague recollection of a dispute between the tax authority and a certain Scottish-sounding manufacturer of sweet treats, in particular, whether their orange-flavoured flying saucer-shaped product was indeed a "cake" or a "biscuit". I imagine the VAT treatment was different, one perhaps being classed as a staple food item and the other as a "luxury" confectionery item.
HMRC has spoken https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/vat-food/vfood6260
To my mind, a flat rate tax, for the sake of arguement lets say 20%, with no allowances whatsoever or,if push comes to shove, just a tax free allowance of £15K a year, would by far be the simpliest and most logical way forward. Everybody, including the billionaires, will pay tax on all of their incomes and the more you earn the more tax you pay- but at a rate that will not discourage people from earning more. My son paid £336K income tax last year and, no doubt, 10's of thousands more "tax" by way of NI, VAT, council tax and the like, and is, like many of his friends and work colleagues, seriously considering leaving the UK for less taxed shores.
I'm not sure moving away from progressive taxation and towards a flat tax is likely either to raise revenues or be seen as political desirable. Certainly, removing costly tax reliefs that don't seem to deliver on their reasons for existing would be a start.
And that's the rub: trying to keep everybody happy in the end pleases nobody- or at least very few. The broad church view has destroyed the Tories and taxing ever higher and paying out billions more in benefits will destroy Labour. Perhaps a return to the taxation that existed before Pitt bought in a tax on incomes in 1799 is the way forward!