Tag Archives: tax

Caron Lindsay

LibLink: Willie Rennie: SNP obduracy on using tax powers shows party is no champion of progressive politics

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 11th February 2016 - 2:45 pm

Willie Rennie’s ambition for better education and health services in Scotland has been clear and so has his ambition to use the tax raising powers given to the Scottish Parliament. His plan for a penny on income tax for an almost half billion investment in education to introduce the Pupil Premium, extend nursery education and reverse cuts to college and schools funding.

The SNP, having squealed blue murder for years about not having enough powers to do anything, fails to use them when they are given them.

Willie often says these days that the SNP “talk left and walk right” and he has written a damning critique of the SNP’s approach in the Herald.

As it was a Liberal Democrat Secretary of State who delivered these new tax powers, it is perhaps not surprising that we were the first to propose using them to transform education in Scotland. By putting a penny for education onto income tax bands, we would raise £475 million a year.

Willie’s proposals have brought outrage from SNP and Tories alike. Finance Minister John Swinney said he would rather sacrifice public sector jobs (which in turn affects the most vulnerable) than raise tax rates. The Resolution Foundation says a tax rise is progressive. Willie challenges the SNP:

Continue reading »
Posted in LibLink | Also tagged , , and | 17 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Is the Basic Income Guarantee an idea whose time has come?

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 3rd February 2016 - 1:40 pm

Way back when I was first involved in politics, the ideas that everyone should have a basic income and that tax and national insurance should be integrated were mainstream SDP/Liberal Alliance ideas.

The Greens have in recent years been the only party to advocate such a change but during the General Election, Natalie Bennett was unable to convince people that it was affordable.

This week, think-tank Reform Scotland has come up with a costed scheme to give every adult a basic income of £100 per week and every child £50. The authors, Liberal Democrat Siobhan Mathers and Scottish Green candidate James Mackenzie, acknowledge that there would be a cost, around £2 billion in Scotland, £12 billion across the whole UK and that personal taxation rates would have to rise by about 8%, but that nobody earning under £26,000 a year would be worse off. However, with 2 children, a £100k household would be over £1200 a year better off

It’s certainly radical, with those on lowest incomes gaining and those on £100,000 without children being around £2,200 a year worse off, but isn’t that what a progressive tax system is supposed to do? There is a question, though, around whether a £100k household needs to be mae £1200 a year better off courtesy of the state.

The report argues that there are seven big advantages of such a scheme:

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , , , , and | 25 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Rennie to SNP: Are you conservative or progressive?

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 31st January 2016 - 10:25 am

Willie Rennie will challenge the SNP in a parliamentary debate on their budget this week to actually use the powers that are coming the Scottish Parliament’s way and raise the rate of income tax to pay for a £475m investment in education. The SNP, of course, are holding out for independence and have no intention of showing that the powers they have can make a huge difference. In their 9 years in office, they’ve not even used the tax-raising powers that came to Scotland with devolution in 1999.

Willie’s penny on tax for education is a bold move. Saying you’ll put up taxes is a risk for a party in our position, but this is no time to play it safe. Anyway, just from talking to people, I think that there is a sense that you get what you pay for and if you want world class public services, you need to put money into them.

Willie said:

Liberal Democrats will be using this debate to challenge the SNP to show whether they are conservative or progressive, whether they’ll keep talking left but walking right.

Liberal Democrats are the only ones calling for Parliament to actually use the new powers we’ll get in April. Why wait? There is no point in sitting around, twiddling our thumbs, when we could make a real difference to the life chances of Scots.

Continue reading »
Posted in News and Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 10 Comments
The Voice

Willie Rennie’s penny on tax for biggest investment in Scottish education since devolution

By The Voice | Wed 27th January 2016 - 11:51 am

Willie and ACH on nursery visit

Finally, someone is actually planning on using the new tax-varying powers given to Scotland. Willie Rennie has made a big announcement on education this morning. He intends cleaning up the mess the SNP have made in education with 4 radical measures, paid for by a modest rise in income tax which will not affect anyone who earns £19,000 a year or less.

That £475 million investment will include the Lib Dem Pupil Premium, already successful in England and, thanks to Kirsty Williams, in Wales. That’s all about giving extra money to disadvantaged kids in school. Then there’s investment in nurseries and colleges, as well as a reversal of the SNP’s education cuts.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 16 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Dear Tories, repetition doesn’t make something true. Cutting income tax for lowest paid was a Lib Dem idea and you know it.

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 7th February 2015 - 12:25 pm

lib dem manifesto tax cutFor some time now, the Conservative Party have been taking every opportunity to take credit for raising the tax threshold to £10,500 despite this being one great big fat distortion of the truth.

Most recently, Surrey Liberal Democrat councillor was distinctly unamused to find an email from Tory Treasury Minister Priti Patel in her inbox. It said:

Fiona,

See how much our income tax cuts will save you – try our quick calculator today.

The Conservatives believe in cutting taxes.

If you’re working hard to provide for your family, you should keep more of the money you earn.

That’s why we’ve cut income tax every year we’ve been in office – and why we’re committed to keep on cutting income tax after the next election.

Over 24 million people have had their income tax cut. To find out how much you’ll save, use our simple tax cut calculator today:

Find out how much you'll save

Yours,

Priti Patel

Nick Clegg told last year how he had to “drag the Tories kicking and screaming” to deliver the tax cut.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 22 Comments
The Voice

Crockart: Liberal Democrats have recalibrated the tax system in favour of low and middle income earners

By The Voice | Sun 4th January 2015 - 8:55 am

Edinburgh West MP Mike Crockart has been poring through tax data and has concluded that Liberal Democrats have successfully recalibrated the tax system so that low and middle earners are paying less tax and big companies are paying more tax. He cites figures which show that tax collected from low and middle income earners has fallen from £3170 million to £2720 million over the last 4 years at the same time as £16 billion more was collected over the last two years from larger companies as a result of HM Revenue and Customs’ enforcement activity.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged and | 17 Comments

Opinion: Federalism and hypothecation do not mix

By Energlyn Churchill | Wed 3rd September 2014 - 12:45 pm

I was dismayed to read in Mohsin Khan’s recent piece calling for an NHS contribution that the leadership is, again, considering an NHS tax.

How history repeats itself. Ten or so years ago, when working for the Welsh Party, I opposed plans for what the Federal Policy Committee was then also referring to as an NHS contribution. My contention was, and remains, that a commitment to a Federal UK is not compatible with hypothecated taxation.

Whilst taxes are collected at a UK level, spending priorities are determined by devolved institutions. In our devolved context, any claim that a tax is truly hypothecated is simply dishonest. We could not guarantee that a centrally collected NHS tax would be spent on the NHS in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.  It is impossible to require a particular portion of taxation to be spent in the devolved nations on specific areas without requiring them to do so by law.  This would laugh in the face of the liberal principle of subsidiarity and is clearly a non-starter.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 4 Comments
Iain Donaldson

Opinion: How about some real fairness in our tax system?

By Iain Donaldson | Mon 1st September 2014 - 10:15 am

On 27th August as a party of the new Liberal Democrat media strategy of Manifesto by a Thousand Statements, in the name of the party it was announced that The Liberal Democrats have set out plans to introduce a trio of wealth taxes which will help to cut the deficit whilst ensuring fairness in our tax system.  I fully understand the need to wipe out the deficit, and the need for the wealthiest to bear the greatest burden in achieving that, but let us not confuse that with making our tax system fairer.

National Insurance is a tax on income.  It is paid at a rate of 11% on earnings between £7,956 per year and £ 41,865 per year above which it drops to just 2%.  Surely integrating NI into Income Tax, thereby raising the basic threshold to the proposed £12,500 and reducing the rate of payment substantially (we are always told that the richest 10% pay the highest burden in tax) would be a way of  ensuring fairness in our tax system.  This is a measure that would have a direct impact on the daily lives of the majority of our citizens, rather than just playing to the politics of envy.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 29 Comments
Gareth Wilson

Opinion: A fair tax revolution: Our most important manifesto commitment

By Gareth Wilson | Mon 17th March 2014 - 10:28 am

Clegg fairer tax in tough times - Some rights reserved by Liberal DemocratsA highlight of last week’s Spring Conference for me was Friday’s consultative Q&A session on the next manifesto. Lots of great ideas were suggested, ranging from river based power generators in flood prone areas to encouraging home work to reduce traffic congestion and CO2 emissions.

What stuck with me was David Law’s appeal for ‘manifesto themes’. There were lots of good suggestions but the majority were small scale – great ideas but difficult to tie into a strong simple theme we can get across to voters.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 12 Comments
NewsHound

LibLink: Danny Alexander: Get real, Lord Lawson, it’s the low paid who need our help

By NewsHound | Sun 16th March 2014 - 4:35 pm

Danny Alexander by Paul WalterLinking to the Daily Mail usually brings me out in hives, but there are occasions when it’s ok. Danny Alexander taking down Lord Lawson for suggesting that further tax cuts should be focused on higher earners is one such case.

In today’s paper he starts by reminding people that it was a Liberal Democrat priority to cut taxes for the lowest earners. He missed a trick by reminding people where Tory hearts lay – an inheritance tax cut for the rich, but that’s by the by.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged and | 6 Comments
George Lyon MEP

George Lyon MEP writes…Brave mountain rescue teams should not have to pay VAT on essential, lifesaving kit

By George Lyon MEP | Thu 6th March 2014 - 11:59 am

We were navigating in near zero visibility in a white-out.

As I was navigating I put my foot out and onto nothing, and fell down about 800ft of sheer cliff.

You figure you have had it.

These are the words of 25 year old Scot Ollie Daniel, who plunged through snow while walking in the Cairngorms in January this year.

In Scotland we are lucky to have some of the most dramatic mountain scenery in the world. Walkers and climbers are a common sight in the Highlands and Islands all year round. But we know that these activities are not without risk.

Ollie was rescued …

Continue reading »
Posted in Europe / International and Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | 5 Comments
Stephen Tall

Lib Dems reject 50p top-rate of tax by just 4 votes, 224 to 220

By Stephen Tall | Tue 17th September 2013 - 12:35 am

How many times have Lib Dems knocked on doors at 9.55pm to get out the last remaining identified voters because “your vote really could make a difference” in this election?

Today’s vote on whether to keep the top-rate of tax levied on those earning £150k or more at 45p, or to pledge to raise it to 50p was much, much, much closer: conference narrowly voted for the leadership’s preferred policy – 45p – by a wafer thin majority of just 4 votes, 224 to 220.

The closest previous conference vote I can recall was in spring 2007 when representatives voted …

Continue reading »
Posted in Conference | Also tagged , and | 11 Comments
The Voice

LDVideo: Danny Alexander on UK’s commitment to tax transparency and the unproven case for arming the rebels in Syria

By The Voice | Sun 16th June 2013 - 12:35 pm

Lib Dem chief secretary to the treasury Danny Alexander did the rounds of the TV studios yesterday to promote the Coalition’s actions to increase tax transparency. You can see his BBC News interview here. On Channel 4 meanwhile, he was also quizzed about whether he thought the UK should help arm Syrian rebels: he said the case was unproven that would help the country at this time:

Continue reading »
Posted in Europe / International, News and YouTube | Also tagged and | 5 Comments
Richard Davis

Opinion: UKIP vote against EU tackling tax evasion

By Richard Davis | Sat 25th May 2013 - 10:25 am

UKIP frequently describe the EU as a large, expensive, bureaucratic nightmare, stating that we pay into the EU more than we get out. Yet at a time when the EU seeks to change that, by tackling tax evasion and avoidance, potentially saving member states in total 7 times the EU’s annual budget, UKIP vote en masse against it.

This week the EU Parliament voted to halve the €1 tn lost due to tax evasion and avoidance by 2020 by closing tax loopholes and tax havens. This is to be achieved by tightening some of the agreements between tax havens such as …

Continue reading »
Posted in Europe / International and Op-eds | Also tagged and | 21 Comments
Helen Duffett

Fairer Taxes – Preview tonight’s Lib Dem Party Political Broadcast

By Helen Duffett | Thu 25th April 2013 - 3:51 pm

Tonight’s Party Political Broadcast by the Liberal Democrats repeats the message that we have delivered a rise in the tax threshold, showing how people will benefit from this.

Nick Clegg says,

If you earn the minimum wage we have halved your Income Tax bill. And if you work tirelessly in a low-paid job, you’ll no longer pay any Income Tax at all.

Continue reading »
Posted in Lib Dem TV | Also tagged | 11 Comments
Stephen Tall

Jon Cruddas: in favour of a 45 top-rate of tax before he was against it

By Stephen Tall | Sun 7th April 2013 - 2:00 pm

Sarah Teather isn’t the only MP attacking George Osborne today. Ed Miliband’s policy chief Jon Cruddas has strong words for the Chancellor in the Sunday People, accusing him of “cruelty” and of “giving a tax cut to millionaires” by dropping the top-rate of tax from 50% to 45% for those earning more than £150,000.

So what, you might ask, was Jon Cruddas arguing for when Labour was in power? A top-rate tax level of 45% levied on those earning more than £175,000, as it happens:

cruddas 45p tax

He’s welcome …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , , and | 30 Comments
Caron Lindsay

The Liberal Democrat perspective on welfare reform that needs to be heard

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 3rd April 2013 - 1:30 pm

On Monday, I wrote about the good things Liberal Democrats are doing in Government and also expressed  concern that nobody was out there giving the Liberal Democrat perspective  in a way that would resonate with and encourage members and activists. I know that some of them felt a bit exposed. They were out there on a day when we were under  media pressure, and nobody was giving them any air cover. It’s a balance, of course. There have been times when we’ve complained that our ministers are out there defending things we  feel uncomfortable with. These things can be …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 33 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Devils, details and the tax threshold beyond 2014

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 20th March 2013 - 3:04 pm

There is no doubt that today is a very good day for the Liberal Democrats. The party has delivered a major pledge from its 2010 manifesto, as this infographic from Mark Pack shows:

Mark Pack graphic on tax pledge

 

This is not an idea that fell out of the Orange Book. It came from Elizabeth Jewkes, an ordinary member. I wonder how she feels today. It goes to show that being a member of this party can give you opportunities to make a real difference to people’s lives.

To deliver on such a pledge …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 13 Comments
Jonathan Hunt

Opinion: Withholding taxes are long overdue

By Jonathan Hunt | Wed 20th March 2013 - 10:53 am

If George Osborne really wants to find enough dosh to get Britain out of the mess he has created, our advice should be: Go after the tax-cheating multinational corporations.

It is about time these cross-border pirates were put in their place. And one place to be urgently put is paying tax on the profits made from operating businesses in countries outside their home base.

While no-one knows how exactly much money they are cheating us of, estimates vary from somewhere between £10bn and £20bn. Given that the Economist quotes a total worldwide figure of some $20 trillion lost in avoidance and evasion, that …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 45 Comments
Tony Greaves

Lord Greaves writes…We must do more for wage-earners below income tax threshold

By Tony Greaves | Wed 6th March 2013 - 11:59 am

I have tabled an oral question in the Lords to ask the government what measures they will take to ensure that wage-earners who are below the income tax threshold will benefit from any future increases in the personal allowance.

In a little-noticed debate last September the Liberal Democrat conference debated social and economic inequality. Inequality, the conference decided in the obscure language motion-writers use, “is an obstacle to individuals determining their own destinies and reduces aspirations”.

The resolution also, equally clumsily, said that inequality “prevents talent from fulfilling its potential to the detriment of the economy and society”. And, more accessibly, that …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 23 Comments
Adam Corlett

CentreForum: Three tax changes to help rebalance the economy

By Adam Corlett | Mon 25th February 2013 - 11:23 am

Tax ConsiderationsVince Cable this month launched our new publication on helping small and medium sized businesses access stock market finance. Here, I’d like to concentrate on three tax changes that could address the broader challenge of ‘rebalancing the economy’ away from an over-reliance on debt and unproductive investment.

I’m all for a highly progressive tax system that doesn’t privilege ‘capital income’, but that doesn’t mean the current system works in a fair or sensible way, as these three bizarre distortions show.

Corporation tax

As George Osborne said in opposition:

Our corporate sector’s

…

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | 36 Comments
Stephen Tall

IFS verdict: Labour’s 10p tax idea “has no plausible economic justification”

By Stephen Tall | Fri 15th February 2013 - 8:00 am

institute-for-fiscal-studies-logo-370x229Ed Miliband’s announcement yesterday that Labour will re-introduce a 10p starting rate of income tax paid for through the introduction of Vince Cable’s mansion tax has received a tepid response from the Institute for Fiscal Studies. The IFS put out a note yesterday headed simply, Better options exist to help low earners than 10p tax rate:

A 10p tax rate would reduce taxes for those on low incomes and strengthen their work incentives. A far simpler and more sensible way of achieving these aims would be to spend the same

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , , , , and | 12 Comments
Stephen Tall

Rejoice! Labour has a policy. Even better it’s a Lib Dem policy.

By Stephen Tall | Thu 14th February 2013 - 11:35 am

Yesterday at PMQs Ed Miliband channelled Ronald Reagan. Today he’s channelling Vince Cable:

Here’s what Ed has just announced:

Let me tell you about one crucial choice we would make, which is different from this government. We would tax houses worth over £2 million. And we would use the money to cut taxes for working people. We would put right a mistake made by

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , , , and | 31 Comments
NewsHound

LibLink: Kirsty Williams on taking up the baton from Lloyd George

By NewsHound | Fri 18th January 2013 - 11:21 am

As Kirsty Williams notes in opening a piece to mark the anniversary yesterday, 17 January would have been David Lloyd George’s 150th birthday, and she took the opportunity to raise the issue of tax varying powers for Wales;

Today seems like an opportune moment to consider how a future Welsh government can continue David Lloyd George’s radical and redistributive legacy.

We must take the opportunity of the Silk Commission to think big. As Lloyd George himself said, “You can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps.” We must take the opportunity to create a new People’s Budget for Wales.

For the first

…

Continue reading »
Posted in LibLink, News and Wales | Also tagged , and | 3 Comments
NewsHound

LibLink: Vince Cable – We’ll hunt down the tax avoiders

By NewsHound | Sat 15th December 2012 - 9:50 am

Over on The Guardian website, Vince Cable writes:

Tax avoidance, sham directors, money laundering: the recent Guardian investigation made sobering reading. In the UK we are proud that it is easier and cheaper to set up a company here than just about anywhere in the world. This flexibility is hugely valued by the start-ups and small companies which create a significant proportion of our wealth and jobs, and which are vital to recovery from the latest recession. But this flexibility provides a challenge: how do we stop our system from being abused by people who want to use it to dodge tax or to launder the proceeds of crime?…

Continue reading »
Posted in LibLink | Also tagged , and | 4 Comments
Geoff Crocker

Opinion: Why Wealth Can’t be Taxed (except very occasionally)

By Geoff Crocker | Thu 13th December 2012 - 9:24 am

Wealth tax is becoming, or has become?, a core Lib Dem policy. Nick Clegg shakes his head alongside his Cabinet colleague the Chancellor of the Exchequer announcing that the coalition government will not introduce a mansion tax. Vince Cable is back on the World at One the next day defending it.

There has been much discussion as to whether wealth and mansion taxes are fair. But fairness is a very subjective concept. Some think that wealth taxes appropriately ask the rich to shoulder relatively more of the financial burden imposed if we needlessly insist on the financial orthodoxy that the …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 133 Comments

Opinion: The escalator that’s pricing beer into insensibility

By Andy Boddington | Wed 12th December 2012 - 10:59 am

Today, upward of a thousand enthusiasts are descending on Westminster to demand protection for one of the nation’s great heritage assets. Beer.

The Labour government of old was unduly fond of price and tax escalators, which generally take the form of retail price index plus a bit more. I have always regarded this as a rather odd fiscal mechanism because it simply creates a circularity that feeds itself. Costs go up, the RPI duly rises, and costs go up again as a result.

It beats me why the coalition has decided to maintain this blunt policy. Fiscal escalators

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 10 Comments
Stephen Tall

‘Please give generously’: Tories mail-shot supporters asking for donations to fight Lib Dem mansion tax

By Stephen Tall | Sun 9th December 2012 - 10:05 am

That’s the story in the Guardian this weekend:

The Conservative party privately sent letters to Tory donors and wealthy homeowners promising to defeat Liberal Democrat plans for a mansion tax at the same time as their coalition partners thought they were negotiating on a version of the proposal ahead of the autumn statement, it emerged on Friday. … The letters were sent by the Conservative treasurers Lord Fink and Michael Farmer in November, when Lib Dem cabinet ministers privately believed there was hope that the Conservatives would agree to two extra higher-rate council tax bands as a way of raising

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , , , and | 5 Comments
Caron Lindsay

LibLink: Christine Jardine..A coffee with a sweeter taste

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 5th December 2012 - 11:27 am

Christine Jardine was until this Summer a Liberal Democrat Special Adviser at the heart of Government. She is now back working full time in politics in Scotland and writing occasionally for the Scotsman.

This week she’s turned her attention to the fact that large corporations like Starbucks don’t pay tax in the UK and reflects on the good that local, independent coffee shops bring to the community:

As I sat there enjoying my Americano, eyeing up the chocolate cake and cinnamon swirls, I began to think about the value that the entrepreneur behind the counter had brought to my community.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | Leave a comment
Geoff Crocker

Opinion: Get real about corporate tax

By Geoff Crocker | Wed 14th November 2012 - 2:25 pm

Companies currently pay corporation tax in the country where they are incorporated. A campaign is under way, in the Guardian, and the Commons Public Accounts Committee, that companies should instead pay tax where they make their sales. The proposal has populist appeal, but is impracticable.

Many companies, including UK companies, make export sales without costly incorporation in each sales country. If a US coal producer sells 1m tonnes of coal to UK powerplants for £100m, and makes £5m profit, it submits accounts in the US for tax authority scrutiny, and pays US tax on the £5m. Should this profit be …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , , and | 29 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • paul barker
    Its good to see an MP standing but I don't see this Manifesto winning over many Young or Ethnic Minority Voters, it sounds to me to be aimed squarely at comfort...
  • Pawel Urbanski
    Good on Sarah for doing this. Stepping forward for a London contest that will be fought hard between Labour and the Conservatives is exactly the kind of move we...
  • Jack Nicholls
    David, given the last few years, I don't think we can assert that charisma (Johnson) or attempts to force charisma (Starmer) are necessarily desirable qualities...
  • David Le Grice
    I guess it's better to run an MP than someone with no profile but she's not exactly our most Charismatic or inspiring option. Surely Bobby Dean would be a more ...
  • Jason Connor
    Excellent and a good speaker. Highly admired in Richmond and would certainly get my vote...