When will the government come clean on future tax rises?
Over the last few weeks we have seen the UK government attacking Middle England and those on higher incomes in the UK with a suggestion that more tax rises are on the way. It is widely regarded that this particular strategy has been introduced purely and simply to firm up traditional Labour support which has predominately centred round those at the lower end of the income scale. However, will an increase in taxation on higher earners be enough to pull the UK economy back on to the growth path and reduce the budget deficit?
The simple answer is, no, with a growing belief that taxes across the board, both for low income earners and high income earners, will need to increase significantly in the short to medium term. However, these tax increases, and reductions in public sector investment, will not come into play until after the election when the government is widely expected to "come clean". As we approach the election there is more and more pressure on Alistair Darling and Gordon Brown to clarify the tax situation with rumours that the government has already pencilled in a 20% VAT rate in the short to medium term.
UK voters are becoming more and more aware of the risk of a general increase in taxation, both direct and indirect taxes, in the short to medium term and the government's current strategy of secrecy could backfire.
Share this..
Related stories
Royal Mail staff in strike action
The ongoing battle between the unions and Royal Mail management hit a new low today, with the announcement of strike action between 17 August and 24 August. Strike action has already begun in Coventry, London, Leamington Spa, Nottingham and Stoke-on-Trent with many more offices across the UK set to join. Despite reaching a tentative agreement only a few months ago there are claims that the Royal M...
Read MoreMoneysupermarket.com Receives Bid Approach
News that Moneysupermarket.com, the leading UK financial online comparison site, has received a bid approach has seen the share jump by almost 50% to around 85p. While the bid approach has been rejected by 54% majority shareholder and Chief Executive Simon Nixon it seems that the company may well be in play after a very difficult period which has seen the share price fall dramatically.
Mortgage approvals rise in October
Recent figures relating to the UK mortgage market continue to cause confusion and scepticism in equal measures with October seeing a 5% increase in mortgage lending compared to September. The situation is complicated by a number of issues which include the fact that the stamp duty holiday is due to end, the winter period is traditionally a quiet time for the mortgage market and there are signs and...
Read MoreMore upward movement in UK mortgage rates
The Nationwide and Barclays bank have today announced an imminent increase in their mortgage rates as the upward spiral in the sector continues to gather pace. Nationwide will be increasing over 30% of its mortgage deals by up to 0.86% which is on top of the recently announced increases. Barclays on the other hand is moving its fixed mortgage rate up by around 0.7% with many homeowners and potenti...
Read MoreVAT reduction comes into force today
Today is the first day of the 15% VAT rate in the UK and while many are pinning their hopes on increased consumer spending because of the saving, the jury is still very much out. There are high hopes that consumers will use the 2.5% saving to further increase their spending on the high Street and assist the industry through what is a very difficult situation.
The VAT reduction toget...