Finding the chase and cutting to it

I love politics, I love the philosophies, the study, the decisions people make and why they do so when it comes to putting their cross against a name.

But I have never been canvased by anyone but our local liberal democratic party. Which is good.

Being a stato, this year we not only were just inside the top 1% but, as a household, nudging the top 0.5%. Together, because of how tax works, we bring home far more than if one person earnt that money.

We each have 80m², which is more than some families get to live in, and to be honest with you, having made the effort to clear the mortgage, apart from some big projects on the house, I don’t get to spend very much of what I earn.

Trickle down DOESN’T work.

More importantly, me being taxed more means hugely efficient places like the NHS can do really good things with the money. As a disabled person, I welcome that. The NHS means that unlike many other countries, my life expectancy is only 15 years than someone without type 1 and at a fraction of the cost. My doctors get to treat me without having to verify that I have the means to pay for that every single appointment.

I know this as I have done a couple of things privately, and a private appointment takes 30 minutes longer than an NHS one for exactly that reason.

The NHS is cheaper because it doesn’t need to pay debt collectors, invoice production, and receipt collection. It costs the NHS less than 45% than a private company for that very reason. That’s without financing the insurance companies, etc.

It’s a bloody bargin, yet we whinge about the tax it costs us? Wow!

Change the tax thresholds and up what the higher band people pay, please.

Anyone earning more than £50,270 a year pays higher rate tax. I do think that’s a bit low. It was changed in January 2024 and before that it was considerably lower.

It should probably be £57,000 or so, and change annually.

The level at which you start paying tax should probably be £18,000 and change annually.

It should cover all income – saving etc. You get extra allowances for savings. Why? Isn’t it basic income, earnings? If you are below the threshold, you shouldn’t pay tax. If we combine that allowance, the £18,000 becomes £23,000.

Plus it is cheaper to calculate and is much more comprehendable. Bargin.

20% on that first set is probably OK. NI is another 8%. Why not include that on the same levels. So that 28% and then VAT and council tax.

If I earn £28,000 and pay 28% on £5,000 of my earnings, my tax bill is £1,400. For all those in that tax band that earns the UK government £36,820,000,000 or £36.82B per annum.

A higher rate payer on £62,000 pay are paying £57,000-£23,000 = £24,000 at 28% = £6,720 and another £5,000 at 48% (let’s make NI work across the pay scale) = £2,400. So our higher rate tax payer takes home £62,000-£2,400-£6,720 = £52,880. Looks OK, looks like enough to get by on. That’s someone just over the limits in both cases, and so that’s the least the government would get, from those earners, a minum of £35.616B.

Can the government survive and give us what we need on a minum of £72B per annum?

Footprint taxes, please.

I would like to see councils able to charge people on the footprint they have. We shouldn’t go against “house prices” – what a vague idea, but on the space we take on the planet. EPC exists which gives the living space of a property. It’s already machine readable, charge per m². Easy, cheap as it’s all already machine readable. We can randomly conduct EPC report generation on houses that haven’t had it down in the last 15 years too, allowing us to ensure environment measures are being taken.

The rich pay more than the poor – it’s ideal. It keeps council tax one of the few taxes you choose the rate you’re taxed at and should mean villages and town have equal access to funding.

More importantly, councils should be able to plan.

Should singleton’s get a discount? I appreciate the arguement is the widow or suddenly sole earner in a family suddenly having an increased burden. Probably the 20% discount is a fair way to do this.

Or empty houses? Harder to justify. The house still needs to be powered, is having rain run off happening is still taking up soak away space. So I think think if you own a second property, you need to pay the tax. After all, that’s your choice.