Has Income Tax Had It's Day ?

[whiskeryron]

in order to encourage people off the dole should we abolish income tax altogether ? Everything that one earns should be kept intact & tax added to everything we buy then everyone would automatically contribute to the economy. I am an OAP with free bus pass, Blue Badge Disabled card for free parking. I would happily pay an annual fee to retain my privileges & I am sure a lot of elderly folfs would agree with me.

[Jackdaw33]

Income tax, introduced in 1799 by William Pitt. 2d in the £. I thought it still was!

Ken Dodd.

[Islay]

It is going to take a lot more than abolishing income tax to get the hard core back to work!

[New Judge]

Not without doing something about National Insurance as well, Ron,

People earning up to £15,400 pay more in NI than they do in income tax. I don’t think paying a little bit of income tax will encourage the feckless and the workshy off their backsides,

[Jackdaw33]

When I first started work NI was a flat rate, regardless of income. It was Wilson who turned it into a graduated tax on the sly.

[baza]

I started paying income tax on my second weeks pay ( 4d) and am still paying on my pension.

[KARL]

It is odd that "NI contributions" should be referred to as anything but one part of income tax, the money just goes into the general chest - income taxation starts at the lower NI trigger limit, not the other.

Personally, I think all this talk of annual or monthly salaries is irrelevant while it is ascribed to the salaried/wage-earning working individual - as it is the sums being quoted are the joint income of the individuals plus the government. Why cannot incomes stated in employment contracts (full/part-time, long or short term) be stated nett of all state deductions/confiscations - i.e. as the individual's actual, genuine earnings for his/herself ? After all, the state has already made employers responsible for the collection of all taxes, fees, etc. and the employee never has anything to do with its calculation, far less seeing the gross income to (happily or reluctantly) hand approaching half of it over. The result would be clarity which I cannot see anyone objecting to (except those who love opaque systems, and there are quite a few of them). Would this really be so difficult ?

Self employed individuals are already treated as businesses responsible for reconciling their own affairs.

[Old_Geezer]

Since it is the only equitable tax, no, let's get rid of as many as the others as possible and raise income tax to cover as far as we reasonably can.

[chamois]

Eh? What about those currently receiving non-taxable benefits whiskeryron? Currently those in receipt of working tax credit, housing benefit, child tax credit, Attendance Allowance and a whole host of others don't pay Income Tax on their benefit.

https://www.gov.uk/income-tax/taxfree-and-taxable-state-benefits

You try telling them that that the money they receive to top up their low wages will now be of less value as the price of everything they buy will be going up. If you really want a debate on it, put your proposal to those on zero-hour contracts. Skin and hair will soon be flying everywhere.

Incidentally, many blue badge holders also receive DLA. This is another benefit that's non-taxable.