Polly Toynbee has a good article on tax in the Guardian this morning headlined as:
We risk discovering the joy of tax only after it is too late
Her argument is:
Tax is at the beating heart of the great political divide. On one side are those who know tax is the price we pay for civilisation; up against them are those like Osborne and Cameron who essentially regard tax as theft, the less the better.
As she concludes:
People may never love tax, but they are about to find out what a low-tax, low-spend country feels like. Osborne will be cutting police, social care, child protection, schools, health, local government and much else at a rate not seen in our lifetime. Or he may fail in the face of protest from many on his side, including the old who voted him in. The tax credit fiasco may be just a foretaste of the omnishambles to come.
My book, referred to in he title, does get a mention on the way. And, unsurprisingly, I think Polly is right. But when people realise she is then the ideas are there. That's the whole point of doing the thinking. Rather like People's Quantitative Easing is ready for the next downturn, The Joy of Tax is about the alternative available when people realise just how wrong austerity really is.
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And another article in the Guardian shows the effects of a low-tax country are starting to be felt: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/nov/03/seaside-town-residents-frinton-pay-security-firm-patrol-streets
The UK is a low tax country now? Not sure that agrees with reality. Tax revenue is 39% of GDP comparable with Germany. If we are low tax, what is considered “averagely taxed”? The 46% of Sweden?
Your data is wrong
Revenue is 35% or less
Making stuff up does not help your cause
These numbers are from early 2015. GDP tax take has decreased by over 4% of GDP in a year???
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_tax_revenue_as_percentage_of_GDP
I have just HMT data to review this for 15 + years
39% May approximate to spend %
But not to tax revenue
You are indeed correct – 35.2%
That puts us in EU terms at 15th spot out of 27. Seems pretty middle of the road as opposed to a low tax jurisdiction. Denmark are at 48%. Poland at 20%.
35% seems pretty average in the grand scheme of things unless Toynbee is arguing that all countries are low tax (in which case it’s not just the nasty Conservatives that she likes to continually beat with a stick).
Are Germany low tax at 37% for example?
We are cutting spend to 35%
That is exceptionally low
And I cannot see that happening without serious political difficulty
Tax credits are just the tip of the iceberg
A good article. Maybe the realisation that a comprehensive and effectively-policed tax system will provide more benefit to the majority of UK residents than austerity measures is beginning to take hold.