Iain Hunter has a useful FSB piece on being prepared for future tax raids by Rachel Reaves.
Taxed to Death
Taxed when you, taxed when you sell - even though you've made a loss
In the wake of that appalling Reaves budget on Halloween this year in which this Fabian functionary of the World Economic Forum raided family farms and heritable private pension funds, we really ought to consider what her next move will be. One thing we can be sure of is that she won’t leave it at that. The NHS needs more money, don’t you know? Therefore, some counter argument needs to be prepared in advance.
Judging by the droppings from left-wing ‘think-tanks’, she is bound to be taking a look at what she and others of her ilk no doubt regard as unearned profits when people sell houses for significantly more than they paid for them. This could take two forms: Either the imposition of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on house sales; or the scrapping of the Residence Nil Rate Band of Inheritance Tax (IHT) which allows a married or ‘partnered’ couple to pass on to offspring tax free a family home worth up to £1 million. Or maybe even both.
Well worth reading as a reminder that our odious government is odious enough to raid any potential source of tax revenue rather than grasp the nettle of efficiency.
“But the NHS still needs more money”, states Reaves, “who else do I get it from?”
“You’ve got it”, say I. “Take it from the money you’re going to spaff up against the wall in Ukraine, on Net Zero projects, on useless ‘green energy’ projects, on foreign aid for useless green energy projects, on the migrants nobody wants, on the criminal amounts of waste you and we all know occurs in all parts of the public sector. You could even slash the civil service in half and no-one would notice. And get those who are left back into the office for at least nine hours a day, five days a week”.
“Any questions. Ms Reaves?”
Just in case anyone thinks I have mis-spelt Rachel Reaves name, I haven’t. It’s deliberate. To reave is a Middle English verb. Look it up.
Tom Armstrong did look it up -
Reave; from Old English rēafian - to rob
5 comments:
Yes, the notional health service wi[l be holding out their begging bowls now that the bolsheviks have the reins. God forbid that anyone should notice that it's a top-heavy, self-serving shambles which has been allowed, or instructed, to ignore the reasons for its existence.
Not a clue how to run an economy, this lot … all ideology from books.
CGT on house sales as well as stamp duty on purchases would presumably bring the housing market to a shuddering halt (thereby dramatically increasing commuter traffic, numbers working from home etc); unfortunately it is worryingly apt for Reeves ‘get you coming and going’ approach to taxation.
To move in the opposite direction, has anyone looked into whether abolishing or substantially reducing stamp duty for downsizing empty-nesters would help to free up larger properties for families to move into?
Is the purpose of the taxation to raise money for important state activities such as the provision of health care and education? Or is it to control the population and make it dependent on the state by inventing activities that require private wealth to be seized?
If the latter, then no amount of complaining about futility and waste will deter them. The waste is a feature, not a bug.
Jannie - I agree, bloated bureaucracies holding out begging bowls for more bloat.
James - that's it, nothing learned from experience, all ideology.
Macheath - I'm sure you are right, it wouldn't work, but it sounds like one of the droppings from a 'think tank'. Reducing stamp duty for downsizing could help, as could getting rid of it altogether, if only to begin a small move towards a less burdensome state.
Sam - I think it's the latter. Not explicitly so, but it's there in the ideology. Waste has become a status-affirming feature of UK government.
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