LIB DEMS WELCOME U TURN ON TAX (Scarborough and Whitby Liberal Democrats)

Scarborough and Whitby Liberal Democrats <info@scarboroughandwhitbylibdems.org.uk>

LIB DEMS WELCOME U TURN ON TAX

April 23, 2008 9:18 AM

Tania Exley-Moore on behalf of Scarborough and Whitby Liberal Democrats welcomed the belated U-turn of some Labour MP's to the swinging tax levied on the poorest in our community. Vince Cable and the Liberal Democrats opposed the tax changes when they were proposed a year ago. They highlighted the fine print of Gordon Brown's proposal but were ignored not only by the rest of the Labour Government but also by the Press.

Those unable to claim tax credits or Pension Credit and earning less than £18,500 are now seeing their income tax bill rise.

5 million low earners will be hit and these include low paid couples or single people who do not have access to Child Tax Credit, and older women in the 60-65 age bracket whose pensions or salaries will be taxed at a higher rate.

The Government claims that the losses for families will be offset by tax credits but these are complicated, means tested benefits which have sucked many into the bureaucratic nightmare of overpayments and underpayments.

Despite their more recent protestations every single Labour MP who has signed David Chaytor's well-publicised Early Day Motion failed to vote against the abolition of the 10p tax rate becoming law on 18th March this year.

Lib Dems believe that standard rate Income Tax should also be cut, by 4p to its lowest rate since 1916. But we would pay for this by increasing taxes on the wealthy rather than on the poorest in society. In Britain today the poorest pay a higher proportion of their income in tax than the very wealthy. Low and middle income earners in this country already shoulder too heavy a tax burden.

Liberal Democrats have also attacked the unfairness of the Council Tax and would replace it with a system based on people's ability to pay.