Spring Budget 2023

Stumble Bum said:
You can smoke if you want, I don't care, just people who then try and claim as though it's some sort of tax aimed at the poor is nonsense. This isn't some unavoidable expense that is primarily effecting those who are less well off, it is purely a personal choice to smoke therefore it can never be claimed to be a tax on the poor.
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It is a tax that proportionally effects poor people more than rich people, partly because of smoking rates by demographics, partly because there's a limit on how much you can smoke in a day, but also because the richer you are the more likely you are to regularly travel and be able to pick up tobacco products duty free or in countries where rates are much lower.

A tax that effects poor people more than the rich is a tax aimed at the poor.
 
Mr Jack said:
It is a tax that proportionally effects poor people more than rich people, partly because of smoking rates by demographics, partly because there's a limit on how much you can smoke in a day, but also because the richer you are the more likely you are to regularly travel and be able to pick up tobacco products duty free or in countries where rates are much lower.

A tax that effects poor people more than the rich is a tax aimed at the poor.
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Just because if AFFECTS the poor does not by association mean it was devised to do so.
 
Mr Jack said:
It's literally impossible for the LTA to make early retirement the financially better choice. You'd have to have a rabid case of taxphobia to think that.
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What? It's just basic maths. I could go from earning X per year to Y per year. The delta may be so great I decide to not bother at all.
 
robfosters said:
If we’re taxing smoking to high heaven because nobody needs to do it and it costs the NHS money, then why shouldn’t some foods be the same? Nobody needs to eat Maccies, kfc, cakes, pizzas, chocolate, sweets, ice cream etc
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There's already a sugar tax isn't there, just go to a pub and ask the price difference between full on Coca Cola and low / sugar free stuff.
 
Mr Jack said:
It's literally impossible for the LTA to make early retirement the financially better choice. You'd have to have a rabid case of taxphobia to think that.
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It's not impossible at all.

Imagine someone at aged 60, with an annual salary of £50k/year. That would give an annual take home of ~ £38k after tax.

Now consider that person also has a pension at the LTA of £1million. If we allow for an average return of 5% per year (which is just 50% of the typical S&P market returns over the last 100 years), that pension is returning £50k/year. We're at the LTA so we can't reinvest those returns.

So instead of working for £38k/year per year, you can take a drawdown of 5% on your pension and stay below the LTA. You pay income tax on pensions but you're still entitled to the £12500 tax free amount and the first 25% of a drawdown is tax free too which would give you a net income of ~ £41k / year.
 
Hodders said:
I'm surprised this government hasn't come up with a policy of simply taxing all foreigners that live abroad.
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The USA is the only major country that I know of that taxes "US persons" (citizens and green card holders) on their worldwide income, no matter where they live, but there are ways to help avoid exposure to these taxes if you don't plan on living in the USA in the future, for example. There is also rules regarding double taxation, although the USA wants the extra tax that you'd pay if the host country won't't tax you as heavily as the USA would.
 
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dLockers said:
Poor people should stop smoking then. It isn't difficult maths.
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What's a packet of fags now? I stopped smoking altogether two years ago, and back then they were over a tenner a packet. By my definition of properly "poor", such a person wouldn't be able to afford them and eat. I like lamb and salmon, but the prices make them a luxury, and I am not poor. The same was the case with cigarettes, it was the cost more than health concerns that made me decide to stop smoking.
 
I doubt businesses are suddenly going to be rushing to employ more workforce with an extra 6% on corp. tax to find. I suspect quite the opposite will happen, that the workforce will shrink to offset lower profits.

Haven't seen anything yet for over 50's that would be encouraging them back to work.
 
Chris Wilson said:
What's a packet of fags now? I stopped smoking altogether two years ago, and back then they were over a tenner a packet. By my definition of properly "poor", such a person wouldn't be able to afford them and eat. I like lamb and salmon, but the prices make them a luxury, and I am not poor. The same was the case with cigarettes, it was the cost more than health concerns that made me decide to stop smoking.
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Same. I was a poor student and then a poor person in a house share in London, and by the time I switched to barely filled self-rolled I decided enough was enough.
 
Junglist said:
Well that 30 free hours has come at a perfect time for me as ours is one next month. That alone is going to make us ~£700 a month better off which is not to be sniffed at.
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Don't count your chickens yet, the indication is that it will only be available for those receiving UC.

Wait until the full details are released before celebrating.
 
Rilot said:
Yeah, us too. Even 5 years ago when we were in the nursery system there were years-long waiting lists around here.
I remember paying over £1400 per month for nursery for our son. God knows what the prices must be like now.
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10 years ago we were paying £55 per day for childcare - £1,100 per month
This stopped in 2016 when he started school - felt like we could splash out on a new Ferrari with the extra money we had :p
 
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