The best for us all, Kiteflier, would be if we paid no income tax at all. Wearing my anorak I can tell you that the total tax take for 2006/2007 was around GBP530 billion. Of this, 144 billion was income tax and the rest was from all the other myriad taxes sloshing around the system. A recent, well-researched book claimed that since Blair came to office, the government have spent GBP100 billion per year on consultants across all departments. Another study puts the cost of quangos, (Equal Opportunities Commission, Potato Marketing Board, Financial Services Authority, Regional Development Agencies etc) at GBP100 to 130 billion per year. Furthermore, Lee Rotherham and Matt Tyler wrote a book on behalf of the Taxpayers Alliance (check out website) identifying GBP101 billion of wasteful government spending. Our government spends a further GBP15 billion in subscriptions so that we can remain in the expensive, corrupt and undemocratic club known as the EU. Whilst there may be some overlap in these costs I am sure that a politician with the will could find GBP144 billion worth of savings, thus cancelling out the need for income tax altogether.
Scrapping income tax would be unpopular with the socialists, of course, since they see income tax as a means of punishing hardworking motivated folk who get on in life. However, the knock on benefits for the rest of us are legion. There would be enormous savings in the Treasury, since there would be no tax inspectors. Neither would we need 18000 people to administer the family tax credits. If there is no tax there can be no credit. The welfare trap, whereby the tax system makes it more profitable to stay on welfare, would be removed at a stroke. Wealthy folk would flood into the UK, increasing the cash in circulation and boosting jobs.
It is such a shame that we have a Conservative opposition whose big idea is to spend the same as McBroon. What have we done to deserve such a sorry bunch of MPs?