Is austerity working- and will it ever end?

[woodview]

I don't think any company gets preferential treatment, they are taxed depending on their status.

Headquarters abroad means they are a foreign company, our Government cannot tax a foreign company in the same way it would tax a UK based company.

 

It was good to see a large foreign company like Amazon announce that they will be paying all their UK staff a minimum of £9.50 per hour, £1.77 higher than the UK minimum wage.

I'm sure they pay the legally correct amount. Fact is they post their profits in luxembourg, which has a tiny corporation tax rate.

I pay 20% corporation tax on my small company profits. They paid the equivalent of 2%.

Good they pair a fair wage, I do too. They should be taxed at the uk rate on all their uk based profit. Or we can all pay slightly higher income tax to offset the shortfall. Take your pick.

[El Cid]

I'm sure they pay the legally correct amount. Fact is they post their profits in luxembourg, which has a tiny corporation tax rate.

I pay 20% corporation tax on my small company profits. They paid the equivalent of 2%.

Good they pair a fair wage, I do too. They should be taxed at the uk rate on all their uk based profit. Or we can all pay slightly higher income tax to offset the shortfall. Take your pick.

 

When Labour were in charge, the most the exchequer received in corporation tax was in 2007/8 - £48 billion, the corporation tax raised in 2017/18 was £55 billion.

[El Cid]

So a significant reduction in real terms. If it had kept pace with inflation, it would have been around £60 billion in 2017/18.

 

That is a good point. The figures are very complex, this graph gives more detailed numbers, not too sure what 'onshore and offshore' includes.

 

https://www.statista.com/statistics/284319/united-kingdom-hmrc-tax-receipts-corporation-tax/

[woodview]

When Labour were in charge, the most the exchequer received in corporation tax was in 2007/8 - £48 billion, the corporation tax raised in 2017/18 was £55 billion.

I'm not interested in the party politics of it tbh. Times change, and the government hasn't been able to keep up.

As a nation we need to make sure individuals and companies pay the amount of tax *intended* by law.

There are two sides to austerity, or solving it. One is spending money where it is really needed, the other is making sure the right amount comes in.

[El Cid]

I'm not interested in the party politics of it tbh. Times change, and the government hasn't been able to keep up.

As a nation we need to make sure individuals and companies pay the amount of tax *intended* by law.

 

I am guessing you are to the left of politics, so you will be glad to hear that back in 1990 the top 1% of earners paid 15% of the income tax, zoom forward to 2017 and that figure goes up to 27% of income tax is paid by the top 1%

 

https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/9178

[Anna B]

I am guessing you are to the left of politics, so you will be glad to hear that back in 1990 the top 1% of earners paid 15% of the income tax, zoom forward to 2017 and that figure goes up to 27% of income tax is paid by the top 1%

 

https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/9178

 

That's because the wealth gap is widening. A few people have become extraordinarily rich, but far more people are on minimum wage or don't earn enough to pay tax.

 

---------- Post added 06-10-2018 at 11:55 ----------

 

I'm not interested in the party politics of it tbh. Times change, and the government hasn't been able to keep up.

As a nation we need to make sure individuals and companies pay the amount of tax *intended* by law.

There are two sides to austerity, or solving it. One is spending money where it is really needed, the other is making sure the right amount comes in.

 

That is very true. And there are some massive changes in the pipeline which nobody seems to know how to deal with. Massive unemployment because of robotics and AI. is just one.

[El Cid]

That's because the wealth gap is widening. A few people have become extraordinarily rich, but far more people are on minimum wage or don't earn enough to pay tax.

 

How can it be widening when the minimum wage is increasing so much and making all those at the bottom richer?

 

Tony Blair’s pledge that half of all young people should go on to higher education is within a whisker of becoming true as official figures revealed that 49% of those in England are expected to have entered advanced studies by the age of 30.

 

The minimum wage is increasing rapidly and more young people are going to university, surely things are looking up for many young people?

 

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/sep/28/almost-half-of-all-young-people-in-england-go-on-to-higher-education

[Robin-H]

That's because the wealth gap is widening. A few people have become extraordinarily rich, but far more people are on minimum wage or don't earn enough to pay tax.

 

---------- Post added 06-10-2018 at 11:55 ----------

 

 

That is very true. And there are some massive changes in the pipeline which nobody seems to know how to deal with. Massive unemployment because of robotics and AI. is just one.

 

Yes, there are more very wealthy people, but the reason fewer people on lower incomes are paying tax is because the government has massively increased the income tax threshold, taking the lowest paid out of paying income tax. That is surely a good thing.

[woodview]

I am guessing you are to the left of politics, so you will be glad to hear that back in 1990 the top 1% of earners paid 15% of the income tax, zoom forward to 2017 and that figure goes up to 27% of income tax is paid by the top 1%

 

https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/9178

You'd guess wrong. Some aspects of what I believe are 'left' othef aspects 'right'.

I know top earners contribute most proportionately.

My comment was about corporation tax (which as a business owner I also pay), and Amazon avoiding paying it in the uk.

 

---------- Post added 06-10-2018 at 18:29 ----------

 

That's because the wealth gap is widening. A few people have become extraordinarily rich, but far more people are on minimum wage or don't earn enough to pay tax.

 

---------- Post added 06-10-2018 at 11:55 ----------

 

 

That is very true. And there are some massive changes in the pipeline which nobody seems to know how to deal with. Massive unemployment because of robotics and AI. is just one.

That will take step change in how we approach things.......

[mafya]

How can it be widening when the minimum wage is increasing so much and making all those at the bottom richer?

 

Tony Blair’s pledge that half of all young people should go on to higher education is within a whisker of becoming true as official figures revealed that 49% of those in England are expected to have entered advanced studies by the age of 30.

 

The minimum wage is increasing rapidly and more young people are going to university, surely things are looking up for many young people?

 

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/sep/28/almost-half-of-all-young-people-in-england-go-on-to-higher-education

 

my bold=

When the minimum wage goes up so does the cost of everything else so the only winner is the govt through higher tax receipts and more national insurance contributions etc.