DC writes: the Income tax calculator
The Prime Minister writes:
More money in your pocket, more financial security for you and your family.
As part of our long-term economic plan, we're cutting income tax for over 25 million people - and lifting 3.2 million out of income tax altogether.
From Sunday night, the tax-free personal allowance will increase to £10,000 - meaning you'll pay less tax and keep more of the money you earn. Use our quick income tax calculator today to find out how much you'll save this year.
This has only been possible because of the consistent action we've taken to cut the deficit.
So we need to let people know that the difficult decisions are paying off. Share the link to our income tax calculator with everyone you know so they can see how much they'll save: http://incometaxcut.conservatives.com/
Forward it to your friends and family, share it on Facebook and Twitter - let everyone know that the Conservatives are cutting income tax and helping hardworking people be more financially secure.
Thanks,
David Cameron
Comments
That looks a lot to me like a maffia boss "helping" people by reducing their "protection premium".
I still maintain the tax allowance should be set equal to the annual min wage for a full time employee (37 hours per week). This amount -£1500 should be the level of the benefit cap. Thus its always profitable to work.
I think the reduction in benefits, both in level of benefits and number of claimants would out weigh the loss in revenue collected, and aid further in deficit reduction.
I think too much emphasis has been on increasing the income of the treasury, no where near enough effort has gone into cutting expenditure. It seems pretty simple to me, if you don't spend it then you don't need to raise it in the first place.
Of course public sector bodies are not encouraged to save money in general. The whole concept of "if you dont spend your whole budget this year then you lose that amount next year" tends to lead to very wasteful spending certainly Jan-Mar. A better idea would be to allow the same budget next year but also the ability to look all big and clever and get a pat on the back for declaring a saving. Thus the budget is there if it really is needed, but there is no need to waste money in previous years to ensure its there.
The coalition has been substantially raising the personal allowance - one of the ideas which the Lib/Dems brought to the coalition but which the Conservatives have enthusiastically embraced - for exactly the reason you suggest, that we need to ensure it always pays to work.
You are absolutely right that we need to cut public spending a lot more to get the deficit down and start paying back debt, and anything we can do to give departments incentives to look for waste rather than cut services is worth doing.