A tax-raising Budget
Fraser Nelson 1:42pmThe Red Book has arrived – and with it the magical Table 1.2, proof this is a tax-raising budget. We’ll all collectively pay the government £140m less in the next financial year 2008-09 but £790m more in 2009-10 and £1.86bn more in 2010-11. This is net increases. Here are the biggest tax rises (in the year 2008-09, unless otherwise stated)
1) Alcohol - £400m then £505m then £625m
2) Vehicle Excise Duty: £465m in 2009-10 and £735m in 2010-11
3) Biofuels: a £550m tax rise by 2010-11
4) “Double taxation treaties” - £200m
5) North Sea “fiscal regime modernisation” £25m tax cut. Sounds suspicious? Well, it is… Because
6) North Sea “abuse of management expense rules” (yes, yet another hit) £140m, rising to £175m next year and £175m year after
7) Aviation: another £40m which only kicks in 2010-11.
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Aidan
March 12th, 2008 3:07pmHidden in the footnotes is something bizarre. Employees of coal mines, shipbuilders and steel works will no longer qualify for special tax-exempt share options. Since these were only ever available to companies with gross assets of less than £30 million, you have to wonder about the relevance. Just how many privately owned steel works etc are there with gross assets of less than £30 million?