The Dread Budget - Be very Afraid !

[travelininstyle]

Well,are you all braced for tomorrow ? - no doubt fuel will take a hit and vat seems to be the likely contender - what worries you most ?
I am a little concerned about a possible increase in income tax - or if they start messing with Pensions - there was some rumours about them reviewing the 25% cash lump sum entitlement Pension pots - if that happens,I will be extremely annoyed

 

[charlie2]

well cant see them putting up vat,public will only buy less goods,and that will only affect income to tresury.I also hope they dont start messing about with pensions as i hope to stop work early only 5 yrs to go,hope every thing ok by then.

 

[AANDYY]

Did we notice when they dropped it to 15%, I doubt it, so it could go to 20% and it wouldn't be so awful.






Gets coat...........and waits for flak.

 

[jonnymerc]

I Better fill the tank up tonight , and fill the fridge up with plenty of wine and beer

 

[greggster]

I agree with Andy, 20% vat would be fine, no-one would blink an eye at the checkouts although we'd all have a good old moan about it to start with.

CG tax increase will really annoy me - i have an investment that i've gambled with and worked really hard on for the last 7 years and wanted to cash in at the end of the year - may aswell not bother if i'm taxed at 40% on my hard earned profits - teaching entrepreneurs to avoid taking gambles....hmmmm thats a good idea!

 

[jeremytaylor]

I'll be happier if they take steps to cut back on the serious waste of money that goes on in the public sector.

Like the new 'count-down' pedestrian crossings they announced that they were trialling today. They give pedestrians a countdown of how many seconds until their crossing time stops. Sounds like a good idea?

Maybe, until you see the cost.

£750,000!!!

That's the sort of waste I'm talking about.

 

[Gollom]

I'll be happier if they take steps to cut back on the serious waste of money that goes on in the public sector.

Like the new 'count-down' pedestrian crossings they announced that they were trialling today. They give pedestrians a countdown of how many seconds until their crossing time stops. Sounds like a good idea?

Maybe, until you see the cost.

£750,000!!!

That's the sort of waste I'm talking about.

Saw them in Washington DC - Can I make it in 5 secs.... 4 secs..... 3 secs..... scary things

 

[flango]

We been talking this over as a family as my daughter is to start university next year and with tuition fees expected to rise and what ever we get from the budget there's a good chance we will get screwed.I don't mind paying my fair whack but when I see scroungers that won't work with 8 kids getting everythng paid for it makes my blood boil.

Lets hit the good old middle classes screw them even more to foot the bill, well we have had enough. If the budget is as bad as they make out then we will be saying goodbye to the UK. The company I am now working for don't have an issue where I live and would prefer it if I lived closer to one of the corporate HQ's so thats fine and I can get ny daughter into a good overseas university as part of the deal so the timing would be good. VAT increase to 20% would help us on our way.

So we will see what tomorrow brings ???????????????

 

[travelininstyle]

Good news seems to be that they are increasing the personal allowance on income tax by £1k - so its the good old fashioned Tory policy of indirect taxing is been applied - personally,it suits me,I can change my shopping and spending habits - why do I think though that at some point in the future,all of us whom have been prudent with saving in our personal pensions,will be penalized when we come to retire !

 

[flango]

Good news seems to be that they are increasing the personal allowance on income tax by £1k - so its the good old fashioned Tory policy of indirect taxing is been applied - personally,it suits me,I can change my shopping and spending habits - why do I think though that at some point in the future,all of us whom have been prudent with saving in our personal pensions,will be penalized when we come to retire !

Totally agree with you on the pension front, right now my retirement plan is looking good no intention of going past 60 max, Indirect taxes just infuriate me I sometimes think the countries that tax @ around 50% income tax have no VAT and no GST might actually have it right and don't penalise the moderate earners. Will be interesting to see what happens if anything with pensions.

 

[s88]

Totally agree with you on the pension front, right now my retirement plan is looking good no intention of going past 60 max, Indirect taxes just infuriate me I sometimes think the countries that tax @ around 50% income tax have no VAT and no GST might actually have it right and don't penalise the moderate earners. Will be interesting to see what happens if anything with pensions.

Fully agree, we eventually get to 50 % tax, by whatever means.
Could be more direct like Oz, but it all comes to the same thing.

I cannot help but feel there is raging inflation, like a shirt worth a fiver; shops claim is reduced from 80 quid to 60 and you are supposed to feel you are getting a bargain.
Amazing when it all comes out of the same far Eastern sweat shops. ( Countries)

 

[A-AvantGarde]

Saw them in Washington DC - Can I make it in 5 secs.... 4 secs..... 3 secs..... scary things

They have traffic lights like that in Karachi, Pakistan. The difference is they're for the drivers and not pedestrians!. They show how many seconds to green! It's supposed to prevent people jumping the lights and it kind of works but it's strange to see!

 

[andy_k]

I'm just waiting for them to look at more ways to hammer the motorist.

I wonder if they'll close down the 'pre 2001' tax bracket 'loophole' where it costs as much to tax a 1.6 litre car as it does a 16 litre one. They could easily put a couple more bands in there.

Fuel is a given, wasn't there a 3p per litre rise that was deferred earlier in the year?

 

[franey]

Personally, I will be moving status from Middle Class to Lower Class so the changes won't have too much of an effect on me.

 

[Scott_F]

I agree with Andy, 20% vat would be fine, no-one would blink an eye at the checkouts although we'd all have a good old moan about it to start with.

CG tax increase will really annoy me - i have an investment that i've gambled with and worked really hard on for the last 7 years and wanted to cash in at the end of the year - may aswell not bother if i'm taxed at 40% on my hard earned profits - teaching entrepreneurs to avoid taking gambles....hmmmm thats a good idea!

You may not blink an eye at the checkout but I think that those on benefits or struggling to bring up a family on national minimum wage would.

 

[Scott_F]

We been talking this over as a family as my daughter is to start university next year and with tuition fees expected to rise and what ever we get from the budget there's a good chance we will get screwed.I don't mind paying my fair whack but when I see scroungers that won't work with 8 kids getting everythng paid for it makes my blood boil.

Lets hit the good old middle classes screw them even more to foot the bill, well we have had enough. If the budget is as bad as they make out then we will be saying goodbye to the UK. The company I am now working for don't have an issue where I live and would prefer it if I lived closer to one of the corporate HQ's so thats fine and I can get ny daughter into a good overseas university as part of the deal so the timing would be good. VAT increase to 20% would help us on our way.

So we will see what tomorrow brings ???????????????

Ahh - the old "I'll leave this country if...etc..etc"

The people who utter such 'threats' never seem to actually go anywhere. I assume that it just makes them feel better !!

 

[andy_k]

an increase of VAT goes much further than just the checkout, it affects us everyday and everywhere - it's an unavoidable tax that affects the lower paid far more than the well off.

For those living on minimum wage who are already on the breadline it could mean cutting down on essentials as they will be 5% worse off.

 

[andy_k]

Ahh - the old "I'll leave this country if...etc..etc"

The people who utter such 'threats' never seem to actually go anywhere. I assume that it just makes them feel better !!

I seem to remember Paul Daniels and Frank Bruno making threats like that when Labour got in thirteen years ago - why are they still here?

 

[Scott_F]

Fully agree, we eventually get to 50 % tax, by whatever means.
Could be more direct like Oz, but it all comes to the same thing.

I cannot help but feel there is raging inflation, like a shirt worth a fiver; shops claim is reduced from 80 quid to 60 and you are supposed to feel you are getting a bargain.
Amazing when it all comes out of the same far Eastern sweat shops. ( Countries)

We already live in one of the most unequal societies in the Developed World. As a result, we all suffer one way or another from the countless social problems that this produces.

Why would any sane person want to introduce such a regressive taxation policy that exacerbates the social divide and sees the wealthy keep a higher proportion of what they earn whilst the tax burden on the poorest would increase hugely in proportion to their disposable income.

The only party stupid enough to suggest a 'fair' flat rate of income tax at the last election was UKIP and thank goodness the electorate didn't give them a single seat.

 

[grober]

The major worry is an increased VAT imposition on items that were previously zero or low rated --food and children's clothes for example. The biggie of course is "energy" with increases on electricity and gas which most people can't avoid paying especially over the winter.

Zero rate

There are 16 groups of zero rated items, the main ones are

* Food, except when supplied in the course of catering or a non essential item such as chocolate,
ice cream, alcoholic and fruit drinks and crisps.
* Water and sewerage services except where supplied for industrial purposes.
* Books (but not stationery)
* Construction of buildings for residential or charitable use.
* Children's clothing and footwear.
* Transport (but not taxis or hire cars)
* Drugs and medicines on prescriptions
* Exports

Reduced rate

Items currently charged at the reduced rate of 5% are

* Fuel and power for domestic and charitable use
* Installation of energy saving materials eg. Loft insulation in residential or charitable buildings
* Grant funded installation of central heating systems, water heating systems and home security goods
* Children's car seats
* Women's sanitary products
* Certain residential conversions, renovations and alterations.