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back to article Public borrowing hike overshadows Osborne's tax breaks

Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne delivered his Budget statement to the House of Commons today, which he claimed was about supporting working families and helping those seeking employment. He reaffirmed his "unwavering commitment to deal with debt" and described it as a "fiscally neutral Budget". But the growth …

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  1. John I'm only dancing

    All in it together

    Except more are more in it than others. If we all had private trust funds providing us with an income in excess of £1million a year, like certain chancellors, then the budget would make sense. The harsh reality for 99 per cent of the country is we pay, they get fat.

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    1. Tom 38
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      Re: All in it together

      Did you miss the huge jump in personal allowance, and the large rise in stamp duty on expensive houses (and much more importantly, the abolition of some of the tax crutches the rich use to avoid stamp duty).

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      1. John I'm only dancing
        Reply Icon
        FAIL

        Re: All in it together

        Huge jump in personal allowance is from 2013 not next month and, of course, not forgetting the slashing of corporation tax and the reduction in the top rate of income tax to 45p in the pound above £150k.

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    2. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: All in it together

      You can't blame them for having been born with a silver spoon in their mouth, for owning multiple properties, inheriting fortunes and paying less tax because you have a company of accountants in the back room, for thinking they know what's best for us.

      But

      Blame them for being so out of touch with the people and hate them for saying 'we are all in this together'. At least you can claim you travel and petrol costs back. Most of us can't do that.

      My advice, shut up and actually help us rather than using sound bite headlines.

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    3. alexh2o
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      Holmes

      Re: All in it together

      The sad facts are, if you follow the actual economics and not the straight up logic or your ideology, lowering the top rate of tax will result in more incomes being declared and more tax paid.

      It's hard for some to understand as people are blinkered by their financial perspective, but if at the end of the day UK plc takes more tax by cutting the top rate, then that's good for everyone!

      The top 10% of earners provide 50% of the tax take. You hammer that 10% too hard and they go elsewhere, then your tax take dives. Ignore the annoyance of seemingly giving the rich a tax cut, and realise the harsh realities of economics should outweigh any social ideology.

      This BTW is coming from someone whose earnings are very definitely in the lower tax band of 20%...

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  2. Brewster's Angle Grinder Silver badge

    "he thundered"?

    Osborn can sneer. And he occasionally bleats. But he definitely can't thunder; if he tried, he'd sound like Brian Blessed on helium

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  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Tax

    In the UK, ambition is punishable by tax.

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    1. jm83
      Reply Icon

      Re: Tax

      If you think you can make money without a functioning society (that requires things like healthcare, roads, schools, police etc) why not go and make your millions in Somalia?

      4 1
  4. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Meh

    Growth of 0.8%?

    Isn't that rather *generous*?

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  5. AdamWill

    erm

    wait, so how exactly do we simultaneously want the "richest [to] pay more [so that] the economy benefits and Britain is competitive again" and consider that the highest rate of income tax should be reduced because "It is widely acknowledged by international observers as harming to the British economy."?

    I am confused. Hold me.

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