We are going through the details of George Osborne’s latest financial statement now. The deficit is still frighteningly high: £108 billion this year according to the new figures in the Autumn Statement. Tax rates have gone up since the fiscal crisis hit but the resulting revenues have been underwhelming and spending is still much too high. The Government has admitted that they will miss their target to start shrinking the national debt as a share of national income by 2015-16.

There were also some policy announcements. There is some really good news, a great reward for the campaigns you have supported, and sadly some bad news. Which means we still have a lot to do in 2013.

The good

• No rise in Fuel Duty. The planned rise at the start of next year has been permanently cancelled, not just postponed. Thank you to everyone who wrote to their MP at FreezeFuelTax.com. But we will need to fight again next year to keep the rate frozen and ensure motorists get a fairer deal.
• Higher ISA limits. People will be able to save more money tax free in an ISA, helping savers. This is the right thing to do. The money has already been taxed when it was earned and represents a small step towards the fair taxation of capital income proposed by the 2020 Tax Commission.
• Restraint in benefit spending and a higher Personal Allowance. There will be a stronger incentive to work with no repeat of last year when benefits rose much faster than earnings while low earning families will be able to keep more of their money. There is also more support for councils to freeze Council Tax.
• Corporation Tax cut and more allowances for investment. That will boost industrial investment and mean more opportunities and higher wages, easing the pressure on family living standards. It is another step towards the kind of fairer tax on capital income that you have helped us fight for with the 2020 Tax Commission.
• Empty property rates cut. New properties built between 1 October 2013 and 30 September 2016 won’t pay empty property rates for eighteen months, which will encourage investment and create jobs. The Government hasn’t done nearly enough about this very unfair tax yet though, and we will be keeping up our campaign for a fairer deal, and for a freeze in business rates overall to help small business.

The bad

• Reduced Higher Rate threshold. 400,000 more people will pay higher rate tax on their income, including National Insurance that is a 50 per cent tax rate.
• No progress on merging Income Tax and National Insurance. We recently set out how it can be done without higher taxes for pensioners or the self-employed, helping to simplify our terribly complicated tax code.
• Missing the debt target. If the Government had moved faster to control spending – and had not made some expensive exceptions like foreign aid – then they could have got the public finances in better shape.

The ugly

• Restriction of tax relief for pensions. Pension relief stops savers being taxed twice: once when they earn the money then again when they receive it as a pension. While this will not affect everyone, it is simply not fair.
• More corporate welfare. Instead of lower taxes for all businesses, even more money is being spent on grants which too often go to large firms with the political connections and lobbying budget to get hold of them.

What do you think of the Autumn Statement? Any feedback would really be appreciated as we go through the small print.

The House of Commons Northern Ireland Affairs Committee has suggested Air Passenger Duty (APD) on short-haul flights should be eliminated. The tax was said to be a “major stumbling block” to rebuilding the Northern Irish economy. With the Autumn Statement tomorrow, my colleague Rory Meakin earlier suggested that the Chancellor should cut APD to tackle the cost of living. He’s right, and where the Northern Ireland Committee leads, the Chancellor should follow and deliver for the rest of the UK. Continue Reading

George Osborne will deliver his Autumn Statement to Parliament tomorrow and is expected to bring grim news about his progress towards balancing Britain’s books and getting the economy back on track. So what should he say to bring relief to struggling taxpayers and restore balance to the public finances? He should break with the tradition of an ‘update’ Autumn Statement and announce policy shifts. Instead of nonsense about “shovel ready” projects and shuffling taxpayers’ money from one category to another, he should look to four key themes. Continue Reading

The TaxPayers’ Alliance joined up with local retailers and councillors in Cottingham, East Yorkshire, this morning to campaign for a freeze in Business Rates. With the Chancellor of the Exchequer due to give his Autumn Statement tomorrow afternoon, independent shopkeepers sent George Osborne and MPs a message: business rates are crippling our businesses; give us a break and freeze business rates. Continue Reading

At the TaxPayers’ Alliance we believe in smaller government, lower taxes and less burdensome regulation. We believe in these fundamental principles for all people in the UK and abroad. Which is why we are closely watching the outcome of this week’s World Conference on Information Technology (WCIT) in Dubai.

The Digital Economy will bring yet untold benefits to everyone. A recent McKinsey report shows that for every traditional job lost to the Internet 2.6 jobs are created, and in mature markets 21 per cent of GDP growth in the last five years can be attributed to the Internet activities. In the UK there are now over 1,000 start-ups in London’s Tech City and there are many more digital success stories like ARM, whose chips enable digital technologies. Continue Reading