Budget: Missed Opportunity
March 17, 2005 9:51 AM
Graham Oakes described yesterday's Budget as "a missed opportunity".
He welcomed the rise in the starting point of Stamp Duty, but thought the rise in Inheritance tax was "a sleight of the hand."
"Inheritance Tax automatically rises in line with inflation and the government's own figures and projections suggest these increases would have occurred anyway!"
"This was a missed opportunity to change pension rules that discriminate against women; to scrap Council Tax and replace it with a Local Income Tax, to scrap Tuition and Top Up Fees, to provide free personal care for the elderly."
"He could have introduced a 50% tax rate on the 400,000 top earners to fund these measures."
"He could have raised the personal allowances on Income Tax, beyond just inflation, to particularly support low wage earners and help first time buyers."
"He could have written off the debts created by the mismanagement of the Family Tax Credit system, that has caused stress and worry to thousands of people across Britain through no fault of their own."
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