GM - if your well thought out plan was followed to the letter I can't argue against it! However, as we've seen with fuel duty, the idea was excellent but the spirit of the tax has been meddled with and we now have just another tax. I would affirm my earlier point that, once in place and however well intentioned, the temptation would be to reduce the distribution and/or increase GST. Introducing any new tax IS ultimately regressive for the reasons given above. The temptation to fiddle is too great - it's easier to raise a tax than address excess. You're right that most Western economies have a form of GST/VAT. But, and this is a big but, the orginal purpose of the tax as a fiscal brake/accelerator has been lost. I'd suggest that GST should be the weapon of last resort. The first thing T&R should do is grab the public sector by the hairy plums and reduce as much waste as possible. Which as most people would agree is considerable. Secondly address the Civil Service pension - replace it with a defined contributions scheme. Which is pretty much what everyone else is doing. Finally - if the above doesn't fill the fiscal hole then, as you've suggested before, raise the income tax rate to 25p for those earning over 100k.
Voice For Victims
Voice for Victims is a campaign aimed at promoting the rights of those affected by child sexual abuse.
