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Lamont backs calls to scrap "uncompetitive" 50p top tax rate

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    Lamont backs calls to scrap "uncompetitive" 50p top tax rate

    Lord Lamont, who was chancellor in John Major's Tory government in the early 1990s, uses an article in The Sunday Telegraph to declare that tax rates in Britain are "too high and too uncompetitive" compared to other European countries.

    ...

    Mr Osborne used his first Budget last June to announce a "National Insurance holiday" which he said would benefit around 400,000 new business start-ups outside London, the South East and the East of England..

    The scheme which exempted new businesses from up to £5,000 of employers' National Insurance contributions for each of the first 10 employees they hired in their first year of operating - saving them up to £50,000.

    Ministers hoped the holiday would help create around 800,000 new jobs over three years and said it could end up seeing £940million paid out by The Treasury.

    However, since its launch last September just 5,137 firms have benefited, helping to create just over 10,000 jobs, according to figures supplied by David Gauke, the Treasury minister.

    With an average benefit per business of £2,000, that means around £10.3 million has been paid to companies – less than the £12 million the Treasury says the scheme will cost to administer.

    Ed Balls, the Shadow Chancellor, said: "George Osborne hailed this flagship policy last year saying it could create 800,000 private sector jobs. But it's turned out to be a total flop."

    Source: Lamont backs calls to scrap "uncompetitive" 50p top tax rate - Telegraph

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    Ok, NI holiday was good idea, why did it flop? Well maybe because only businesses registered after date when it was announced (mid June 2010) could benefit from it, FFS - who can create more jobs, established business that is hiring or newly registered Ltd? This was clearly created on purpose to prevent "revenue loss", which directly made it a flop - good idea totally derailed.

    One can only wonder if Osborne an idiot who could not see that the way his policy was implemented would never make it work, or he just never intended it to work in the first place, he'd better cut down CGT, NI and 50% tax right down to make up for it

    #2
    You wonder why people with the track record of Norman Lamont, give lectures to any government on financial policy. At least it wasn't Gordon sounding off. But Norman's right. 40 pence in the pound is high enough. If you make it much higher, the higher earners simply decamp elsewhere.
    Speaking gibberish on internet talkboards since last Michaelmas. Plus here on Twitter

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      #3
      Agreed, I think abolishing the 50% rate will do a great deal to get the economy moving again.
      "The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance." Cicero

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