What George Osborne has done today in Westminster, is akin to being a wolf in sheep's clothing.
On the one hand, he's helped everybody, especially the low paid, by raising the allowance, the starting point at which you earn tax, to £9,205 from April 2013, but he'spenalised the middle income earners, by lowering the point where they start paying 40% down to £41,450. And the rich get the bonus of having the over £150,000 tax rate lowered to 45%.
He's hurting pensioners by freezing their personal allowances until the personal allowance catches up to it.
Child Benefit will be kept by people earning up to £50,000, and there will be a sliding scale, so that when you reach £60,000, you get no child benefit. But that still means two people, earning £49,000 each could get the child benefit, whilst one earning £61,000 would not. That inherent unfairness has not been addressed.
Corporation Tax, will get reduced to 24% in April 2013 and down to 22% in April 2014.
Adding a 7% stamp duty for houses worth over £2,000,000 is one thing, and I do like the idea that any corporations paying for houses over £2,000,000 will pay 15%, that closes that little loophole.
Unfortunately, this is a budget that rewards the super rich, and penalises middle income earners, families and pensioners. It has been dressed up as fair, and it is clearly anything but.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
The UK Budget 2012: Winners and Losers
Labels:
2012,
Budget,
George Osborne,
Ian Beaumont,
loophole closed,
Strictly Politics,
UK,
unfair,
Viewpoint
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