‘George Osborne's misplaced priorities’
‘Sure enough, the Treasury will point out the mini-mansion tax of a sharp rise in stamp duty on houses worth over £2m, and a raft of anti-avoidance measures. But it is hard to think of a recent chancellor who has not clamped down on devious tax planning – and Mr Osborne's initiative was no great advance on anything brought out by Alistair Darling.
‘Meanwhile, middle-aged workers now face the prospect of a much poorer retirement. They face a triple whammy: the over-65 tax allowance will be scrapped by the time they can claim it, compulsory pension saving by their employers is deferred and their state pension age could be increased without limit. This is quite some tax raid, compounded by another under-discussed phenomenon: the chancellor is also dragging an extra 300,000 basic-rate taxpayers up into the 40% bracket. The repercussions of that will be felt over time, but they might be surprisingly dramatic.
‘A 50p bet on Britain’
‘George Osborne is a deeply political Chancellor, but yesterday he did not deliver a political Budget. He delivered one that was principled and consistent, with a clear view of the economy that he wants to encourage.
‘The political risks are large, and they are obvious. Cutting the highest rate of income tax, lowering business taxes and shifting the balance of tax between low-paid workers and pensioners are all bound to be controversial. They are, however, the right decisions. In particular, the deterrent to investment and enterprise that is represented by the 50p tax rate has been underestimated. Acting to remove it is good for business.
‘Showing a degree of courage was not merely welcome, it was essential. Britain is in danger of drifting steadily downwards, incapable of showing enough ambition to remain a leading economy, unwilling to keep its tax rates competitive or invest in future success.’
‘An audacious gamble from the artful Osborne’
‘The decision to cut the top rate of income tax from 50p to 45p from April next year will no doubt generate much political heat. While this newspaper would not have made this change at this stage, we acknowledge that the economic case for the higher rate is weak. It has not raised much money, and it is out of step with Britain’s other major competitors in the G20.
‘But the move risks undermining the coalition’s claim that the burden of austerity is being shared fairly. Mr Osborne, encouraged by Mr Clegg, has sought to deflect this criticism by raising other taxes, closing loopholes and sounding tough about curbing avoidance.
‘These latter measures are mainly a watered-down version of the “tycoon tax” originally championed by Mr Clegg. Their centrepiece is a sharp hike in stamp duty, combined with a crackdown on those who shelter expensive properties in corporate structures. The victims will be mainly the super-rich and foreigners who tend not to vote in elections. However the losers also include pensioners, whose personal allowances are being frozen. The coalition’s enemies will be able to characterise this as a “granny tax” to finance a giveaway to the rich. True, pensioners have so far been sheltered from austerity. But this is a hard case to sell politically.’
Financial Times, 22 March 2012
‘Britain needed a Budget for jobs and growth but we just got cash for the rich’
‘The Chancellor of the Exchequer and Prime Minister were caught completely by surprise yesterday when the Budget began unravelling before Mr Osborne had even sat down, and Labour leader Ed Miliband tore it to shreds.
‘The truth is that neither Tory is as good as his self-generated publicity would have us believe. If they were, this pair of well-heeled muggers would’ve realised that stealing the pensions of the elderly, while stuffing the wallets of the wealthy, would go down like a lead balloon.
‘Britain needed a Budget for jobs and growth but we got cash for the rich and a dose of austerity for ordinary people who’ve worked and saved all their lives in the hope of enjoying a comfortable retirement.
‘Messrs Cameron and Osborne are so out of touch it is a problem for the coalition but, more importantly, the Unlikely Lads are a nightmare for the hard-pressed in our country.’
The Daily Mirror, 22 March 2012
‘More pain than gain on the road to recovery’
‘A bold cut in corporation tax, which at 24% from April will be lower than in most EU countries (though by no means all) is a step in the right direction. It will fall further – Mr Osborne aims to bring it down to at least 20% during this parliament. This will go some way to assuaging those such as Willie Walsh, the head of British Airways, who challenged the notion on these pages yesterday that the UK is a business-friendly environment.’
‘George Osborne's misplaced priorities’
‘Sure enough, the Treasury will point out the mini-mansion tax of a sharp rise in stamp duty on houses worth over £2m, and a raft of anti-avoidance measures. But it is hard to think of a recent chancellor who has not clamped down on devious tax planning – and Mr Osborne's initiative was no great advance on anything brought out by Alistair Darling.
‘Meanwhile, middle-aged workers now face the prospect of a much poorer retirement. They face a triple whammy: the over-65 tax allowance will be scrapped by the time they can claim it, compulsory pension saving by their employers is deferred and their state pension age could be increased without limit. This is quite some tax raid, compounded by another under-discussed phenomenon: the chancellor is also dragging an extra 300,000 basic-rate taxpayers up into the 40% bracket. The repercussions of that will be felt over time, but they might be surprisingly dramatic.
‘A 50p bet on Britain’
‘George Osborne is a deeply political Chancellor, but yesterday he did not deliver a political Budget. He delivered one that was principled and consistent, with a clear view of the economy that he wants to encourage.
‘The political risks are large, and they are obvious. Cutting the highest rate of income tax, lowering business taxes and shifting the balance of tax between low-paid workers and pensioners are all bound to be controversial. They are, however, the right decisions. In particular, the deterrent to investment and enterprise that is represented by the 50p tax rate has been underestimated. Acting to remove it is good for business.
‘Showing a degree of courage was not merely welcome, it was essential. Britain is in danger of drifting steadily downwards, incapable of showing enough ambition to remain a leading economy, unwilling to keep its tax rates competitive or invest in future success.’
‘An audacious gamble from the artful Osborne’
‘The decision to cut the top rate of income tax from 50p to 45p from April next year will no doubt generate much political heat. While this newspaper would not have made this change at this stage, we acknowledge that the economic case for the higher rate is weak. It has not raised much money, and it is out of step with Britain’s other major competitors in the G20.
‘But the move risks undermining the coalition’s claim that the burden of austerity is being shared fairly. Mr Osborne, encouraged by Mr Clegg, has sought to deflect this criticism by raising other taxes, closing loopholes and sounding tough about curbing avoidance.
‘These latter measures are mainly a watered-down version of the “tycoon tax” originally championed by Mr Clegg. Their centrepiece is a sharp hike in stamp duty, combined with a crackdown on those who shelter expensive properties in corporate structures. The victims will be mainly the super-rich and foreigners who tend not to vote in elections. However the losers also include pensioners, whose personal allowances are being frozen. The coalition’s enemies will be able to characterise this as a “granny tax” to finance a giveaway to the rich. True, pensioners have so far been sheltered from austerity. But this is a hard case to sell politically.’
Financial Times, 22 March 2012
‘Britain needed a Budget for jobs and growth but we just got cash for the rich’
‘The Chancellor of the Exchequer and Prime Minister were caught completely by surprise yesterday when the Budget began unravelling before Mr Osborne had even sat down, and Labour leader Ed Miliband tore it to shreds.
‘The truth is that neither Tory is as good as his self-generated publicity would have us believe. If they were, this pair of well-heeled muggers would’ve realised that stealing the pensions of the elderly, while stuffing the wallets of the wealthy, would go down like a lead balloon.
‘Britain needed a Budget for jobs and growth but we got cash for the rich and a dose of austerity for ordinary people who’ve worked and saved all their lives in the hope of enjoying a comfortable retirement.
‘Messrs Cameron and Osborne are so out of touch it is a problem for the coalition but, more importantly, the Unlikely Lads are a nightmare for the hard-pressed in our country.’
The Daily Mirror, 22 March 2012
‘More pain than gain on the road to recovery’
‘A bold cut in corporation tax, which at 24% from April will be lower than in most EU countries (though by no means all) is a step in the right direction. It will fall further – Mr Osborne aims to bring it down to at least 20% during this parliament. This will go some way to assuaging those such as Willie Walsh, the head of British Airways, who challenged the notion on these pages yesterday that the UK is a business-friendly environment.’
