Reviewing the Coalition's tax policies

8 out of 10

Our world is changing fundamentally perhaps. Liam Byrne tells the coalition Government that there's no money left. Given my job I could be expected to denounce George Osborne’s first Budget as a largely political affair. Certainly there is a lot of work to do around the banking levy if it is to become a workable and fair deliverer of £2 billion a year towards deficit reduction. Indeed it seems rather counter intuitive to devise an entirely new set of regulations with their inherent limitations (most notably the absence of any double tax relief) at the same time as pushing ahead with the welcome introduction of an office of tax simplification.

But some banks were doubtless complicit in sowing the seeds of ‘the great recession’ and politics aside there is a strong argument that they should contribute to a sinking fund. The other headline...