Quote Originally Posted by jon1959 View Post
No longer Sludge, mate. I early retired a few years ago after 28 years in housing - but I still keep in touch and read the housing press.

I think TISS (Feedback - surely) was aiming at Pearcey' comment about the well-off getting tax cuts under the Tories. He seems to doubt that the Tories handed the rich £70bn in tax cuts through changes to corporation tax, inheritance tax, capital gains tax and the bank levy. He would, wouldn't he. Even the most pro-Tory commentators agree that is the headline - even if they quibble about some of the fine print.
Except it's not evidenced in fact. You only have to look at what taxes have been collected pre and post 2010 to see more taxes are collected now that ever before. For each cut in the headline rate is a corresponding removal of a relief or an allowance. The devil is in the detail and I would suggest you read the various finance acts since 2010 to understand how this government has partaken in legerdemain not seen previously.

It is easy to fool the public by dropping the rate of tax, but if you remove various reliefs associated with It, you end up collecting more revenue than before.