Monday, March 19, 2007

99 not out

Interesting article in the Daily Telegraph today, which suggests that families in Britain are about to be hit with their 100th tax increase from Gordon Brown....here are the 99 to date.

1997

1. Mortgage interest relief cut 2. Pensions tax (payable tax credits abolished) 3. Health insurance taxed (income tax relief abolished) 4. Health insurance taxed again (IPT) 5. Fuel tax escalator up 6. Vehicle Excise Duty up 7. Tobacco duty escalator up 8. Stamp duty up for properties over £250,000 9. Limit carry back of trading losses to one year 10. Dividends on trading assets 11. Taxation of finance leasing 12. New Windfall Tax on utilities 13. Futures and options 14. VAT: cash accounting scheme

1998
15. Married couple's allowance cut 16. Tax on travel insurance up 17. Tax on casinos and gaming machines up 18. Fuel tax escalator brought forward 19. Tax on company cars up 20. Tax relief for foreign earnings abolished 21. Tax concession for certain professions abolished 22. Capital Gains Tax imposed on certain non-residents 23. Reinvestment relief restricted 24. Corporation Tax payments brought forward and ACT abolished 25. Higher stamp duty rates up 26. Some hydrocarbon duties up 27. Additional diesel duties 28. Landfill Tax up 29. Exceptional increase in tobacco and alcohol duties 30. Amendments to offshore trusts 31. VAT: fuel scale charges

1999
32. NIC earnings limit raised 33. NICs for self-employed up 34. Married Couple's Allowance abolished 35. Mortgage tax relief abolished 36. IR35: Taxation of personal services companies 37. Company car business mileage allowances restricted 38. Tobacco duty escalator brought forward 39. Insurance Premium Tax up 40. Vocational Training Relief abolished 41. Employer NICs extended to all benefits in kind 42. VAT on some banking services up 43. Premiums paid to tenants by landlords taxed 44. Duty on minor oils up 45. Vehicle Excise Duties for lorries up 46. Landfill tax escalator introduced 47. Higher rates of stamp duty up again 48. Capital gains on sale of companies 49. Controlled Foreign Companies: taxation of dividends

2000
50. Tobacco duties up 51. Higher rates of stamp duty up again52. Extra taxation of life assurance companies 53. Rules on Controlled Foreign Companies extended 54. Aggregates levy increased 55. Changes to double taxation relief 56. Rent factoring 57. Capital gains tax: use of trusts and offshore companies 58. VAT: capital asset disposals

2001
59. Controlled foreign companies regime

2002
60. Personal allowances frozen 61. National Insurance threshold frozen 62. NICs for employers up 63. NICs for employees up 64. NICs for self-employed up 65. North Sea taxation up 66. Tax on some alcoholic drinks up 67. New stamp duty regime 68. New rules on loan relationships 69. Taxation of foreign company UK branches

2003
70. VAT on electronically supplied services 71. IR35 applied to domestic workers 72. Betting duty change 73. Tax on red diesel and fuel oil up 74. Controlled Foreign Companies measures on Ireland 75. Vehicle excise duty up 76. VAT: on continuous supplies 77. VAT: on privately operated tolls 78. Treatment of options for the purposes of tax on chargeable gains 79. Landfill tax increased

2004
80. Minimum 19% tax rate on distributed profits 81. Transfer pricing and thin capitalisation 82. Increase in rate of tax on trusts 83. Increase in tax on red diesel fuel 84. Increase in tax on other road fuels (including LPG) 85. VAT: transfers of going concern 86. Insurance premium tax: Changes to GAP insurance 87. Taxation of life companies 88. Foreign earnings deduction for seafarers 89. Construction industry scheme
2005

90. Stamp duty land tax: ending commercial disadvantaged areas relief 91. Increase in North Sea corporation tax 92. Further increase in tax on red diesel 93. Increase in taxation of leasing 94. Company car tax up

2006
95. Further changes to oil valuation for tax purposes 96. Stamp duty land tax: ending relief for initial transfers into unit trusts 97. Removal of income tax exemption for loaned computers 98. North Sea Oil tax increased 99. Air Passenger Duty doubled

3 comments:

Martin Eaglestone said...

and as always only one reference is required (not 100) that being Black Wednesday. Cameron was even there for that.

Professor Dylan Jones-Evans said...

...and don't forget to blame Winston Churchill for getting us into the gold standard in 1925 :)

Martin Eaglestone said...

Is that who did it !

My fredom of information request to the Churchuill Foundation did not produce the smoking gun...

I think Cameron at Lamont's shoulder may just come in as a handy image over the coming years.