How the Autumn Statement took us taxpayers for fools - Yorkshire Post Letters

Please don’t be fooled by the propaganda from our Chancellor and Prime Minister in the budget. Take due note, that the tax avoidance benefits given to non-domiciles (which includes our Prime Minister's family) weren’t even mentioned.

The burden of taxation will not and never has been spread equally across society. The billionaires as usual escape and we will be paying for the energy windfall profits.

Warren Buffett, the American billionaire famously bragged, his secretary pays more tax than he does. And that applies globally where the 10 per cent super rich who own 76 per cent of the world’s wealth avoid and minimise the taxes they pay.

And this had its steepest increase ever during Covid. Draw your own conclusions on this. So how is this done?

The super rich (billionaires) are mostly asset rich and deposit wealth in low tax offshore bonds. In the UK they can take five per cent of this tax free. And remember these are billionaires and there are a multitude of tax havens around the world that are more than happy to cooperate.

So for example say he/she has only one billion they can have £50m tax free. And also remember these are multi-billionaires. Like the family of our Prime Minister.

Compare this with a pensioner with a state and occupational pension providing an income of say £20,000. These pensioners pay 20 per cent tax on all income above £12,570 and therefore pays £1484 tax. So a billionaire with £50m pays no tax. Pensioner with £20,000 pays £1484. Equality and fairness?

So what about council tax that affects all both homeowners and renters? This is progressive only up to a point and multi million pound country mansions and estates are rated at the same level as an average London home. In some it can be avoided altogether by allowing paid public access on a limited number of days.

Consider the Royal family for instance who charge the public to visit Buckingham Palace that they, the taxpayer, have paid for. The current rating for Buckingham Palace is band H and pays approximately £1,500. And even this is paid by the taxpayers. How much council tax are you paying?

And when, if ever, have you seen a member of the Royal Family put their hands in their pocket to pay for something. Yes they have someone to do it for them and it is tax deductible expenditure and becomes tax free crown property. And inheritance tax is yet another tax they avoid.

Then there is the “VAT and energy support payments carousel” scams. We pay tax, the government gives it back so that we can then give it to the energy capitalists to pay their taxes and make them richer. Quid pro quo. Work the VAT scam out yourself.

So do you now really believe the lies we are told on the fair distribution of taxation?