YP Letters: Putting tax rate up does not mean more cash for the NHS

From: John Watson, Former Conservative MP, Main Street, Kirk Deighton.
Philip Hammond's Budget remains under scrutiny.Philip Hammond's Budget remains under scrutiny.
Philip Hammond's Budget remains under scrutiny.

IN the first Budget after Margaret Thatcher’s election victory in 1979, the top rate of income tax was reduced from 83 to 60 per cent. It has subsequently been reduced further and is now 45 per cent.

Almost counter-intuitively, the actual “tax take” has remained completely static. Thirty years ago, for example, it accounted for 33.9 per cent of all income earned. Now it is 33.7 per cent. Of course it is understandable that people on the left should want to increase Government spending and should proclaim that the way to fund such an increase is by higher taxes on the rich. The trouble is that it doesn’t work.

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As has been recognised by Labour MP Frank Field, the tax system is almost at breaking point. Any increase in direct taxation is likely to be met by a reduction in its yield. Spending more money on the NHS is a noble aim, but expecting actual tax revenue to rise to pay for it is increasingly unrealistic.

From: R Martin Downs, Main Street, Linton-on-Ouse, York.

I HAVE recently received my council tax assessment for next year and have the following observations.

The green bin annual charge is now £35 for fewer than 20 emptyings a year. Who is kidding who that this is reasonable?

Non-urgent calls to police such as those regarding stolen cars – the police have no intention of following them up as they know they have little chance of catching anyone.

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Drug dealing in my neighbourhood. Obviously it is not in the police’s remit to jump on this and stamp it out.

From: Geoffrey Streets, Hull Road, Hessle.

THE recent letter from Tony McCobb shows he has fallen into the trap of “the dangerous half-truth”.

No doubt Mr McCobb buys items which have value added tax on them. VAT is in fact two taxes, one of 18.6 per cent which goes to HM Treasury and one of 1.4 per cent sent to the EU. Does Mr McCobb know how much he sends to the EU by this method?

From: Colin Jones, Killinghall, Harrogate.

I REFER to the ‘noise’ surrounding the Chancellor’s decision to change the NI rules for the self-employed. When will the media, in particular, realise that a party manifesto is nothing more than a ‘wish-list’? Those proposals are not, and never can be, ‘promises’, ‘pledges’, or ‘commitments’.