How to abolish income tax in the UK...without really trying.

[afleitch]

http://devilskitchen.me.uk/2007/10/dump-income-tax.html

''In 2006/07, government spending was £586.6 billion.
In 2002/03, government spending was £420.8 billion.

In 2006/07, income tax receipts were £152.5 billion.

In other words, if we returned to 2002/03 levels of government spending, we could abolish Income Tax for everyone, and still have £13.3 billion left over!''

The £13.3 billion left over is enough to abolish, at 2006/07 figures:

Inheritance Tax (£3.9 bn)
Capital Gains Tax (£4.6 bn)
Duty on Wine (£2.5 bn)
Duty on Spirits (£2.3 bn)

New Labour are taking almost 41% more tax than they were 7 years ago. Where the f--- has it all gone?''

-----

Nothing more than fun with figures, but it helps put things in perspective wiuth Labour running around warning of 'wreck and ruin' on IHT.

[Peter]

Are those figures adjusted for inflation? If not, then the comparison isn't just worthless, its irresponsible.

[Verily]

Some of it may be wartime spending, too, though I doubt Iraq has had nearly as much impact on the British government's budget as it has on the American government's

[afleitch]

Are those figures adjusted for inflation? If not, then the comparison isn't just worthless, its irresponsible.

Doesn't say. They are govt stats, so I don't know if the traditionally adjust for infaltion, though I imagine they do (if non inflation adjusted figures are irresponsible)

[Peter]

The data is presented as historical in the Government reports - I doubt they would have adjusted for inflation. The Government report also indicates that the historical data was drawn directly from ONS reports, which don't get updated with inflation data. Also, the data has a trend that doesn't look like its been adjusted for inflation - whilst I can believe modest increases in government spending, the government isn't spending 50% more in real terms compared to 2001.

The government's use in its reports isn't irresponsible, because it isn't attempting to use the data to justify abolishing income tax by bending its actual truth. Reading statistics blindly as that blogger has done is worthless, and it is irresponsible. Reading them as he has probably done (i.e. without adjustment for inflation) means that a conclusion that is totally unsupported by the data has been reached (i.e. we can afford to abolish income tax).

£420.8 billion in 2002 = £479.71 billion in 2006 (I used this calculator)

So 2002/3 to 2006/7, there appears only to have been a real terms increase of £73 billion (which I can believe given that the government have announced some real terms increases in spending). Suddenly not enough to abolish income tax, not even half of income tax. Oh dear.

[afleitch]

Thanks for the explanation of that. As I said before it's just 'fun with figures'

[StateBoiler]

afleitch,

Please explain to me how you can be ideologically coherent being a Conservative in Britain and a Democrat in the U.S.