http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/ ... 68,00.html
Labour 'has raised taxes by £9,000'
Anthony Browne, Chief Political Correspondent
Gordon Brown has increased taxes by nearly £9,000 per household since he came to power, according to a report out today. The money is being used, among other things, to pay for 27,000 tax inspectors.
The study, by a former World Bank and United Nations economist, says that taxpayers are paying twice as much council tax and income tax as they did in 1997, business taxes have risen almost as much and a welter of stealth taxes have been introduced.
Mr Brown is to hint at a range of other “green tax” increases in his Pre-Budget Report on Wednesday, including proposals to increase the air passenger duty on flights and vehicle excise duty on gas-guzzling 4x4s.
His economic record is being attacked by reports out today, which accuse him of raising taxes, harming productivity, reducing household incomes, destroying pensions saving and presiding over the growth of a bloated welfare state and inefficient public sector.
According to Moving Britain Backwards, by Keith Marsden, the Chancellor has increased his revenues from income tax from £74 billion in 1996 to £136 billion this year by not increasing tax allowances in line with rising earnings. In total, Mr Brown has more than doubled the tax take, from £219 billion in 1996 to £486 billion this year, an increase of nearly £9,000 per household. The money has been used to increase public sector employment by 700,000, including an extra 27,000 tax collectors.
The report, published by the TaxPayers’ Alliance, concludes: “Gordon Brown’s record as Chancellor has not lived up to his own rhetoric and boasts.”
In a separate research paper, the alliance claims that if the Chancellor had kept the overall tax burden at the level it was in 1997, then the basic rate of income tax could be 10 per cent rather than its current rate of 22 per cent. The alliance also published a poll of the panel of economists consulted by the Treasury. All of those who responded thought that the rise in public spending has had a negative impact on long-term economic performance.
An audit of the Chancellor’s ten years in office by the right-leaning think-tank the Centre for Policy Studies says that Mr Brown has presided over a decline in Britain’s competitiveness.
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