With it just a month away before we can cast our votes, the aim of this thread is to act as a "catch all" to get your views/discussion points on some of the policies that the parties are using to grab your votes (assuming you're voting of course!!)

The party leaders will be dishing out quite a few populist headline grabbing policies to get your vote. So I'll kick off with one; despite Ed B@lls telling us it would likely cost Britain money and lead to a fall in tax revenue, Ed Milliband is proposing to abolish non-dom status so that those non-doms who choose to live here should pay tax on all their income including foreign to the treasury.

Note that non-doms are not evading/avoiding tax as they already pay their taxes on all UK earnings and money spent in the UK plus an annual charge of £30k if they've been resident for 7 years rising to £50k for 12 years. Should non doms pay tax on income earned in another country which may already be subject to local taxes? Is this a policy of fairness or envy?

 

Its a legacy of a time 200 years ago and should have been repealed decades ago.
If anything represents "one rule for them and one rule for us" then this is it.
I'm sorry but they are avoiding tax - why else would they bother ?
If the wealthy foreign or otherwise want to live in Britain ,then they should pay accordingly .
The current tax laws favour the rich and powerful - Time to put this archaic law to rest.

 

Nail on head

Only greed driven elitists could think it was a good thing!

 

I agree, though non-doms also have to pay an annual charge of up to £90k for the privilege. Abolishing non dom status would mean the end of this charge and non doms leaving this country and taking their money with them; no more spending and investment of their vast income in the UK and live as tax exiles like Lewis Hamilton, Jensen Button and whole host of other "worthy" rich personalities.

Whilst we agree that those who choose to live here should pay their taxes as other UK residents, implementing this policy would likely have the opposite effect and reduce tax revenue for the UK economy at a time when the UK Government could do with more tax revenue.

Ministers can still to flip homes to get around capital gains tax when selling their "2nd home" and claim back interest on mortgages on these properties from tax payers for example. Should any of the parties propose a complete reform of ministerial expenses and get their house in order instead of implementing the scrapping of non dom status,that could be damaging to the UK economy, that would get my vote.

As it stands non dom status is grabbing the headlines, and I think that it is its sole purpose, a populist policy to catch voters, but does this policy itself do anything to help the country and aid the economic recovery?

 

maybe not, but the value of applying a principle (that of everyone being treated equally and transparency) is worth the price

beware of people who know the price of everything but the value of nothing

 

Oscar Wilde was onto something with that quip and describes politicians perfectly! Labour might want to have a look at their own tax avoiding donors first.

If you want the principle of everyone being treated equally and transparently, then we could argue that we should have a flat rate tax system and do away with the basic, higher and additional rate tax bands and National Insurance. In the current system, the top 10% high earners pay 59% of UK's total income tax.

What is becoming clear is that there is no transparency! Parties are bashing each other rather than extolling virtues of their polices while also indicating possible coalitions with the said parties, Labour/SNP and LibDem/UKip/Tory, all very confusing!

 

Good, it should be more. How much money do people really need to have a good life? When you read about things like those Barclays bankers spending £50K on a lunch I just think the world would be better off without people who think that sort of carry on is acceptable! Greed is NOT good, it is the root of many of the world's evils!

 

Income tax though, not the total Tax income for the UK

just pointing that out for the thickies out there that may assume "total" tax = total Tax income

yes - you can argue the case for a flat tax system, certainly a simpler tax system - again, I suppose it comes down to whether you believe in a "principle" of a progressive tax system or not

 

Ironically, you need the bankers spending £50k to generate the taxes and stimulate businesses and thus generate further tax revenues. At least they're putting money back into the economy. But we digress. What of Labour's policies? Whilst the policy of abolishing non dom status is noble in principle, can the country afford such a policy that may do little other than damage the economy at a time when the country needs stability?

 

Surely the principle of a progressive tax system goes against the principle of being treated fairly and equally.

 

Progressive tax systems tend to promote fairness and a more equal society - they smooth the edges

And it is based on the fact that unfortunatly we are not born equal - the dice are loaded, quite a few people are born with a distinct advantage in life (by things like the Nom Dom tax arrangements )

But yes - I have argued for equality, in an earlier thread - I put forward the hypothetical idea of of a very low flat tax rate, but 100% inheritance tax

You keep the vast majority of what you earn, but your wealth dies with you

Everyone starts equal - but unfortunatly we live in the real world

 

Bring back poll tax!!

 

Kind of what I was expecting.

https://uk.isidewith.com/results/821097101/

 

What is hacking me off about this election is how scripted it all is for the main parties. All the photoshoots and 'meets' are carefully planned and there seems little or no chance of any of them being brave enough to get near the general public which says it all to me.

As for policies I wish to God someone would pick Cameron and Osborne up on Leveson, immigration and the deficit.

Cameron promised faithfully to implement the findings of the Leveson report. Those were his words out of his mouth on camera. To date not a single things has changed as a result of the report that cost millions of taxpayers' money and the press are as out of control as they have ever been.

Cameron pledged top reduce net immigration to less than 100K when 'elected' in 2010 and yet he knew then he had no control over it and lo and behold it's gone up not down Why doesn't someone ask the scumbag why he chose to lie for the last 5 years?

Osborne has made a lot of bold clams about the deficit and while it has gone down it has gone down by less than the amount that Labour targeted in 2010 and for which he mocked them so publicly!

Here’s Osborne’s original deficit plan, vs outcome. The deficit is forecast to be £91.3bn in 2014-15, almost three times the £37bn that he originally said it would be by now.

 

The bottom line is that the establishment will win in one way or another.

Thank god most of us aren't stupid enough to waste ten years as paid up leaflet carrying members of one of the parties. That sort of thing makes you very bitter and dysfunctional once the penny finally drops

 

I don't trust any of them to do exactly what they say, but there is no doubt things are getting better and going by things that are currently important to me conservatives are more favourable in my eyes.

I was sitting on the fence up until recently.

 

But you are a leaflet carrying member of one of the parties in all but name, that's the really stupid thing. You would vote for anything as long as it had a blue rosette stuck to it. You are the type that presented with the same piece of rhetoric would agree with it if it came the Tories and disagree with it if it came from Labour! My father in law was the same and I had no time for him either although he was actually a real doctor unlike you

 

Pop back up on the fence as the Tories are not the answer to any long term future! None of them are, that's the problem!

 

o there all bent thats for sure, but what there saying (for now lol) def falls more in line with what suits me.

Time will tell if they stick to it of course

 

You were married ??

 

 

Seems a bit harsh to single out Ding just because he's a rampant Tory. What about Warren and his buddies over in the UKIP camp? Stick a purple ribbon on it and use it to beat immigrants and they're all over it.

 

 

Yeah true, but then Warren doesn't make a habit of calling me stupid

 

All said and done more will be said than done

 

Thats easily fixed!

 

 

It's like shooting fish in a barrel with F1anny these days

The more true the comment the harder the bottom feeder bites.

Anyway, let's just remind ourselves who is the ONLY one on this forum so STUPID as to actually have been a signed up active member of one of the main political parties for over TEN years....... it was F1anny!

God I would have loved to have seen his ugly mug when the penny finally dropped

All the major parties represent the establishment, most of us realised that by the age of 18. But then I suppose some people are just not very bright, some mothers do 'ave em.

 

Has anyone got two spare bullets. I know two heads that are waiting for them.

 

Nevermind bullets. Who has popcorn?