Labour-Tory tax debate blasted as 'irrelevance' as UK tax burden will surge in any case
An expert has called on the future Government to cut taxes by slashing public services.
The debate between the Conservatives and Labour over their tax plans are "irrelevant" given the UK tax burden will soar over the coming years, an expert has warned.
Dan Neidle, founder of Tax Policy Associates, said the Conservative Party's accusation that Labour's plans for tax increases would increase household tax bills by £2,000 a year, increasing taxes by £10billion, pales in comparison to predicted increases.
He said in an article on the group's website: "The few billion being discussed is dwarfed by the actual tax UK tax increases over the last few years, and the further tax increases we’ll almost certainly see in the future."
He said the £10billion figure "vanishes into statistical noise" when compared with OBR predictions, which set out that tax receipts will increase by about £100billion in 2023/2024 money, between 2010/11 amd 2028/2029.
He urged politicians to be honest about the fact this is how much tax receipts will increase, and to explain who will pay for this.
Mr Neidle also urged prospective MPs to "advocate for significantly lower taxes, and (assuming you don’t want to crash the markets) explain which public services you’ll cut to fund the tax cuts, and the consequences of this for households and the wider economy".
He also recommended there needs to be much larger levels of public spending comparable with European or even French spending parameters.
He warned candidates: "Expect everyone to be sceptical if you claim only the rich would pay, because that’s not what happens in any of the countries that actually do have significantly higher spending than the UK."
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His comments come as Reform UK has set out plans to increase the personal allowance from £12,570 a year to £20,000, cutting taxes for families by around £1,500 a year.
The Conservatives previously put forward a policy to cut taxes for pensioners, by increasing the personal allowance each year for older Britons in line with the triple lock.
He said: "The introduction of the 'triple lock plus' means that the nil-rate tax threshold is set to increase, ensuring that pensioners won’t pay any tax on their basis state pension, even when it goes up.
"This is definitely positive news for those in receipt of the state pension, but it does introduce some wider challenges.
"For instance, if the nil-rate band for everyone else does not increase simultaneously, there will be concerns about intergenerational fairness as workers would pay tax on a higher proportion of their income than pensioners.
"Particularly as that tax funds the payment of the state pension and the age that younger workers will start to receive their state pension keeps getting pushed further and further into the future."
George Galloway's Workers Party of Britain is also calling for an increase to the personal allowance, with the tax-free limit going up to £21,200 a year.
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