LOWER COUNCIL TAX BILLS. BIGGER STATE PENSIONS. BETTER LONG-TERM CARE. ENCOURAGING SAVING. CLEANER HOSPITALS. MORE POLICE. RESPECT, DIGNITY AND SECURITY.
We have launched our policies for the elderly.
I read in the press that there are some that believe that policies that are directed at the elderly is about chasing votes. I reject this accusation. The elderly are after all a significant and growing proportion of our population and in fact any policy is about winning votes. I suppose it depends whether people believe you will have the chance to implement them that matters.
We have discussed Council Tax and the various alternatives before on this blog. You can see them here.
Death Duties
Tax and Spend
I believe that the basic premise of a property tax is right. Until this Labour Government there were few complaints about Council Tax. It has been the way the Government has manipulated the tax and thereby attacked the low earning, mainly elderly, on fixed incomes. The choice is lowering the tax or devising a wider selection of benefits. As I believe in not just lower tax but simpler tax I am not sure more multiple bands of discount is the answer. However, a simple discount to pensioner households is both straightforward and achievable. As for Local Income Tax? One elderly lady said she would be opposed to anything that made her pay less and inflicted more on her children, precisely what Local Income Tax would do. In Kingston it would be punitive taxation for those who have to pay it.
1 comment:
Kevin why so silent on this ridiculous Lib Dem Budget.
Actually What kind fo effect would the Lib Dem Proposals have in the Royal Borough?
All those millionaires living in Mansions in Coombe and huge houses on Surbiton Hill with investment or off-shore incomes and clever tax accountants would end up paying NOTHING to the local council, while people working everyday on minimum wage would have to pay more of their hard earned wages in local income tax.
And can someone please tell me where I can buy a house for £150k in this area? This Stamp Duty thing doesn't actually help anyone in Kingston and Surbiton.
Abolish council tax -ok. But The Royal Borough already has one of the lowest governemnt grants in the country so that means the Local Income tax here would probably be much higher than elsewhere. The working poor will be forced to flee to Hounslow and Wandsworth. Where will our Key workers be? How long will the housing waiting list get? How much worse will congestion and traffic pollution get?
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