Can Britain afford to pay MORE tax? Why the tax burden has hit its highest level since 1969

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This is Money

Business News, Business, Investing, News

4.1 • 650 Ratings

🗓️ 15 March 2019

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

With all the shenanigans in Westminster this week you could be forgiven for failing to register we had a Spring Statement at all – let alone clocked its finer points.

Editor Simon Lambert, assistant editor Lee Boyce and host Georgie Frost fill you in on what you may have missed.

It includes forecasts from the Office for Budgetary Responsibility on the UK economy, along with income growth, interest rates, the pound and house prices.

We also have the true scale of the tax burden on families and businesses, with the overall tax take equivalent to 34.6% of Britain's economy, a level not seen since Harold Wilson was Prime Minister.

Income tax receipts will rise nearly £54billion in the next five years, with steep rises forecast for National Insurance, VAT and Corporation Tax.

A hike in probate 'fees' was waved through without a vote or debate in parliament by classifying it as a fee not a tax – but the ONS is now calling it a tax.

The OBR also reveals that two flagship savings schemes have not been anywhere near as popular as planned, while boilers are out – as are feed-in tariffs from solar panels.

Enjoy.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to This is Money in partnership with NS&I.
0:03.0	I'm your host Georgie Frost and alongside editor Simon Lambert and I today is Assistant Editor Lee Boyce.
0:09.0	And coming up with all the shenanigans in Westminster this week, you could be forgiven for failing to register.
0:15.0	Or we even had a spring statement at all, let alone clocked its finer points.
0:19.0	Well, fear not, Simon and Lear here to fill you in
0:21.3	on what you may have missed, including the true reach of the penny-pinching exchequer,
0:26.5	a victory over death tax, more criticism for the lighter, bye-bye boilers, and are we heading
0:31.8	for a solar panel eclipse? All that and plenty more coming up. Don't forget you start up to
0:35.7	date with all the latest breaking money news.
0:41.4	Just go to this ismoney.co.uk or download the app.
0:44.6	This is Money brought to you in partnership with Ennis and I.
0:47.7	For a gift your little ones will appreciate even when they're not so little.
0:50.4	Give them premium bonds at ns and I.com.
0:52.6	But first, what a week in politics.
0:55.0	I promise though we're not going to be talking about Brexit more than is absolutely necessary. No, instead we're going to be focusing on the slightly
0:59.2	less dramatic, if I can call it that, spring statement that we got. The first opportunity in the
1:05.0	year for the Chancellor to stand up, tell us all what's going on with the country's finances,
1:09.4	any plans he may have, and where
1:11.6	we're all heading.
1:13.3	And after this week, good luck with our one.
1:15.0	But now, before we get into the nitty-gritty, a very quick headline assessment, if you
1:20.4	would guys, of the content and dare I say it, the colour of the statement.
	...

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