13Jun 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
GDP fall: Barrage of tax hikes is leaving people to suffer

GDP fall: Barrage of tax hikes is leaving people to suffer

Parliamentary news
Responding to ONS data revealing GDP fell by 0.3% in April, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Christine Jardine MP said: “The Government’s barrage of tax hikes and lack of cost-of-living support are leaving people to suffer, and now that’s translating into worrying economic figures. “The UK has the best universities, the best services sector and the best workforce – yet this Government is in such disarray that we’re headed for the lowest growth in the G7. Their incompetence is nothing short of dangerous. “Instead of giving speeches full of empty promises, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak need to start listening to people and give them real help with the cost of living.”
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30May 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
British drivers paying more taxes on petrol even after fuel duty cut

British drivers paying more taxes on petrol even after fuel duty cut

Parliamentary news
Drivers shelling out £44 per tank on taxes as petrol prices soarBrits paying more in taxes per tank than most European countriesNew poll finds one in two blame government for petrol price rises British drivers are paying £44 in taxes on petrol when filling up their car, new figures uncovered by the Liberal Democrats have revealed. The figures also show that motorists in the UK are forking out more in taxes per tank for petrol than most other European countries, including Ireland, Italy and Spain. Meanwhile diesel drivers are paying over £45 a taxes per tank, more than anywhere else in Europe. Brits paid 80p a litre in taxes on unleaded petrol in April 2022 as prices continue to soar, the analysis shows. It means for a typical car with…
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11May 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Emergency budget: £38m tax bill for every day of inaction

Emergency budget: £38m tax bill for every day of inaction

Parliamentary news
Every day without an emergency budget costs the squeezed-middle £38 million extra in taxesHouseholds pay extra £1.6 million in tax for every hour Parliament debates Queen’s SpeechLib Dem MP calls the debate “the most expensive waste of time by Parliament I have ever known” Analysis by the Liberal Democrats has found the additional tax hikes introduced by this Conservative Government is costing households £38 million a day. The figures come as Michael Gove denied the Government would be introducing an Emergency Budget this week despite hints from the Prime Minister in Parliament yesterday. Today, Parliament will be debating the Queen’s Speech, yet hard-pressed families will be forking out an extra £1.6 million per hour in tax hikes. These tax increases include the hit from National Insurance Contributions increasing and the…
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10Apr 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Lib Dems table Bill to force Sunak to reveal family tax arrangements

Lib Dems table Bill to force Sunak to reveal family tax arrangements

Parliamentary news
The Liberal Democrats have drawn up draft legislation to force the Chancellor and any other government ministers to reveal whether they or their spouses claim non-domiciled status or have holdings in overseas tax havens. Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Christine Jardine MP has drafted the Ministerial Tax Residency Status Bill and will present it to the House of Commons once Parliament has returned from Easter recess. It was recently revealed that Rishi Sunak was listed as a beneficiary of tax haven trusts set up in the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands and held by his wife Akshata Murthy – just days after it emerged she was using her non-domiciled status to avoid paying taxes in the UK. Under the terms of the Liberal Democrat Bill, Rishi Sunak and any…
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28Jan 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Davey on NI tax: Stop faffing about and scrap hike

Davey on NI tax: Stop faffing about and scrap hike

Parliamentary news
Responding to the Government's planned rise in NI contributions from 1st April, Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey MP said: "The Government needs to stop faffing about and just scrap this deeply unfair and untimely tax hike. "Every day eye-wateringly high energy bills are arriving through letterboxes, while the prices of other basics like food are soaring too. Rishi Sunak's tax hike will be the last straw for millions of people. "This out of touch Conservative Government must get a grip. It is time Ministers got out of their Downing Street bunker and focused on helping the British people, rather than just looking after themselves.”
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07Jan 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Revealed: Boris Johnson’s stealth tax to cost families £10.9 billion by 2026

Revealed: Boris Johnson’s stealth tax to cost families £10.9 billion by 2026

Parliamentary news
The Conservative government’s stealth tax raid will cost the average family in England and Wales £430 a year by 2026, or a total of £10.9 billion, research commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has revealed. The figures reveal the scale of the cost to families of the government’s decision to freeze the personal tax allowance and higher rate tax threshold until 2025/26, compounding the growing cost of living crisis. The new analysis by the House of Commons Library has found the freeze will mean an additional 1.5 million people on low pay will be dragged into paying income tax by 2026, while a further 1.25 million people will fall into the higher rate tax bracket. The research is based on modelling using the latest inflation forecasts from the Office of Budgetary…
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25Oct 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Minimum wage rise: Nearly half lost to tax hike new analysis reveals

Minimum wage rise: Nearly half lost to tax hike new analysis reveals

Parliamentary news
Research by the Liberal Democrats has revealed that a full-time worker paid the National Living Wage will see nearly half (44%) of the proposed increase wiped out before it even reaches their bank account due to tax and the increase in National Insurance. Currently, an employee working 40 hours a week and paid today’s National Living Wage of £8.91 an hour, takes home £16,264.50 - after income tax and the current rate of National Insurance (12%). Once the Government raises the National Living Wage to £9.50, and National Insurance to 13.25%, that worker will see their take home pay rise by £707 a year. However, if the Government hadn’t raised National Insurance, they would have seen their after-tax income increase by £835 instead. This means that they would have been…
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08Jun 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
‘Tax a lot’, Sykes welcomes G7 plan to tax multinational traders

‘Tax a lot’, Sykes welcomes G7 plan to tax multinational traders

Borough news
Oldham Liberal Democrats have welcomed the adoption by the leaders of the world’s wealthiest nations of a proposal to levy a uniform 15% tax on the profits of multinationals, especially as it is similar to their own idea brought to the March 2021 Council meeting. Chancellor Rishi Sunak, who is hosting the meeting of G7 leaders in London and Cornwall, announced an agreement in principal of a plan to introduce a 15% global minimum corporate tax rate on multinational corporations. Many of these domicile their head offices and declare corporate profits in no-tax havens or low-tax nations as a means of tax avoidance. Commenting, the Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, councillor Howard Sykes MBE said: “It would be nice to think Rishi Sunak did have the chance to read…
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06Jun 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Corporation tax: G7 actions long-overdue to tackle tax avoidance

Corporation tax: G7 actions long-overdue to tackle tax avoidance

Parliamentary news
Responding to the announcement that G7 finance ministers have endorsed a unified stance on corporation tax, Liberal Democrats Treasury Spokesperson Christine Jardine MP said: "This is a long-overdue step towards tackling tax avoidance by some of the most profitable companies in the world. "It is crucial we push ahead with these steps in order to prevent tech giants exploiting loopholes in our tax system, and these changes must be embraced by the G20, OECD and the rest of the international community. "This Government did nothing to tax the excess profits made by large corporations that benefited from the pandemic. They must now use this opportunity to the fullest to ensure tech giants finally pay their fair share. "This is an opportunity to ensure that those giants who have made huge…
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23Mar 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Pay your way – Liberal Democrats seek tax on excess online profits

Pay your way – Liberal Democrats seek tax on excess online profits

Borough news
Oldham’s Liberal Democrat Councillors are proposing a motion to the next full meeting of Oldham Council (Wednesday 24 March) calling on the Government to introduce a new tax on the excess profits generated by online traders during the COVID-19 Lockdown. The Leader of the Opposition and the Liberal Democrat Group, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, is proposing the motion, backed by his colleague, Councillor Diane Williamson. Commenting Councillor Sykes said: “It seems singularly unfair that whilst high street businesses have spent the last year suffering under Lockdown, either being entirely closed or under significant restrictions, larger national and international businesses who have benefited from online shopping and home deliveries, and made bumper profits, are not paying their way in terms of taxation. “The Liberal Democrats believe that the government should introduce…
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