The UK Capital Gains Tax And Public Opinion
The public seems to understand that you can’t increase independence by taxing people who are striving for it.
That just swaps one injustice for another. So the Prime Minister is right to want one of the world’s most competitive tax systems.
Yet he can’t get that with a Capital Gains Tax rate more than double the international average of 15 per cent.
Any rise in CGT goes against laudable Conservative ideals, says Maurice Saatchi.
The CPS this week commissioned a poll by ComRes to test public opinion on the much debated subject of increasing capital gains tax.
Key findings:
- Two thirds of people (64%) agree that it would be wrong for the Conservative party to double the rate of Capital Gains Tax when this was not in their manifesto. 31% of people disagree.
- 68% of people who voted Conservative in the general election last month agree with this statement, compared to 64% of people who voted Labour and 63% who voted Liberal Democrat.
- Three quarters of people (77%) agree that it should be an explicit policy aim of the government to minimise the tax burden on people’s long terms savings and investments.
- Three quarters (74%) of people agree that investments held by individuals over the long term should be taxed at a lower rate than those held for short term gains, 21% disagree.
Writing in the Telegraph Lord Saatchi argues that this shows that a hike in CGT would be bad politics, as well as bad economics.
The Prime Minister is right to want to light the fires of entrepreneurialism. Yet the ultimate symbol of that, the John Lewis employee-cum-shareholder, would lose nearly half their life’s work in tax.
The Prime Minister is right to want social responsibility. So he should not allow his Government to unwittingly perpetuate Labour’s transformation of voters into supplicants, who claim benefits from the Government only to pay tax to the Government.
Instead, the Prime Minister should be proud of his economic ideals. Conservatives say that if you want people to get a bigger slice of cake, the best thing to do is bake a bigger cake.
Conservatives say a rising tide lifts all ships.
Conservatives say that lower tax is good, both for moral reasons, because it means greater freedom and independence for individuals, and for economic reasons, because lower rates mean higher revenues in the long run.
David Cameron’s vision of power being returned to the people is both convincing and inspiring.
But he can only make that dream come true by boosting people’s power to achieve greater independence.
Lord Saatchi is chairman of the Centre for Policy Studies
Topics: 2010, Britain, business, capital gains tax, CGT, ComRes, conservatives, corporation tax, CPS, David Cameron, economic development, economic growth, Economy, employer, file tax, Governance, government, Great Britain, HM Revenue & Customs, HMRC, internet, Labour, lower tax rates, Maurice Saatchi, May, moniter, monitor, news, online, PAYE, Prime Minister Cameron, public opinion, social responsibility, society, tax, tax returns, tax system, taxes, U.K., UK, United Kingdom, Vat, voters
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