What a pity Chancellor Hammond did not consult more widely on the National Insurance Contribution (NIC) ‘grab’ in the recent Budget. The truth is that the employed, pay 3% more in NIC than the self employed, but receive substantially more in benefits i.e. statutory sick pay, maternity/paternity pay, pension contributions, holiday pay, subsidised heath care, crèches and ensured employment. Surely, for all these benefits they should pay a higher tax charge?
Glentree Blog
Author Archives: Trevor Abrahmsohn
Budget 2017: A Cry For Help
Mr Hammond, Sir, a multiplicity of businesses and property owners are suffering from the ineptitude of your predecessor and his ‘shock and awe’ SDLT hikes which have served to greatly distort the Capital’s Residential Property Markets in all sectors.
By exciting the markets in the lower prices, the vulnerable first time buyers have been further disenfranchised and the markets in the higher value ranges have been rendered stagnant and illiquid, with a 70% reduction in transactions. This has caused a needless DIY recession in this sector, resulting in less Stamp Duty Receipts for your Treasury.
Breaking News: Stamp Duty Receipts Are Down For The Sale Of Properties At The Middle To Higher End
The number of properties sold in the middle to higher brackets have fallen by some 40% resulting in Stamp Duty, derived from sales above £1.5million from April to November last year, being down by £440million. How many hospitals and schools could this provide?
Isn’t it ironic, that the main plank of the former Chancellor Osborne’s fiscal discipline was to produce a Budget surplus in 2020, which has now been revised by Mr. Hammond, to approximately £20bn and 50% of this, according to the OBR, will be due to lower Stamp Duty Receipts; which was Osborne’s folly.
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