Tax
Fixing social care
Kathryn Smith outlines her main concerns about the Government’s new plans for tackling the crisis in social care and offers her vision for a ‘fully transformed’ system.
Chancellor faces tough call on on care, pensions and welfare
Chancellor Rishi Sunak will need to make a series of tough choices this autumn, the Resolution Foundation think-tank has said.
LGA backs rates revaluation reforms
The Local Government Association has backed more frequent business rates revaluations in its response to a Whitehall consultation.
Tax ‘loophole’ costs councils £110m
New research suggests business rates relief for holiday lets is currently worth £110m a year.
Business rates appeals to cost £1bn
Councils in England are braced for a £1.2bn loss as result of business rates appeals this year.
Government borrowing drops
Government borrowing last month at £24.3bn was £19.4bn lower than the same month in 2020 thanks to better than expected tax revenues.
What can councils do to stand up for fair tax conduct?
This is Fair Tax Week. Rachel Bentley says councils across the UK need to lead the way on tax conduct and ensure their practices stand up to scrutiny.
Council tax collection deficit hits £500m
Councils will need ‘additional help from taxpayers’ to balance their books, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy has warned.
Call for tax hike to fund social care
A commission led by The Lancet and London School of Economics has argued for a 1p increase to income tax, National Insurance and VAT to enable annual funding increases of 4%.
Future Forum North: 'Business rates will be like Tudor beard tax'
A senior finance director has said ‘anachronistic’ business rates are ‘going in the direction of the Tudor beard tax’.
Picking up the pieces and rethinking public services
As Rishi Sunak braces the UK for tax rises 'it has to be about more than just replenishing the public purse', writes Heather Jameson. 'This is a chance to rethink public services and how we fund them.'
Sunak to reveal £5bn for high streets
Chancellor Rishi Sunak is expected announce a further £5bn to rescue high streets in the Budget on Wednesday.
'Amazon tax' will make matters worse, says MP
Adding an online sales tax to a broken business rates system will only make matters worse, a Conservative MP who is pushing to scrap business rates has said.
White van man on... tax
I’m never in favour of taxes which is why I’m a master at avoiding them (except for last year when I got hoist with my own ‘petal’ or whatever it’s called ‘cos after years of telling the taxman I only earned peanuts thanks to all my ‘expenses’ – the Government turned round and said in that case you can’t get any free dosh from that furlough whatnot).
LGA presses to move powers out of London
Moving powers from the capital to the regions is more important than moving civil servants, the chair of the Local Government Association (LGA) has said.
Online sales tax backed by London
The local government sector in the capital has advocated the introduction of an online sales tax (OST).
Coronavirus leads to scrapping of three-year Spending Review
Plans to create a three-year settlement for public spending have been abandoned as latest figures show the havoc coronavirus is wreaking on the public finances.
Fixing local government’s financial plumbing
The inevitable result of the funding framework for councils is a disempowered local government, underserved citizens and wasted public money, says Lizzie Insall. She says the sustainable solution lies in ‘fixing the plumbing of local government finance’.
The Government cannot keep kicking the can down the road
Despite manifesto commitments, there will have to be tax rises to repay that massive debt, writes Ian Miller - and support for well-funded public services has found a new voice during the pandemic, he adds.
White van man on... tax
There’s an old phrase which says: if you owe the bank ten grand you’ve got a problem, but if you owe the bank a million quid then they’ve got a problem. Well, that’s the situation that geezer Dishi finds himself in.
