Adam Smith Institute: If the government sector had grown only in line with inflation… taxpayers would be £200 billion better off. |
| Posted by Administrator on Mar 15 2008 |
| Press Releases >> Press Release |
The UK Libertarian Party believes that recent events support its call for personal income tax to be scrapped.
This week, on the weblog of respected economic think-tank, the Adam Smith Institute, Dr Eamonn Butler wrote that, “If the government sector had grown only in line with inflation, rather than far above it, taxpayers would be £200 billion better off – enough to abolish income tax, corporation tax, capital gains tax and inheritance tax.”
Party Leader, Patrick Vessey, said, “Dr Butler's comment clearly shows that the UK Libertarian Party is not the only organisation thinking in terms of total abolition of certain taxes.
“Dr Butler has simply described how easy it would have been to abolish these taxes had Labour not been so profligate.”
The Party's Director of Communications, Chris Mounsey, added, “This week we learnt that HMRC wrongly forced a London taxi driver into bankruptcy over a debt of 88p. This was because HMRC lost track of his paperwork and took him to court for £12,000 that he did not owe.
“Last year, a Cumbrian builder, Neil Martin, was left facing a tax bill of £250,000, and bankruptcy, because HMRC lost yet more paperwork.
“Almost unbelievably, the judge in the latter case ruled, according to one broadsheet, that 'the taxman is not liable for his mistakes even when he seriously disadvantages customers.' This is outrageous.
“These were personal tragedies caused by the incompetence and vindictiveness of HMRC. Neither would have occurred had the Libertarian Party been in power: we would scrap income tax entirely.”
The Libertarian Party's pledge to scrap personal income tax was announced on the 3rd of March and is the first policy to emerge from the new party's manifesto discussions.
Notes for editors
- The Libertarian Party was founded on 21 November 2007 and officially launched on 1 January 2008. The party's website can be found here, and fuller details of the income tax proposal are available.
- Libertarianism is a political philosophy based on support for individual liberty.
- Libertarianism is a broad church, but the UK Libertarian Party is broadly minarchist in outlook.
- Income Tax was first introduced in 1799, at a starting rate of less than 1%, by William Pitt the Younger, in order to buy weapons and materiel to fight the Napoleonic Wars. A brief history of the tax can be found at HMRC.
- Adam Smith Institute—Tax Freedom Day 2008
- The Telegraph—HMRC 'ignoring rich and targeting middle class'
- The Telegraph—Taxman drives builder to bankruptcy
Issued by Chris Mounsey, Director of Communications, on behalf of the UK Libertarian Party—enquiries.
Last changed: Mar 15 2008 at 10:59 PM
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