UK's Kwarteng to scrap top rate of income tax, cut basic rate from April | Hacker News Reader

UK's Kwarteng to scrap top rate of income tax, cut basic rate from April

reuters.com

Not really going to help the unemployed or people on a low income though, is it?

ASIDE: yet another example of the spread of shoddy journalism there. The article says:

  >He also said he would cut the basic rate of income tax to 19 pence in April 2023, one year earlier than expected...

without actually telling us what the current rate is. I see this all the time these days; an article will say something is changing to X, without telling you what it was beforehand.

"From now on I'm going to have 3 slices of toast for breakfast" is pretty meaningless if you don't know whether I currently have one or six!

The best way to help the unemployed is to create jobs. As an aside the unemployment is still historically low though this will probably not last.

I also suppose that pretty much everyone knows that the basic rate is currently 20% because virtually everyone pays it. This is not an obscure piece of info known only to experts.

I'd say the best way to help the unemployed is to equip them with skills. There's no shortage of unskilled, minimum wage jobs in Britain, but it's hardly a life.

It is also not 19 pence but 19 percent, more shoddy editing, than shoddy journalism, but still relevant.

For the record it was 20%.

In the UK tax rates are very often reported as 'pence in the Pound', which is equivalent to percents and only means how much you pay out of every Pound you earn. The BBC and many other news sources are also reporting that the basic rate has been "cut from 20p to 19p" ('p' meaning 'pence') or that the rate has been "cut by 1p" today.

Oh, TIL, thanks for the clarification!

So the one thing they aren't changing is the marginal 40% tax on earnings above £50k?

Nor the regressive marginal 60% tax rate between 100k and 120k.

An extra £100b in debt to keep power prices down and now this. Where is the money to pay debts to come from? More "austerity"?

I understand how making a tax environment will spur growth, but not how personal income tax could do the same.

If demand takes a hit because people struggle financially then then giving money back to people ought to help. Essentially, if people have more money they can consume more, thus boosting the economy.

On the other hand, 1 percentage point will not make much difference: I think the maximum people can be better off is about £380 per year if their income is 50k+ pa.

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