Dan Goss
961 posts
Dan Goss
@DanGoss222
Senior researcher @demos looking into tax and wealth inequality
Katılım Eylül 2021
720 Takip Edilen437 Takipçiler
We do need higher tax on middle earners, but this analysis misses:
1) Wealth's importance vs income has ballooned & it's distributed 2x as unequally
2) Wealth can boost income in ways this data doesn't capture
3) Income from wealth is taxed much less
ft.com/content/75ce2f…
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- Budget tax rises raising £36bn(!): 18% of Labour defectors say it's a reason they won't vote Labour
- Cut winter fuel payments raising £1.5bn: 35%(!) of defectors say it's a reason won't vote Labour
The public really, really do not like spending cuts!
Steve Akehurst@SteveAkehurst
What are the main reasons voters have switched from Labour? Winter fuel allowance trumps all else. After that, impatience over public services + cost of living. Immigration less salient. Net Zero of no salience whatsoever. Scandals less than I expected. via @YouGov
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Dan Goss retweetledi
Is inheritance tax the most hated tax? Why are farmers up in arms about recent changes? That and much more on inheritance tax is discussed on the latest @finan_fairness podcast with @David_Sturrock @TheIFS and @DanGoss222 @Demos
Lister here: buff.ly/4iIHp8q
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The Autumn Budget saw historic changes to inheritance tax... but what does that mean and is there more to be done?
I really enjoyed discussing these questions and more with @Mubin_Haq for the @finan_fairness podcast. Check it out below👇
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The Autumn Budget saw historic changes to inheritance tax - but what does that mean and what more is there to do?
I had a lot of fun discussing these questions with @Mubin_Haq for the @finan_fairness podcast 👇
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Dan Goss retweetledi
I've been leading @Demos's Future Public Services Taskforce for the past year.
On Wednesday we launched our blueprint for public service reform alongside @Georgia_Gould, Cabinet Office Minister for public sector reform.
Quick thread on our proposals...
1/
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2) "A 300 acre farm would pay £0.5m IHT"
...Even taking his top estimate that land costs £10k/acre (£3m of land), a single farmer could pay max £400k & a married couple £200k on that
They can also carry over other allowances, so if their other wealth is <£1m, the tax wd be less
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.@RoryStewartUK came out with some big falsehoods this episode:
1) "300 acres is a very small farm"
...but 76% of UK farms are under 250 acres. Almost half of farms are under 50 acres
The Rest Is Politics@RestIsPolitics
Question Time: Farmer vs Starmer, courting China, and the purpose of COP Join @campbellclaret and @RoryStewartUK as they discuss: 🚜 Whether Labour picked the wrong fight by enraging farmers 🌳 What is the purpose of COP when it keeps being held in petrostates? 🇺🇸 Can the international order survive in the age of Trump?
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@Cynfab3 @Egb3rtNosh @herdyshepherd1 The problem would be that this may open another loophole. An investor could buy farmland & the heir can take up a relatively removed role for 2/3/4 years & unless HMRC is v closely inspecting them all the time, it would be an easy threshold to pass to avoid IHT
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@DanGoss222 @Egb3rtNosh @herdyshepherd1 Not with well structured alternatives to them 'just farming it themselves' - there are plenty of other options that don't involve them ineptly labouring at a job they're not physically capable of, or making operational decisions they're not equipped to make - share farming being
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@Cynfab3 @Egb3rtNosh @herdyshepherd1 Yeah I think I agree on that point
The flipside of the concern though is that it heavily incentivises people to farm the land even if they don't necessarily want to, in order to benefit from the tax break. That's a problem for them, but also may be bad for farm efficiency
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@DanGoss222 @Egb3rtNosh @herdyshepherd1 Why would it be unfair to tax if they didn't want to farm it?
There would have to be a transition period to get affairs in order if they're not agriculturally employed at time of bereavement, but they'd have options open like share-farming agreements, employing a Farm Manager
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@Tom_Clarke @rbrharrison This would be hard to work in the UK context b/c IHT applies to the estate, not to the heir
Under your system, if the heir sells the asset 20 years later, IHT would apply to their heir. Broader overhaul would be needed. Also complex when an estate is divided between many heirs
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@rbrharrison 40% IHT would be fine for working farmers if payable on sale, rather than death. Farmers don't sell land, they pass on a working asset.
Would also actually close the avoidance loophole, which the current proposals do not.
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Labour's family farm tax problem should be really easy to fix, and they could probably even do it in a revenue neutral way - eg instead of 20% above £1m go to 30% above £5 million.
They've got it wrong, and if you're going to have to do a U-turn then best to get on with it.
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@Egb3rtNosh @herdyshepherd1 Alternatively, we could, like a lot of OECD countries, only apply the exemptions if the heir farms the land for e.g. 2 years, and take back the IHT if that doesn't happen. I would support this, but also potentially unfairly taxes people who don't want to work their family farm?
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@Egb3rtNosh @herdyshepherd1 Interesting idea but hard to work in the UK context, b/c IHT applies to the estate, not to the heir. If the heir sells the asset 10 years later, the tax would apply to them. Big system changes wd be needed
Becomes more complicated when an estate is divided between many heirs
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@herdyshepherd1 Those people with big bucks are often the same wealthy people with financial advisers that invest in farmland as a tax loophole...
How do we ensure these people are taxed if we leave the loopholes open?
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Go after the people and companies that made the big bucks in 2007-8 and since then through COVID etc.
Redress the vast transfer of wealth that happened at those times. It sure as hell isn’t farmers that got the £.
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Classic meaningless poll that asks people about a tax cut with no consideration of the trade offs. This one even gives the argument in favour.
If I ask people whether the government should spend £7bn on X or Y, chances are they'll agree, because it presents a world of free money
Politics UK@PolitlcsUK
🚨 Should Keir Starmer scrap the planned inheritance tax changes for farmers? From April 2026, inherited agricultural assets over £1m will face a 20% tax, half the usual rate. Farmers argue that because they are cash poor, this could force them to sell assets to pay the tax. Other allowances could mean a couple who are married or in a civil partnership could pass on a farm worth as much as £3m.
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@BellaWallerstei It's only worth having this discussion if you can outline £7bn of cuts, borrowing, or other tax rises that you'd support. I'd love to hear it
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Next week, we should protest against inheritance tax in its entirety
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She only has to say this b/c lots of people are incorrectly using the DEFRA figures, which relate to farm size rather than estate value. But for inheritance tax we should be concerned only with estate value (and e.g. one wealthy landowning estate may own 10 farms)
Nick von Westenholz@nvonwestenholz
@WillsCharityLaw @turbotechdog @SJLaing @StuartMaggs Also, a classic of the genre - "HMRC and Defra data are consistent, because they describe different things." Which makes Einstein's General Theory or Relativity and the Laws of Cricket consistent too, but only one is helpful in deciding if a batsman's out LBW
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