The Treasury today refused to confirm Nick Clegg's announcement in yesterday's Sun - that he would raise the tax threshold to £10,000 - as government policy.
The Treasury today refused to confirm a policy announced by Nick Clegg in yesterday’s Sun – that “no basic rate taxpayer will pay any tax on the first £10,000 they earn” – as government policy, with the press office seemingly unaware of the article.
The deputy prime minister wrote:
“Now more than ever, politicians have to be clear who they are standing up for. Be in no doubt, I am clear about who that is. That is why the Liberal Democrats made a promise to voters on the front of our manifesto.
“That no basic rate taxpayer will pay any tax on the first £10,000 they earn.
“We’ve already taken the first steps which will take nearly 900,000 out of paying tax altogether.
“From April, every single taxpayer earning less than £42,500 a year will see their income tax bill cut by £200. By the time of the next election, 23million people will be paying £700 less.”
The same £10k claim was also made on the Today programme earlier this week. The Lib Dem leader said:
“…we are going to put £200 back in the pocket of ever ysingle basic rate taxpayer from April 5th onwards and by the end of this Parliament it will be £700 as we move towards this central pledge of making sure that no one pays any income tax on the first £10,000 they earn.”
Yet a spokesperson for the Treasury told Left Foot Forward:
“I’m unaware of the Sun article and I’m unaware of these plans. We’ll get back to you.”
They never did. The cost of 23,000,000 people paying £700 less by 2015 (which he says will happen in his Sun article) is £16.1 billion. The cost of the first instalment (raising the threshold to £7,500 by 2014/15) is £3.91bn. This leaves a total additional cost of £12.2bn.
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26 Responses to “Treasury refuses to confirm Clegg’s £10k tax threshold pledge”
Guido Fawkes
Seemingly the evidence is that the Treasury boss – the chancellor – confirmed it in the budget. Who did you speak to, maybe the press officer thought you were a crank caller? This “evidence-based” blog is in danger of getting reported to trading standards for trading under false pretences.
Incidentally, it won’t “cost” anything. It will reduce revenue. Your terminological inexactitude belies an ideologically unhealthy state of mind. It’ll put £16 billion into people’s pockets to directly benefit the economy. You seem to forget that fantastic benefit.
Chris Salter
RT @leftfootfwd: Treasury refuses to confirm Clegg's £10k tax threshold pledge http://bit.ly/gDgQKA #ppnuk
Will Straw
Come on, Guido. There’s quite a difference between what the Chancellor said:
“Our long-term objective remains to increase the personal allowance to £10,000, as set out in the coalition agreement, and we will make real steps towards achieving that objective through the rest of this Parliament.”
And what Clegg said:
“By the time of the next election, 23million people will be paying £700 less.”
We know that it’s an aspiration of the Coalition but they can afford it. After all, as you keep reminding us, there’s no money left. Since the last instalment was paid for with a rise in VAT, we need to know which other tax increases (or further public spending cuts) are going to take place to reach Clegg’s aspiration. He should desist from claiming the full benefits of the policy unless he can say what the costs will be.
By the way, I didn’t see your comment against Faisal Islam’s blog. Presumably you also think Channel 4 News is going to the dogs: http://blogs.channel4.com/faisal-islam-on-economics/cleggs-alarm-clock-appeal-contained-an-uncosted-11bn-tax-cut/13588
ps reducing revenue is a “cost” to the Exchequer.
Éoin Clarke
The staggered nature of the PTA increments to finally reach 10k in 2015/6 negates any benefit to the earner, given that inflation will eat into much of it by 2015, and VAT at 20% will take it all back again, and more. The policy distract from the real issue of giving people a living wage.
matthew fox
@ Guido Fawkes
Sorry to see you have commented on this site, I don’t think your contribution is that helpful.