VAT!,It is an unfair tax on the lower paid. A few more pennies on a bottle of Champagne is nothing to the rich?

Whether you're low paid, on benefits, rich or middle class the truth is we're all in the economic cess pit that New Labour have left behind and whether we like it or not we've all got to suffer to crawl back out of it. That's the reality of the situation and the sooner people realise it the better.

My wife and I both work full time and we're beginning to struggle to make ends meet - so why should those on benefits be spared having to make sacrifices?

My mother-in-law is a prime example - 85 years old and raking in as much in pension and benefits as my wife makes working full time. No council tax, £400 heating allowance, free prescriptions, free TV licence and totally insulated from the real world of recession and economic overspend.

WAKEY, WAKEY UK!!!!

Hello.

The absurdness of the UK Value Added Tax (VAT) was I believe introduced to help pay for the then European Economic Community back in the 1970s and now for the European Union. Your question,with the greatest of respect to you,has confused VAT with Income Tax which has been around for centuries but for which isn't the same.

I believe VAT should not be paid by anyone earning less than £12,000 a year. I also believe that Income Tax should not be paid on the first £12,000 of earnings. How the first one is implimented I do not know but it is an unfair, unjust tax purely used as a revenue raiser by the government. One shining example of this unfair VAT is that it is added into the costs of funerals which is an absolute disgrace.

The answer to your point about the tax on champagne is to increase the duty (another tax) by 100% that the 'rich' wouldn't miss. The tax system is unfair and should be overhauled within the lifetime of this government.

Big L 266

By the end of the parliament VAT will be at 25%. It doesn't matter what party is in power, this is an EU driven initiative to equalise VAT across Europe.

Income tax will be going up to 50% for high earners. If you increase this anymore they'll start to hide it or leave the country. When Income tax for the high earners was brought down to 40% it actually increased revenues raised to the treasury as people didn't hide it.

However, this is not something they want to do. This is something they'll have to do to pay back for the last decade of overspending. Labour's own plans for the VAT cut last year were to pay for them with a VAT increase in the future.

Whilst VAT cuts may not seem "fair," how would you rather us cut the deficit? Cut the NHS, cut winer fuel payments, cut pension payments, cut the troops equipment, cut teachers, cut the police? I agree with you it's not fair but, we have a very tight budget and increasing things like VAT is a lot fairer than deeper cuts in the NHS.

I knew this was coming from a long time ago, perhaps 5 years. I knew everyone especially the lower paid would be in the front line for tightening their belts until they passed out. Things were too good and now its pay up time. More jobs will be lost to a 20 percent vat, less people will buy British goods. Is it unfair? i don't think so. We became a credit nation, buy now pay later shops became greedy making you think you were getting a deal as long as you used credit. They didn't want cash, 1 year interest free agreements was their minimum. Now its 3 years for the likes of sofa suites, all the shops are trying to shift goods as quick as they can before the VAT increase.

It's sickening that people will lose their jobs and it was foreseeable maybe preventable, everything i have is pay as you go cash on the nail. No credit cards no HP phone contracts or rentals, a 12 quid digibox on a 6 year old 20 inch lcd. I couldn't stop myself being paid off from work, that was inevitable but i did make provisions for it. But i'll be paying the same as everyone else, including those with 42 inch TV's on credit holidays in the sun and all of those wonderful things from JML that gather dust

Well done, Puddleduck for keeping off the fags!!! It's very hard and even after years I still feel that I'd love to light up. And if tomorrow they announced that cigs were ok to smoke then I'd start again immediately...BUT I don't know whether the tax from the sale of cigarettes can help keep the NHS ticking. If that was the case then why would the government spend lots of money to encourage smokers to quit? Would they really want to loose that kind of revenue for good? I've heard that the money they collect from the taxes on ciggies go to anti-smoking campaigns and none of that money go to the NHS or to treat smokers. There are also anti-smoking charities and I'm sure they get a huge chunk of this money. Nicorette products can be obtained free from the NHS as well. So why would they go into this huge expenditure only to shoot themselves in the foot by loosing a lot of taxes from smokers?

I agree a rise in VAT affect everything and prices all round will rise hitting the low paid most It is better to put up income tax so that those who are earning most pay most. There again though if you get low pay the same principal applies

All taxes on the lower paid are unfair, but necessary to keep life moving. Would you like it if some bureaucrat took a lot of your money just because you were lucky enough to have a lot? I don't think so, the wealthy do pay their fair share but end up with more than the low paid - that's life!

if VAT rises are needed to help get out of the mess that labour left behind with all the debts incurred then i fully agree with it.

i myself am on benefits (temporarily) but still agree with it. yes i will end up having to pay more for things, but then again as VAT is not added to food which is what i predominantly spend my money on then i'm not going to be too much worse off.

also you have to remember that you don't have to buy certain things. if you live within your means then this VAT rise will not cause to much problems.

the solution if you don't want to pay a lot of VAT is cut your spending.

nobody makes you spend more than you need, but if you increase income tax then you are forcing people to pay a tax.

A raise in VAT hits the most vulnerable. That is why the Labour party have never put VAT up, Brown ruled VAT rises out at the last election! Maybe people should have listened to him.

I have one question for those that say that the personal rate is going to £10,000 and that will mean people are no worse off.

What about the disabled, the pensioners, the unemployed, careers, part-time workers who dont earn £10k. They will be the ones most effected, benefits wont go up but they will still have to pay more VAT.

Disgusting! Only two weeks ago Dave was saying that he didn't want to introduce VAT rises but couldn't rule it out - 2 days in and the rumours have started.

Expect VAT to raise early next year and once again the tories will have picked on the people most unable to pay!!!

Always whinging on that low paid pay too much tax

Why are you low paid?

I grew up in a war time slum area & apart from my initial apprenticeship , never had a low paid job in my life