Tag: VAT

Making the case for tax cuts

Everyone is supposed to have their 15 minutes of fame. Perhaps I have just had mine, after the contenders for the Tory leadership were invited to endorse the ‘Charter for tax cuts’ that I co-wrote for Conservative Way Forward. It was certainly pretty cool to be namechecked at the launch event on Monday both by … Continue reading Making the case for tax cuts

Is the OBR right to warn against tax cuts?

On Thursday the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), the government’s independent fiscal watchdog, published its latest annual report on the long-term sustainability of the public finances and the fiscal risks facing the UK. This made for grim reading, as these reports always do. But this time, the report has been widely interpreted as a warning … Continue reading Is the OBR right to warn against tax cuts?

An online sales tax would be more trouble than it is worth

The UK government has been consulting on the concept of an ‘online sales tax’, or OST, which could raise £1-2 billion annually to help pay for a reduction in business rates for physical retailers. I submitted a response to the consultation, which is available here... ost-consultation-response-20-may-2022-julian-jessopDownload

Tough times ahead, but Britain is still doing better than the EU

It is astonishing how many people are willing to claim that the UK would not be facing a cost of living crisis if Brexit had not happened, or if the Tories were not in power, and that the Chancellor has done nothing to help. This is – to use a technical economics term – cobblers. … Continue reading Tough times ahead, but Britain is still doing better than the EU