Take lowest earners out of tax

Manchester City Council will consider today whether the lowest paid workers should be paying income tax. I seconding a Manchester Liberal Democrats motion at full Council calling the for the Government to change the tax rules so that those on the minimum wage would pay no income tax.

Increasing the personal income tax allowance to £10,000 was a key Lib Dem election pledge at the last general election. From next April the single person’s tax allowance will rise to £10,000. Nick Clegg, the Lib Dem Leader and Deputy Prime Minister recently said this should rise further to £10,500 by 2015. As a result over 133,000 Mancunians and 24.5 million average workers across the country will receive a £700 tax cut before the next general election. Over 14,300 of the lowest earning Mancunians will be taken out of paying income tax altogether.  But the Manchester Lib Dem motion is calling for the threshold to rise even further. They want the Council to lobby the Government so that in future a full time worker on the minimum wage will not pay any Income Tax.

It is only thanks to the Lib Dems in Government that over a hundred thousand Manchester residents are receiving a £700 tax cut and thousands have been taken out of paying income tax altogether. However this is only the start and those on the lowest wages are still paying more than they should; thousands more workers should be taken out of the tax system altogether.

South Manchester Lib Dem MP John Leech tabled a Parliamentary motion on the issue in 2011.

John said: “I was disappointed that no other Manchester or Labour MP signed my motion and backed this idea. However I’m pleased that Nick Clegg is the only party leader to say that people on minimum wage should not pay any income tax at all. He has made it clear that this is central to what the Lib Dems would be pushing for if they are in the next Government."

The Liberal Democrat motion is available as Item 11 on the Council’s agenda: http://www.manchester.gov.uk/meetings/meeting/1916/council

John Leech’s Early Day Motion is available here:  http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2010-12/2335

Guest Blog by Nick Clegg: Lib Dems the party of fair taxes

I know I don’t usually send you videos of the Prime Minister. But this one – where he tells me it would be impossible to raise the personal allowance to £10,000 – is worth watching again. Especially now the Tories are desperately trying to take credit for delivering it!

When you hear Conservative activists out and about, claiming that the £700 income tax cut was their party’s doing, remind them of this:

Not only did they oppose the policy before the last election; in the 2012 Budget, when I wanted to go further and faster to reach our  £10,000 target, the Conservatives only agreed to it in return for a tax cut for top earners - cutting the top rate of income tax to 45p.

So while the Liberal Democrats fought for tax cuts for millions, the Conservatives prioritised tax cuts for millionaires. 

Now I hear they’re considering a promise, at the next election, to raise the personal allowance to £12,500. That’s a great idea. So good, in fact, that we’ve already had it. This is almost identical to the Liberal Democrats’ plan to raise the personal allowance to the minimum wage – a commitment we agreed at our Spring Conference last year and which I want to see at the heart of our manifesto in 2015.

The Liberal Democrats are, and will continue to be, the party of fair taxes.

Enjoy the video – and tell us how you’ll spend your £700 here.

Nick Clegg MP
http://www.fairertax.org/

Chorlton Liberal Democrats welcome Income Tax cut for 133,880 people in Manchester

Chorlton MP John Leech has hailed the 6 April Income Tax cut as a giant leap towards the Liberal Democrat goal of a fairer tax system.

On 6 April 2013, the Personal Allowance will be raised to £9,440 – the largest rise in the Personal Allowance ever. This means that 133,800 ordinary basic rate taxpayers in Manchester will see their Income Tax cut for the third year in a row. That will bring the total Income Tax cut since Labour’s time in government to £600.

Thanks to this rise in the point at which you start to pay Income Tax, the number of the lowest paid people who have been lifted out of paying any Income Tax in Manchester will reach 14,330.

John Leech MP said:

“This Income Tax cut is real help for ordinary people in these difficult times. It is evidence of how in the Coalition Government, the Liberal Democrat priority is to create a fairer society and a stronger economy, enabling everyone to get on in life.

“Labour increased taxes for lower paid workers by abolishing the 10p tax rate and now stand on the side-lines denying their responsibility for the economic mess they created. It show how people still can’t trust them to make the right decisions on the economy.

“At the same time, we know that you can’t trust the Tories to deliver a fairer society. It is thanks to Liberal Democrats that 24m basic rate taxpayers are getting an Income Tax cut on 6 April. At the same time, Liberal Democrats in the Coalition are cracking down on tax avoidance and ensuring the wealthy pay their fair share.”