Under this Government millions of people on low incomes are forced to pay hundreds of pounds in income tax every year, keeping pensioners on the breadline and meaning that for many people in low paid jobs work simply doesn’t pay. Even a person working full-time earning minimum wage has nearly £1000 taken in income tax. At the same time we have a tax system that lets big business and the very rich treat tax as if it is optional.
I want us to radically rebalance the tax system, cutting taxes for people on low and middle incomes which we will pay for by cutting reliefs and closing tax loopholes that benefit the wealthiest.
The Liberal Democrats propose to raise the threshold at which people start paying income tax from current levels to £10,000, cutting the average working age person’s income tax bill by £700 and cutting pensioner’s income tax bills by £100. These plans will mean that almost 4 million people on low incomes will no longer have to pay any income tax at all.
We also want to correct an injustice that has seen the living standards of pensioners fall behind the rest of the population for almost 30 years. Liberal Democrats will restore the link between annual increases in the state pension and earnings that will mean pensioners share in the proceeds of growth in our economy.