Do you have a, or are you in the, ‘comfortable middle’? The point here is that those currently in it may not, in years to come, be rich enough to have one…if you get my drift. The effects of the many stealth tax measures in last and previous years’ Budgets will not affect most for a few years. Their cumulative effects will be felt most, not by the very wealthy (who are likely to be well-advised) nor the poorest. The freezing of tax thresholds, both income and inheritance, will have a creeping effect. Inflationary increases in income will be effectively double-taxed; and bringing pensions into the IHT net will cut expected (and often relied-upon) inheritances. OK, most in the squeezed, and soon-to-be more squeezed middle shouldn’t complain, they’re never likely to be queuing at a food bank nor to have to move to Dubai (lesser of two evils, I’d say). But they and their pensioner parents are the most likely to feel poorer as a result of the ‘long-tail’ of delayed and hidden tax rises. And the most likely to both vote – and change for whom they do vote.
Budget Rumours and Possibilities
The Budget Rumour Machine is not the shambles it was last year. Before Rachel’s Swansong all sorts of stuff was leaked to see what sort of puddle it would create.
