Taxed enough already

The more astute among you may have noticed that Cicero is not a big fan of Big Government.

Big Government usually means that a lot of people have to find ways to keep themselves employed so they dream up more and more ways to intrude and to take over our lives, depriving of us all responsibility for looking after ourselves and each other.

And Big Government means high taxes which means we lose the right to spend our hard earned bawbees as we would like to spend them. Instead people like the Two Caesars, their Acolytes and an army of Apparatchiks think they know better than us how our bawbees should be spent.

And so Cicero hates Big Government with a passion.

And too often our political leaders, when looking to score cheap points from the Plebian Mob, and here Little Ed and those left over from the Last Lot are especially good at this, seem to think it ok to bash publicly and seek to tax more those of us fortunate enough to have some bawbees in the bank for a rainy day.

This is so wrong.

For when it comes to tax it needs to be recognised by us all that not only are we all in this together but those with the bawbees are in it far deeper than most.

It is now calculated that the top 1% of all earners in this country pay a whopping 30% of the total income tax take. No your eyes are not deceiving you, 30% of the income tax we all pay comes from 1% of us. Indeed the top 10% now pay 55% of total income tax receipts and half of us contribute 90% of everything that is received.

Hopefully eye watering numbers like that show that we are all truly in it together. It is however doubtful whether Little Ed and his sidekick Little Ed 2 will see the justice, or maybe the injustice,  in these numbers. No doubt their friends at Unite think such numbers can be ‘improved’.

But before anyone seriously advocates this, consider this.

In 1979 when the top rate of income tax was 83% the top 1% only contributed 11%. In other words a fair for all but regressive tax system means that tax yield from the wealthy increases. Cicero bets Mr McCluskey and the Little Eds never thought of that in their determination to fight class war.

Maybe we should have a flat rate tax system and see what happens.

Cicero has long argued that it is not the rate of tax people pay that we should all focus on but the yield. By doing this there might be less heat and noise when tax rates for the rich are reduced; less hypocrisy from Nick Nick and his promise breaking party; and more tax paid. And surely that is what we all want.

Though maybe too it would be nice if Big Government became a mite smaller with fewer job creating taxpayer-funded Apparatchiks feathering and protecting their own nests and gold plated pensions. That would be a real win-win.

And one final thought-why is it that no one out there wants to pass comment on Cicero’s musings? We know these words are being read but you can’t all be shy. Go on, say something-you know you want to. It’s easy and so long as it’s not rude it will be published. Comment here or via Twitter @cicerospeaks. Cicero looks forward to hearing from you.

Sis felix. Et sis fortunatus. Semper.