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Coronavirus Bailout : The big £330 Billion Con.
In 1991 the UK gov scrapped the failed poll tax system. But in order to lessen the impact of the poll tax, the government decided that there would be a rebate of £140 per person for the next 2 years until the new system was put in place. This worked out approximately £280 per person of those who were eligible to pay (based on paying Full Poll Tax). However, for this exercise we are going to assume that the £140 per year was per head of population. In 1991 the UK population was about 57.2m, so based on this, £280 equates to £16bn.
In order to pay for this the Government increased VAT by 2.5% from 15% to 17.5%. Almost 30 years later we are still paying 2.5% VAT to pay back the £280 refunded to us. I am being more than generous in the figures, the bailout was nowhere near £16bn but it'll do for this example.
On the 17th of March 2020 the Chancellor announced a package for business and for homeowners of around £330bn. With the current UK population at around 65 million people that equates to just over £5,000 for every man woman and child in the UK.
We all know how efficient companies are when it comes to hiding their money and avoiding paying tax, so, who exactly is going to pay for this bailout?
The answer is simple, the majority of people who never received a single penny of help will have to pay for this. If we had to pay 30 years of 2.5% VAT for £280 how much are we going to pay for £5,000?
Not one Westminster government in over 30 years has removed the poll tax VAT surcharge. The announcement yesterday was huge compared to the Poll Tax rebate and once again it is the average worker that will pick up the bill.
Big corporations will always win, especially when there's a conservative government in power and you can be sure they'll be at the front of the queue for a handout.
In this package announcement of £330 billion, there was no mention of help for the minimum wage worker whose hours have just been cut. No help for minimum wage workers who are in private rented accommodation, while the landlords get a mortgage holiday and the renters will get nothing, yet, we will have to pay for it in whatever way the government decides.
People forgot quickly about the poll tax and how much we have paid for it, and are still paying for it. This can never be allowed to happen with this bailout.
Andy