Budget 2024

[Alan Harper's Tash]

The notion that Dyson does anything that isn’t in Dyson’s best interest is fanciful. He doesn’t give a shit about anything else but himself.

 

[metalblue]

One man’s ‘reduction’ is another’s ‘drag on growth’

As for the budget, it’s a simple calculation. The country needs investment in its public services and infrastructure. Failure to invest is also a drag on growth. That investment has to be in the form of increased taxes and borrowing. The focus of the taxes has been business and employer orientated and closing tax loopholes for wealthy landowners. Labour has to start somewhere and this budget is a reasonable first step.

The OBR forecast on reduced growth in the short term is also a simple calculation. Benefits from public investment is not immediate whereas tax raises feed into the system immediately. But we are in this situation because of our decade long failure to invest and voting for economic self harm. There is a price to be paid for short-sighted stupidity and I’m happy for the likes of Dyson to start paying it.

So you’re happy to sacrifice growth for what you see the bigger picture. I get the logic and time will tell if it’s the right thing.

 

[metalblue]

The notion that Dyson does anything that isn’t in Dyson’s best interest is fanciful. He doesn’t give a shit about anything else but himself.

Maybe he has two passions money and farming. I do get where the cynicism comes from.

 

[Alan Harper's Tash]

Maybe he has two passions money and farming. I do get where the cynicism comes from.

We will never know if he would have invested in farming had this budget taken place before his first farm purchase, but my suspicion is that he wouldn’t.

He may have developed a “passion” for farming following his purchases, but my overriding suspicion is that his only passion is increasing his own bank account.

 

[BobKowalski]

You still have to ask though if I inherit a £2m farm but want to work it then how do I pay the £400k IHT bill?

The reality is most farmers would sell up or certainly their families would upon inheritance and then who would buy the farm? More than likely it would be a major corporation or billionaire and so even more wealth and land passes to the 1%.

If I was a farmer today then I'd probably ring up Barratt Homes and get the inevitable over with.

Well, congrats on inheriting £2m of farmland and presumably a viable commercial business to go with it.

For starters isn’t it 20% above £1m? If so we just reduced it to £200k. Then you look at the books of what will be several hundred acres of farmland, turnover, profit, loss, employee numbers etc - because this is a business not farmer fucking Giles toodling around on his fucking tractor and you borrow against the farm if it’s a profitable and viable concern.

Average UK farm size is 40 acres, so unlikely to trouble the £1m threshold. If owned by a married couple then good estate planning may get you a combined £2m threshold (not an expert here!).

Bottom line. Let me inherit £2m of land and a viable business and I’ll figure out the rest :)

 

[Dave Ewing's Back 'eader]

There's a headline in the ToryGraph this morning that purports Reeves to have said 'We can't allow farmers to die without paying tax.' I don't suppose those are her actual words but I suspect the sentiment is there. I also suspect that she, like a lot of MPs hasn't the slightest idea what farming, or business, for that matter, is about.

 

[Alan Harper's Tash]

There's a headline in the ToryGraph this morning that purports Reeves to have said 'We can't allow farmers to die without paying tax.' I don't suppose those are her actual words but I suspect the sentiment is there. I also suspect that she, like a lot of MPs hasn't the slightest idea what farming, or business, for that matter, is about.

It happens when there are tax rises in any sector.

This time it’s the Tories suddenly caring about farmers.

When there has been chronic underfunding of all services for 14 years and no surplus of money available to restore some of these services, taxes will inevitably need to rise.

We could always return to the single market and CAP, which would benefit farmers.

 

[BobKowalski]

So you’re happy to sacrifice growth for what you see the bigger picture. I get the logic and time will tell if it’s the right thing.

Happy? No. Do we have a viable alternative? No.

The country needs public investment. Ironically, with Brexit it needs even more public investment as increased trade barriers not only reduce growth but incur costs.

Given your enthusiasm for reduced trade growth and trade barriers you should be delighted taxes were raised to help pay for it.

 

[BobKowalski]

There's a headline in the ToryGraph this morning that purports Reeves to have said 'We can't allow farmers to die without paying tax.' I don't suppose those are her actual words but I suspect the sentiment is there. I also suspect that she, like a lot of MPs hasn't the slightest idea what farming, or business, for that matter, is about.

More bollocks. Most farms and farmers will not reach the £1m threshold. And why the fuck is the Chancellor required to know anything about farming? She’s employed to run the finances of the country not work shifts in the milking parlour. And yes there will have been a lot of supporting documents on the effects of any tax rises or changes on particular industries for her to consider. She doesn’t wake up one morning and suddenly decide to pick on farmers or whoever.

Mind you, it’s instructive how everyone leaps to the defence of those that are least in need of it. You might as well label this thread ‘Will no one think of the ‘poor’ rich folk’

 

[metalblue]

Happy? No. Do we have a viable alternative? No.

The country needs public investment. Ironically, with Brexit it needs even more public investment as increased trade barriers not only reduce growth but incur costs.

Given your enthusiasm for reduced trade growth and trade barriers you should be delighted taxes were raised to help pay for it.

Who said I was enthusiastic for reduced growth and trade barriers? Don’t go making stuff up now flower.