10p Tax Rate

Conservative Candidate Calls for Support for Staffordshire Moorlands Tax Payers

This week saw the start of the new tax year and higher tax bills for many people in Staffordshire Moorlands. Anyone earning less than £18,000 a year who does not have children will be worse off.  Those earning between £5,435 and £7,455 are worst hit – they will see their tax bill double thanks to the abolition of the 10p starting rate for tax from 6 April.

Karen Bradley, Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Staffordshire Moorlands, said:

"Gordon Brown thought he had played a clever trick by reducing the basic rate of income tax to 20%, but it's the lowest paid people who are paying for this. Their tax rate is doubled from 10% to 20%. The Government announced this last year but it is only hitting people now. Due to the complexities of the tax system it will only be debated in Parliament this year during the 2008 Finance Bill debate. I hope it gets proper scrutiny from all MPs.

“The latest figures for the Moorlands, show that nearly half of workers across the area earn below £18,000, so many local people will be hit by this change.  I would urge our Labour MP to put constituents above party and vote with the Conservatives in opposing this unfair measure, which will hit the poorest the hardest. It's one thing to for Gordon Brown to try and redistribute wealth by robbing Peter to pay Paul through the tax system. But it cannot be right when, as in this case, Peter earns less than Paul but he’s still being robbed.”