tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post4378468977966121768..comments2024-03-05T10:52:24.691+00:00Comments on Mark Wadsworth: Killer Arguments Against LVT, Not (292)Mark Wadsworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07733511175178098449noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-85460627744685326652012-12-16T14:34:36.107+00:002012-12-16T14:34:36.107+00:00Bj, between you and me, I am not equivocal at all....Bj, between you and me, I am not equivocal at all.<br /><br />Like you, I am firmly convinced (on the basis of logic and observation) that if IT NI VAT CT of £400 billion were scrapped, then residual untaxed rental values of £200 billion would at least double.<br /><br />Even ignoring secondary Laffer effect, it makes little difference to the average guy if his LVT goes up by £1 and his income tax goes down £1.<br /><br />So by and large, people would be able to afford to pay £400 billion in LVT - this applies even if we were completely wrong and the untaxed rental value of UK land us in fact zero, which is clearly isn't.<br /><br />If you include the secondary Laffer effect (remove deadweight costs), then of course GDP would grow by £100 billion as well, so actually we would have £200 billion + £400 billion + £100 billion in rental values to play with = £700 billion.<br /><br />And we also know that most of that would be dished out as Citizen's Dividend, some of which would flow through into higher rents = £400 + £200 + £100 + £100 = £800 billion.<br /><br />We can go on for ever with this game. <br />-----------------------------<br />Starting from square one again - council tax is currently £25 billion and all the taxes on booze and fags are £25 billion, so we could scrap booze and fags duty and double council tax.<br /><br />Heavy smokers and drinker couple would be laughing, puritans would be a bit peeved. And your average household with one moderate smoker and two moderate drinkers wouldn't be bothered either way.Mark Wadsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07733511175178098449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-66677890612364380402012-12-16T13:25:51.007+00:002012-12-16T13:25:51.007+00:00Mark, you seem somewhat equivocal that our current...Mark, you seem somewhat equivocal that our current 275bn rental values could expand to meet all government expenditure.<br /><br />The way I see it that is not a true figure of the rental value. If IT,NI, VAT and Corp Tax come to roughly 400bn, if those taxes were eliminated tomorrow, landlords are hardly likely to leave that cash on the table are they?<br /><br />Given that, and the other reasons you state, I'm not sure where the "probably" comes into it?<br /><br />Am I missing something?benjhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11544297406005346095noreply@blogger.com