The “invisibility” of poverty in Japanese society has long been one of the reasons for...
National insurance
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22/11/2012
Welfare state ‘becoming unsustainable’
The welfare state in its existing form will become unsustainable over the next few decades, according to a report by a Conservative MP. Writing for the right-of-centre Free Enterprise Group, Chris Skidmore calls for fundamental reform of the benefits system.
Category: Reports -
20/05/2012
Call for single 30 per cent income tax rate
A commission report has called for radical simplification of the tax system. It says there should be a single 30 per cent rate of income tax; the basic personal allowance should be raised to £10,000; and national insurance, stamp duty and inheritance tax should all be abolished.
The changes are proposed by a commission set up by the TaxPayers’ Alliance (which campaigns against higher taxes) and the Institute of Directors. It says the changes would mean a tax cut of £3,400 for a two-earner household with a yearly income of £28,000.
Category: Reports -
04/05/2012
Call for revived national insurance system
A trade union pamphlet has called for the restoration of a genuine national insurance system. It says successive governments have been guilty of undermining the system by cutting insurance benefits – and at the same time using contributions as a form of tax.
The authors argue that the national insurance system no longer enjoys popular support. Rather than the ‘something for nothing’ system attacked by populist politicians, there is instead a ‘nothing for something’ system, from which few people benefit but which costs a great deal through increasingly higher national insurance contributions. The pamphlet puts forward a plan to revive the system and restore its credibility:
Category: Reports
