Lord Sikka
Main Page: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Sikka's debates with the HM Treasury
(1 day, 18 hours ago)
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Lord Livermore (Lab)
The Government have pledged not to increase taxes on working people, which is why we are not increasing income tax, national insurance contributions or VAT.
Lord Sikka (Lab)
Can I help the Minister on how to collect a lot more in tax revenues by attacking the anomalies? By taxing capital gains and dividends at the same rate as wages, and by charging national insurance at the same rate, the Government could collect around £15 billion a year. Another £14.5 billion could be raised by restricting tax relief on pension contributions to basic rate only. Can the Minister explain why the Government have not tackled anomalies that favour the wealthy?
Lord Livermore (Lab)
I am always grateful to my noble friend for his Budget representations. He knows that I am not going to get into speculation about the next Budget and that, in terms of what we have done so far to tackle the tax gap, the Government announced the most ambitious package ever to close it, raising £6.5 billion of revenue in terms of the Budget. In the Spring Statement, the Government announced further measures which will raise over £1 billion in additional tax.