Industry and services are both growing faster than before (at annual rates of 6.1% and 7.1% respectively), exports are up by a fifth, and the current account, after 24 years in the red, entered surplus in 2001.Mr Singh was moderately generous, tinkering with direct-taxation allowances and with excise duties.
This move serves to enhance an already very attractive tax environment which includes Patent Box Corporation Tax of 10percentnt, low personal taxation, low social welfare contributions, generous tax allowances, no local taxes on profits or surplus, R&D Tax relief up to 230percentnt and an extensive tax treaty network of over 135 treaties.
No rise in general taxation to fund public spending, while increasing tax allowances in line with inflation.
The Scottish government said any new powers were to be welcomed, but First Minister Nicola Sturgeon argued the Smith Commission package was ultimately disappointing because many powers, like the personal tax allowance, corporate taxation and child and working tax credits, would remain with Westminster.
Talk in the olden days was of "positive and negative taxation", or a citizen's income, with personal tax allowances issued as payments, and any excess income being taxed.
The next step is to integrate this with a shift towards expenditure taxation, so the basic income acts as a tax allowance, a sort of "tax cashback", which gives the expenditure tax a progressive nature and also is harder for the multinationals and the rich to avoid.
Even if we look at "chargeable" taxation – after capital allowances and other tax deductions – corporation tax made up 25% of total chargeable profits in 2010-11 but had fallen back to 22% by the of 2013.
Tribal leaders must be prevented from hijacking their communities.Josef Bucher Former Swiss ambassador Ittigen, SwitzerlandLabour's business tax* SIR – The Labour Party's recent plans for business taxation included a new "Allowance for Corporate Equity" which would ameliorate Britain's substantial debt finance bias ("Uprated", July 5th).
All other aspects of income tax will remain reserved to the UK Parliament, including the imposition of the annual charge to income tax, the personal allowance, the taxation of savings and dividend income, the ability to introduce and amend tax reliefs and the definition of income.
