UK Conservatives Firm Up Election Tax Promises

by Robert Lee, Tax-News.com, London

15 April 2015

A Conservative Government would not raise value-added tax (VAT), income tax, or National Insurance contributions (NICs), the party's manifesto says.

The manifesto confirms several pre-election promises. It includes a commitment that the Conservative Party will raise the personal (tax-exempt) allowance to GBP12,500 (USD18,439) and the threshold for the 40 percent income tax rate to GBP50,000. It also includes plans, announced earlier this week, to increase the effective inheritance tax threshold for married couples to GBP1m.

It introduces a new pledge to legislate for a "Tax-Free Minimum Wage." This would ensure that the personal allowance rises automatically in line with increases to the UK's minimum wage.

The manifesto also seeks to draw attention to the Government's achievements on business taxation, such as its cuts to the rate of corporation tax, lowering the headline rate from 28 to 20 percent. It also highlights that the Government will conduct a review of business rates by the end of 2015.

The manifesto opposes the Labour Party's plan to increase corporation tax. It states that the Conservatives would raise at least GBP5bn from tackling tax evasion, and aggressive tax avoidance and tax planning, and consider the case for making country-by-country reporting information publicly available on a multilateral basis. It would also increase the annual charge on non-domiciled individuals.

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