Osborne’s £10.4 billion tax lie

Chancellor George Osborne’s tax cuts have cost the Treasury £2.4 billion. No surprise there, you might think. But he claimed the reduction had actually increased takings by £8 billion!

Osborne supported this breathtaking tall tale with a bit of clever accountancy.

In 2012, the chancellor promised the super-rich he would slash their income tax from 50p to 45p in the pound. Their beady little eyes shone wetly with tears of tax-dodging delight. They duly deferred payments until 2013 to take advantage of the cut.

This meant an artificial drop in tax receipts for 2012 and a corresponding increase in 2013. If you compare those two years out of context, you get the £8 billion lie. But the overall takings for the period were actually £2.4 billion less – a net difference of £10.4 billion from Osborne’s claim.

The Socialist is amazed it has to say this, but cutting taxes doesn’t earn you more taxes. That’s not what Osborne really expected, of course. His job is to transfer wealth from the workers who make it to the bosses who fund his party.