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Paying for progress: A new politics of tax for public spending
This work offers a compelling fresh approach to one of the most controversial subjects of British politics - taxation. Challenging both the tax-cutting ideology of the Conservatives and New Labour's virtual taboo on any mention of the subject, this book places a proper debate about taxation and public services at the heart of a new politics for Britain. This report of the Fabian Society's Commission on Taxation and Citizenship, "Paying for Progress", argues that voters must be "reconnected" to the taxes they pay and the public spending which these finance. It calls for greater use of "earmarked" taxes and better auditing of government performance. Addressing some of the major challenges facing modern societies, it also asks if higher taxes are needed to pay for public services, explores the impact of globalisation and the internet, proposes the "devolution" of taxation and recommends a more progressive, and environmentally efficient, tax system. Written in an accessible style, this book is intended to provide an influential contribution to political thought and policy in the first decade of the 21st century.
- GenresPolitics
270 pages, Paperback
First published November 28, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
October 9, 2009
I picked up Paying for Progress because of my interest in aspects of governance and economics. I feel that it is important for people to have a clear understanding of how government choices affect their lives and this book was very helpful in that respect.
The first section gives an overview of the tax system at the time of writing (2000) explaining where revenues are collected, to what magnitude and also a pie chart of where total tax receipts are spent. Also included are measures of inequality and how the tax system alleviates or exasperates these trends.On the whole this is achieved in a clear, concise and for the most part enjoyable manner.
Accompanying this section the book details results of consultations, surveys and opinion polls taken with the British public on the subject of the tax system. I found it incredible how little people actually knew about the subject, even when it came to the more simplistic aspects. People complained that we were the most taxed country in Europe and when this myth was dispelled they were genuinely shocked, and so there were the inevitable calls for tax and spend information to be made clearer to them. Evidently these people had never bothered to look for the information as it is readily available from a verity of sources, what they were asking for was to be spoon fed the information, suggesting that the government should prepare a leaflet every year setting out the average persons tax levels and where the money goes and then posting it to every house in the country. While this would be useful to the people who are genuinely interested I fear that most would end in the bin and so a great deal of money would be wasted.
The last section deals with proposed changes to the tax system, being a left leaning publication many of the proposals are designed with redistribution in mind. For the most part these suggestions are sensible and workable with the pros and cons of each approach given space, this is admirable when many documents of this kind deny the existence of negatives entirely. For this reason, even when I did not agree with the ideas I was respectful of the conclusions, they are well informed and thought out. Most of the time anyway. One example of where it all went wrong is the idea that each county should have its own tax system. In a small country like the U.K. that is simply unworkable, and the methods by which they attempt to save it are equally strange.
Paying For Progress was enjoyable and informative. I would recommend it to anybody wishing to learn more about the tax and spend system of the U.K. government and to those who wish to understand the direction of change a left leaning government may lead. While a few small sections in the book seem idiotic they are small distractions from a largely well thought out work, and for that reason I still gave it 5 stars. Perhaps the extra star can be explained by my continued interest in a book about tax.
The first section gives an overview of the tax system at the time of writing (2000) explaining where revenues are collected, to what magnitude and also a pie chart of where total tax receipts are spent. Also included are measures of inequality and how the tax system alleviates or exasperates these trends.On the whole this is achieved in a clear, concise and for the most part enjoyable manner.
Accompanying this section the book details results of consultations, surveys and opinion polls taken with the British public on the subject of the tax system. I found it incredible how little people actually knew about the subject, even when it came to the more simplistic aspects. People complained that we were the most taxed country in Europe and when this myth was dispelled they were genuinely shocked, and so there were the inevitable calls for tax and spend information to be made clearer to them. Evidently these people had never bothered to look for the information as it is readily available from a verity of sources, what they were asking for was to be spoon fed the information, suggesting that the government should prepare a leaflet every year setting out the average persons tax levels and where the money goes and then posting it to every house in the country. While this would be useful to the people who are genuinely interested I fear that most would end in the bin and so a great deal of money would be wasted.
The last section deals with proposed changes to the tax system, being a left leaning publication many of the proposals are designed with redistribution in mind. For the most part these suggestions are sensible and workable with the pros and cons of each approach given space, this is admirable when many documents of this kind deny the existence of negatives entirely. For this reason, even when I did not agree with the ideas I was respectful of the conclusions, they are well informed and thought out. Most of the time anyway. One example of where it all went wrong is the idea that each county should have its own tax system. In a small country like the U.K. that is simply unworkable, and the methods by which they attempt to save it are equally strange.
Paying For Progress was enjoyable and informative. I would recommend it to anybody wishing to learn more about the tax and spend system of the U.K. government and to those who wish to understand the direction of change a left leaning government may lead. While a few small sections in the book seem idiotic they are small distractions from a largely well thought out work, and for that reason I still gave it 5 stars. Perhaps the extra star can be explained by my continued interest in a book about tax.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review