Flat tax entering mainstream

The flat tax debate won't make it into this election because none of the parties want it to. But it is certainly getting closer to the mainstream.

Last week's Spectator carried an article by Nick Herbert of Reform ( here) in which he weaves a flat tax proposal into Reforms' existing scheme to restrain public spending growth, and suggests the combination could be used to deliver substantially lower taxes for the poor.

Currently the poorest 20 per cent pay an average 40 per cent of their incomes in tax, actually higher than the overall average tax rate of 36 per cent. Under Reform's outline proposal this would be more than halved in the lifetime of the next parliament.

He concludes:

'The principled luxury of progressive taxation which doesn't actually work is no longer one we can afford.'

We're not there yet, but we are thinking about how flat tax could be made to fit with with a broader policy agenda.

Comments

[Bishop Hill]

Madsen Pirie was on Radio 4 this afternoon, extolling the virtues of a flat tax. This on a slot headlined something like "Policies with no chance of being put into practice".