Taxman Gordon

The cyclopedian one has bee turned into a pac man game, you will have to keep your eye out for Gordon, something he knows a lot about.

Check it out at: http://www.taxmangordon.com/

From the Telegraph..

The average family hands over 50 per cent more of their annual earnings in tax than they did before Labour came to power a decade ago.

If they move home, they can expect to lose more than half of their annual wages in taxes on income, spending and property, according to research for The Daily Telegraph by the accountants Smith & Williamson.

The soaring tax burden has been driven largely by the number of people falling into the higher stamp duty tax band on property, along with rising council tax and increases in the National Insurance contributions.

Smith & Williamson estimates that the total taxes paid by a typical family with two children, buying an ordinary terrace house, have soared from 36p in the pound to 54p since 1997.

Richard Mannion, the national tax director at Smith & Williamson, said that for higher rate taxpayers in particular, the cost of these tax rises "far outweigh the benefits received through child tax credit and child benefit".

The higher stamp duty thresholds have not changed since they were introduced by Gordon Brown back in 1997, paid at three per cent of the purchase between £250,000 and £500,000, and four per cent above that, while properties under £250,000 are taxed at one per cent.

This has failed to keep pace with soaring house prices.

As the Conservative Party gathers for its conference starting tomorrow, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, Philip Hammond, said: "This is more bad news for families struggling to reach the next rung on the property ladder."

A Treasury spokesman said the tax burden on the average family had fallen since 1997.

He said: "This analysis misleadingly claims to represent the average situation, but it is undermined by the carefully-selected assumptions on which it is based."

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