£7.75bn surplus, really

[cal216610]

As listening to the news last night, what is this about surplus billions and maybe giving a bit of tax relief?
If we have a national debt why not spend it on that?

[davepoth]

cal216610 said:

As listening to the news last night, what is this about surplus billions and maybe giving a bit of tax relief?
If we have a national debt why not spend it on that?

It goes straight into the debt - Osborne won't loosen the purse strings. And IMO that's exactly the thing to do.

[Eric Mc]

And it's because, by and large, UK people pay their taxes correctly. If Greece was a bit more honest they wouldn't be in half the trouble they are at the moment.

[0a]

davepoth said:

It goes straight into the debt - Osborne won't loosen the purse strings. And IMO that's exactly the thing to do.

No way - there will be some sweeteners coming in the budget; I have no doubt about that. He'll probably raise the threshold for the low rate tax in my opinion. Better than a VAT cut as it rewards those who are working.

[cal216610]

It would be a shame if it was given back out in the budget rather than keep adding to it, it does sort of feel good in a way to be stepping away from the doom of the rest of europe and if it can continue for us like this will it put us in a stronger position barganing for european buisness. ?

[ILoveMondeo]

cal216610 said:

As listening to the news last night, what is this about surplus billions and maybe giving a bit of tax relief?
If we have a national debt why not spend it on that?

How much tax relief are you expecting from 8 billion quid?

It amounts to pretty much nothing in the grand scheme of things, you might get a pound or two back. It is however an encouraging sign that the cuts are working.

Also, we've got a 1 trillion pound bank loan to pay off.

ETA if it is to be spent on anything infrastructure is where it should go.

[anonymous-user]

The January surplus happens every year though due to Self Assesment Tax payments being due by 31st January, we will be back to borrowing £8 Billion plus a month from February.

[sixspeed]

But wasn't the surplus and the intake higher than that seen in previous years during January (and not just a case that it was the "usual" spike)

[Eric Mc]

Correct. The surplus was higher than expected because HMRC thought that tax liabilities for 2010/11 would be lower than they turned out to be.

[Johnnytheboy]

DAB radio is great, you could actually hear the news reader's gritted teeth on R4 last night.

Osborne should plough it into paying off debt but I expect he'll splurge it next month.

[Frik]

Eric Mc said:

And it's because, by and large, UK people pay their taxes correctly. If Greece was a bit more honest they wouldn't be in half the trouble they are at the moment.

A perfect example being that there are more Cayennes registered in Greece than there are people declaring incomes of €50k or more...

[louiebaby]

The BBC Website said:

The UK's total public sector net debt, excluding financial sector interventions, fell back to £988.7bn, or 63% of gross domestic product, having breached £1tn in December.

I'd be interested to know what it is including financial sector interventions, but those number are likely to be confused by the equity it holds against the debt in companies like RBS.

The fact that the above mentioned debt levels are coming down is the way things need to go. It will take time, and it will be painful, but it needs to happen.

The important thing to do is to continue reducing the debt burden, whilst doing as much as possible to stimulate the economy. A tricky balancing act if ever there was one.

[The Black Flash]

Frik said:

Eric Mc said:

And it's because, by and large, UK people pay their taxes correctly. If Greece was a bit more honest they wouldn't be in half the trouble they are at the moment.

A perfect example being that there are more Cayennes registered in Greece than there are people declaring incomes of €50k or more...

Except, of course, that that isn't true. Not even a little bit.
Nicely pulled apart on the "more or less" programme on R4 a few weeks back.

[Digga]

Johnnytheboy said:

DAB radio is great, you could actually hear the news reader's gritted teeth on R4 last night.

They do hate having to play it with a straight bat.

[Frik]

The Black Flash said:

Nicely pulled apart on the "more or less" programme on R4 a few weeks back.

Missed it unfortunately, what was the outcome?

I was made aware of the article by Tim Harford's twitter feed, mind.

[Caulkhead]

cal216610 said:

As listening to the news last night, what is this about surplus billions and maybe giving a bit of tax relief?
If we have a national debt why not spend it on that?

Because we need to encourage a bit of growth as well as clear the debt.

[cal216610]

Caulkhead said:

Because we need to encourage a bit of growth as well as clear the debt.

I thought that this bit of news may in some way show other EU countries that the £ is still strong and independant of the euro, making the uk worth investing buisness that alone would be enough to create grow.

[JagLover]

Bluequay said:

The January surplus happens every year though due to Self Assesment Tax payments being due by 31st January, we will be back to borrowing £8 Billion plus a month from February.

This

There was actually a small drop of £1/2 billion in SA payments in January, but this is always a surplus month so presumably other taxes and/or a drop in spending accounted for the rise in the surplus.

We shall have to see if this drop is a permanant result of the new 50p tax rate, or a temporary phenonom.

[andymadmak]

Johnnytheboy said:

DAB radio is great, you could actually hear the news reader's gritted teeth on R4 last night.

Osborne should plough it into paying off debt but I expect he'll splurge it next month.

Yes, I noticed that too The angst in his voice was palpable. And the conservative spokesbod stole the beebs thunder quite nicely by refusing to trumpet the figures and urging caution because it was only a blip due to SA receipts!

[andymadmak]

JagLover said:

temporary phenonom.

do dooo do do do


Sorry, couldn't resist