Budget 2005 - What do you want?

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Gordon Brown is due to deliver his last budget speech before the expected general election to the House of Commons.

It is expected he will report that the UK's economy is in robust condition although there are concerns that higher than expected government spending may lead to future tax rises.

However, in a bid to woo voters, Mr Brown may offer support for pensioners and families with children as well as find extra money for schools and hospitals.

Mr Brown is also likely to come under pressure to tackle the issues of stamp duty and inheritance tax.

What would you like to see included in the budget this year? What should the chancellor's priorities be before the forthcoming general election? How should he tackle the problems of stamp duty and inheritance tax?

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The following comments reflect the balance of opinion we have received so far:

SUGGEST A DEBATE This topic was suggested by Julie, UK: What do you want to see in Wednesday's budget? Send us your suggestions for Have Your Say debates

How can we trust Brown's figures, if he can't remember which Olympic Games we are bidding for!
Roger W, Orpington, Kent

Mr Brown, what a load of fudge! Raising the stamp duty threshold from 60k to 120k doesn't go far enough.
Toks, London

Another predictable pre-election budget
Chas Kennedy, Coventry

Stamp duty and IHT concessions are laughably small.
Paul Terry, Wolverhampton, UK

Let's bring back some relief for students who are coming out of university with huge debts and then can't get on the property ladder because of stamp duty, high house prices and no one wanting to give them credit.
Katy, Manchester, UK

Let's see some benefits for the average working person.
Jill, North Shields

Why does Brown's simplified VAT system mean businesses pay more VAT?
Paul Bryan, Milton Keynes

Lovely idea to put a memorial to the Queen Mum on the Mall but what exactly has that to do with the economy and tax increases/decreases or is it just to divert away from the job in hand as usual?
C Edwards, Birmingham England

The inheritance tax band is still a joke!
Michael Ireland, Newcastle

Encouraging news for science workers, maybe this will halt the exodus to the US of top British scientists
Paul, Woking, UK

It's good to see Brown looking forward - this budget is good for Britain
Simon Watson

I would like to see a reduction in company corporation tax.
Stephen McPhee, Glasgow

How many hidden taxes will come out of this budget?
Steve, Stotfold, UK

Incentives for local shops and services so that they continue to operate in poorer communities.
Mat R, Leeds, UK

Tax is taxing so at least make it easier Gordon. The system is too complicated. Abolish stamp duty on equity purchases, help to encourage saving.
Richard, Chester, UK

How does Mr Brown expect to bring in a business friendly budget when his hands are tied by the EU?
Mike, London, UK

Interest free mortgages for public sector workers
M. Pieri, Enfield, London

I would like to see more help for small businesses.
Paul Bryan, Milton Keynes

I'd like to see a whingers' tax - listening to you lot, the Government would make a fortune.
Keith, Sheffield, South Yorkshire

I am sure income tax will not go up, but no promises on National Insurance!
Mark Mulholland, Glasgow

I want to know what he's going to do for the first time buyer. As right now I have no chance of buying a property and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
Sam Kerr, Aylesbury, Bucks

Take away benefits for those who don't want to work, and return the money saved to those that do!!
Alastair, Mansfield, UK

We've heard it all before. What's new?
Paul Hirst, Halifax, Yorkshire

Do more to help homeless people find homes and jobs.
Hope Whitmore, St Andrews, Scotland

I hope to see more redistributive taxes and a doubling of overseas aid and development budget
Mike Lyons, London

Cut the price of a pint of beer
Paul Boundry, Grimsby, England

Give a tax incentive to stop companies outsourcing jobs oversees
Dee, Sittingbourne

Do more to encourage entrepreneurs
Val, Dumfries, Scotland

I'd like to see something for the likes of people like me. Young people who work full time, live alone in rented accommodation, but don't earn enough money to buy their own home, and barely scrape a living together. Perhaps a further reduction in council tax for single people?
Mandi, Cardiff, Wales

Get rid of council tax and also get Brown to do the decent thing and resign.
Peter Bell, London, England

Whatever the Chancellor says this afternoon, I'm sure I will be paying more tax. As a married middle income house and car owner with no kids, I always end up paying for stuff I don't use. Come on Labour, give something back to the likes of me - how about reducing the risk associated with private pensions for starters?
Nigel, Gloucester, England

I would like him to tell us more about the "black hole" in the finances, which the Tories identified. Is it true that we are due some major tax rises to compensate? Perhaps it is time to ditch the pledges and start making some guarantees, especially if he expects us to trust him for another term.
Lucy Bird, Southampton, Hants

I want people to stop complaining about how they're overtaxed. If they had to pay for health and their children's education instead of paying tax they'd be worse off.
Jon, Melksham, UK

Tax second home owners. Here in the south west, our towns and villages are having their hearts ripped out by them leaving them nothing more than ghost towns in the winter months and prime targets for lowlifes. An extra high band of council tax should do it.
Sally, Exeter, Devon

I want government to recognise that it is business that fuels society: to value our entrepreneurs as the motors that power us, to encourage business not suffocate it, to applaud those who sacrifice all to go out on their own, instead of penalising them for doing so, to support business instead of withdrawing every initiative that was introduced by Thatcher.
Tom Franklin, London, UK

My father is 70 this year and has paid Tax and NI for 50 years. I think it is about time the government abolished tax for pensioners. Many could live far more comfortably if they got their pensions tax free. Let's face it, those people have paid their dues over and over again. It's time to give them something back.
Alasdair Carnie, Newport Pagnell

Scrap inheritance tax Dave, Manchester

I don't care how much money it makes, it's grave robbery. Scrap inheritance tax. People work all their lives, leave money to their family when they die and the government rob money from them. Why not just call it a Death Tax?
Dave, Manchester

A cut in petrol tax would be nice. But I know that won't happen - in fact I bet it'll go up.
Chris, Cambridge, UK

It seems to me that as far as Brown is concerned, people without children don't exist... they certainly never get a mention in the budget and always get penalised. I would like to see a fairer deal on taxation which acknowledges that having children is a lifestyle choice and involves financial responsibility.
Mike Rose, Soham, Cambs

We already pay tax on our earnings and savings, so why should we be taxed when buying a house (stamp duty)? Abolish it altogether for people who own only one property, but make it 5-10% for people who buy a second home. I also agree with some previous comments saying make it easier on the single person. We cost the state less than anyone after all. I'm more than happy to see an increase on income tax to pay for a better health service and I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way. Oh, but of course, the government can't afford to find more money to give doctors and nurses a better wage...more important things to spend it on like attacking Iraq. Labour or Tories, you can forget my vote, now and forever.
Ben, Bristol, UK

I would love to see something in the budget allowing for students, with families earning under a certain amount, to receive grants instead of loans as I think its disgusting that the government says there are "equal opportunities" to universities nowadays when that's simply not the case. Who is more likely to go to university: the person from a family on benefits who will be expected to pay back a £12,000 loan for an education (that will benefit the state) by themselves, or the person from a family earning 30k or over a year who can probably pay for their child's accommodation and living expenses themselves, or help pay off the loan when they've finished the same degree as the child from a low income family?
Jodie, Brighton

Mr Brown has shown his immense adept skill at handling the finance portfolio Pancha Chandra, Brussels, Belgium

An impending general election always places immense pressure on a Chancellor of the Exchequer. But Mr Brown has shown his immense adept skill at handling the finance portfolio and as a clear successor to Tony Blair in four years he would like to ensure that tax incentives would boost Labour's chances of trouncing the Tories.
Pancha Chandra, Brussels, Belgium

The oil companies have made windfall profits this year on the back of a declining dollar and increased demand in China. I would like to see a windfall tax on oil companies to be ploughed back into urban regeneration projects (new housing for first time buyers, small businesses encouraged to move in to these new areas). I know it is an election year, but we need to keep planning for the future.
Duncan , Reading, UK

Raise the threshold at which people begin paying income tax then raise the levels of income tax and re-introduce a higher rate for higher earners. The extra money could be used to properly re-build the welfare state and help the poorest people in other countries. It's about time everyone stopped being so selfish and actually made a proper contribution to help people who need that help most. That also means that the government should stop spending our money on ending lives abroad and spend it on improving lives here and in the developing world.
Peter, London

You can't tax cars off the roads because most of us need them to feed the economy with our taxes Tom Bayes, Rothwell, England

Sorry, but you can't tax cars off the roads because most of us need them to feed the economy with our taxes. Sustainability means alternatives and an extended 30 hour day to allow for the bus/train journey. Or how about local employment like the old days before cars? Radical? Sadly that would leave a multi billion pound deficit in the coffers and the last thing any government will do, whatever they promise, is cut off their biggest source of revenue.
Tom Bayes, Rothwell, England

Adjust all tax thresholds (ie income tax, inheritance tax, stamp duty, etc, etc) to reflect today's prices and salaries. Seems to me they are all decades out of date. And find a way of encouraging people on benefits to get back into work. At the present time families on benefits just aren't interested in working for anything less than about £30k because they are better off where they are!
Barbara, Kent

The budget is always the same! Help for single parents, unemployed, etc, etc. The list is endless. Me, my husband and our children never gain anything! Why? Because we both work full time, caught in the middle income trap. Too much for any help, and not enough to be comfortable. When will this or any government help us middle income parents, and my word there are thousands of us.
Amanda, Blackwood, Wales

Public services do need money and in the last 8 years they have had that. Before Gordon Brown takes any more money from us he needs to seriously reform public services to get more for the buck, so to speak. Cut down on the waste and the excessive number of civil servants, and employ more doctors, nurses, police, etc, etc. When he has done that then maybe people might be more willing to pay more tax!
Scott Mills, Birmingham, UK

Tax the buy-to-let brigade whose mortgages I'm paying off by way of extortionate rent Graeme Davidson, Edinburgh

Tax the buy-to-let brigade whose mortgages I'm paying off by way of extortionate rent and the "amateur" property developers whose incompetence often leaves a once affordable property needing even more work to put right, yet 10-20% more expensive.
Graeme Davidson, Edinburgh

I have given up work to look after my children and my husband has changed jobs so that his salary is slightly more than our joint salary was when we both worked. However, due to the current tax laws we have less take home pay as my husband pays 40% tax. Rather than penalising families where one adult stops work to bring up the children, the tax rules should be changed to put us on an equal footing.
Caron, England

Increase the threshold for stamp duty to £500K, increase 'sin taxes' on alcohol and tobacco and introduce new taxes on junk food.
Richard Cotton, London, UK

I would like to see the emphasis on petrol tax moved to road tolls so that higher road users pay proportionally more tax.
Gerry Austin, Birmingham, UK

Raise the 10%, 25% and 40% tax thresholds to benefit people on lower or average incomes and introduce a new higher tax band for very high earners. Oh, and replace Council Tax with local income tax.
Al, London, UK

Tax buy-to-let investors. That might make it a little harder to make a healthy profit out of people who can't afford to buy themselves.
Kate Griffin, Oxford

I would like to see a fair system to fund local authorities, based on current income instead of perceived residential property values.
John Murthwaite, Sidmouth, Devon

My God, where do you start? Complete reform of the tax system. I'm sure I can't be the only one who objects massively to being taxed on what I earn and then paying tax when I use that already taxed income to buy something only to be taxed again on any profits I make if I sell it. The final kick in the teeth is that my kids will have to pay tax on what I leave behind when I've gone.
David, Chelmsford, Essex

I wouldn't know where to start. I agree with all of the above. I too am currently buying my first house with my partner. We are fortunate to have well paid jobs. However, we are still struggling. There should be no stamp duty for first time buyers and as for income tax... The 40% threshold of £30k is just too low. I work very hard and yet my bonus or any pay rise disappears in tax. What is the incentive for me to work?
Rebecca, Oxford, UK

I think that non smokers should pay more towards state pensions. After all they live longer than smokers and therefore add this extra burden on the rest of us.
John Dalgleish, Edinburgh, Scotland

What about us single people? Rory Goldsbrough, Leicester, UK

There is a lot of emphasis on families and pensioners etc... But what about us single people? I'm a single male, 21-years-old. I see no benefits for us, except we get taxed to death and see nothing for it. I would like to see something in it for us single, working class people who pay our tax duty just as much as the rest of the country does.
Rory Goldsbrough, Leicester, UK

Brown should look to the big corporations to fill the hole in the budget rather than the already overburdened public. Businesses such as banks and oil companies which are showing record profits should be prevented from abusing the many tax loop-holes and contribute some of their outrageous wealth to society's needs.
Jon, Southampton

I don't understand why the government have not copied the Irish government and introduced a tax on carrier bags. It has been incredibly successful in Ireland in drastically reducing the volume of plastic bags going into landfill.
Emmett Turner, Eastbourne, East Sussex

I am chairman of a small company and have reached retirement age. My pension from the company and my old age pension together with a part time salary means I have to pay 40% in tax. What I would like to see is the tax threshold reduced so that people can work hard to keep the business fluid and keep many families in work rather than living off the state. There is no incentive to earn more even by paying bonuses because this means more money to the taxman.
R.D.F. Bolland, Shrewsbury, Shropshire

Me and my wife have two children and have been struggling to buy a house for years. The stamp duty limit should be set on anything over 250k. How can the average working class family be expected to save and live under this tax stealth regime. I will NOT be voting Labour unless he makes some serious, genuine changes, House prices need to sorted ASAP and put on the top of the agenda. One example would be to limit how many properties people can buy.
T. Watson, Southampton, UK

I'd like to see more incentives to people to save for their retirement Michael Harris

When we're constantly being told the state pension is becoming too expensive to maintain, I'd like to see more incentives to people to save for their retirement - starting with abolishing the £5 billion per year tax on pension funds, which only puts people off saving for the future.
Michael Harris

Isn't it funny how many of these comments boil down to "more money for me"?
Martin Bucknall, Glasgow, Scotland

I would like to see the inheritance tax cap raised in line with house prices. A family member recently died and left a 3 bedroom semi in London and some savings to my low-income mother. The savings were not enough to pay for the solicitor's fees and the tax so we have had to borrow thousands to pay off the taxman for what is just a standard suburban home in a standard London suburb. Luckily we did not have to sell the house to pay the duty. Others may not be so lucky. Surely this tax was not originally supposed to apply to unwealthy people like us?
Jon Raymond, London, UK

Being a smoker I would like tobacco duty frozen. The high price of duty encourages smuggling by organized crime; a reduction in duty would actually give more money to the treasury as smuggling would decrease.
David, Wolves

I would like Gordon Brown to stop his economic witch hunt against the middle class - someone has to produce the wealth to pay his salary. Just because a family earns over £58,000 pa does not make them 'rich'. I gave up my job because all of my salary went to pay the nanny. Child care should be tax deductible in full up to an income of £120,000 pa.
Chris Parker, Buckingham

The harder one works to be self sufficient the more we are taxed Michael, St Helens

It would seem that the harder one works to be self sufficient the more we are taxed. I have bought my house, put two sons through university and worked to a reasonable standard of living. However, there's no point in trying any harder as the government takes 49% of anything I earn in tax and NI. I don't/can't claim any benefits and will have to pay for any future nursing home needs. When I finally depart, my children will be hit by inheritance taxes. Am I rich, born with a silver spoon? No - just a miner's son who was prepared to work rather than sponge. Could Gordon also transfer 10% of what Iraq is costing us to the starving in Africa?
Michael, St Helens

I would like to see tax relief on travel to work by public transport. This would help to reduce the numbers of cars on the road and would also greatly help people when both partners cannot work in the same city/area and so end up spending most of our disposable income on commuting costs.
Sarah, Liverpool, UK

Not only am I worried about getting on the property ladder, but with my student loan eating at my income, surely graduates could be allowed a small tax relief on their first year or two in employment?
Jon, Colchester, UK

Inheritance tax laws need to be reformed. Why should the offspring of decent, hardworking parents be penalised by paying 40% tax over the current threshold of £263,000? I would like to see 20% tax for assets over £350,000 with an upper limit of 40% over £500,000. Although we would all like inheritance tax to be scrapped, realistically this will never happen. However, with rising house prices, I believe at least this would go someway as an acceptable compromise.
Susan Manning, Oxford, England

I would like to see an increase in defence expenditure. Our army is increasingly overstretched and it needs more funds. Overall I would like to see a reduction in government spending. I think the government now takes too much of our money and it has become wasteful. A cut in income tax would be appreciated.
James, Warwick

I would like to see stamp duty abolished for first time buyers! I am about to buy 60% of a property through a Key Worker scheme as I work for the NHS and therefore I am only purchasing 60% of £69,000 so I have to pay stamp duty on this!
Heather Snook, Eastleigh, UK

He can do what he likes with cigarette duty Dan, Yateley, UK

Scrap all locally collected tax and replace it with a centrally collected household tax, which the government is directly accountable for. Perhaps then we can avoid this buck passing between local authorities and government when the inevitable inflation busting annual increase is announced. Oh, and this year he can do what he likes with cigarette duty, as I have quit!
Dan, Yateley, UK

It's better up'north! My brother and his girlfriend (first time buyers) recently bought a very nice 2 bedroomed semi for just under £60,000. Most houses around here go for £100,000 or less, so raising stamp duty would help first time buyers around here, including myself when I come to buying a house in a couple of years time!
Stuart, Blackburn, England

I would like to see the exemption for inheritance tax raised to at least £300,000.00 to reflect the massive increase in house prices. These days even 'ordinary' people who may only have a single property to their name and no other liquid assets can find themselves subject to inheritance tax and that was never the aim of the tax in the first place.
Sue, Leighton Buzzard

Scotland's population is decreasing and nowhere more so than in the Highlands. I want to see Gordon Brown doing what they have done in Norway: introducing lower taxes in sparsely populated and remote areas like the Scottish Highlands in order to stimulate the economy and area and encourage more people to stay and live there.
Jim, Clydebank, Scotland

Why can't fatty foods be hit for tax? Simon Ward, Norwich, UK

Being a smoker I'm sure my pocket will be hit hard again! Why can't fatty foods be hit for tax instead of cigarettes?
Simon Ward, Norwich, UK

We are in the process of moving house. The average price increase on our property has been around 197%, yet the increase in the amount of stamp duty we will pay, due to the ridiculous banding is around 800% - hardly fair. I have no issue with a tax that reflects property price increase, but the unfair system that means a house at £249,000 attracts £2,500 tax, whereas a house at £251,000 will attract £7,500 tax is clearly bonkers. A switch to a sliding scale (i.e. pay 1% on value below threshold, and 3 or 4% on the amount above) would be far fairer.
Phil Knox, London, UK

I agree with the previous comments on stamp duty on property purchase. I believe it is also vital that the inheritance tax threshold is reviewed and raised substantially. This was never designed to be a tax that now affects vast numbers of 'ordinary' people and the Exchequer has yet again benefited hugely. Couple this with giving back the £5 billion taken away from pension schemes when removing tax relief on investment dividends and we might be getting somewhere. This makes the £400 m over 20 years pledged to the Financial Assistance Scheme look like small beer - no doubt he will raise the tax on that as well!!
Nick, Sussex, UK

I work and my wife has chosen to stay at home to look after our 4 children, and so her tax allowance is unused. I would like to see the chancellor permit her allowance to be added to mine. It seems so unfair that we should pay what amounts to "extra tax" because my wife chooses not to work, when all around people who choose to dump their kids on childminders and family members keep on getting tax breaks. We are a family and would like to be taxed as a single economic unit.
Graham, UK

He will be too weak to do anything properly. There is an election around the corner, and his job will be more important to him than the economy.
Alfie Noakes, North of England, UK

Have a sensible, progressive approach to direct taxation AP, Edinburgh

Stamp duty needs a complete overhaul. It needs a full reclassification. The same goes for inheritance tax. Current property prices make both of these taxes' bands outdated and unfair. The fairest thing to do is to have a sensible, progressive approach to direct taxation. I'd rather pay more income tax and know that I lived in a safer, healthier, more equitable society.
AP, Edinburgh

Brown should abolish inheritance tax. It is no longer a tax on the "super" rich and now affects a huge proportion of the population. It is an unfair tax on hard earned income that has already been taxed once before allowing the treasury to double dip.
James, London

Government to provide funding for local councils to build more homes for the increasing population numbers in the UK. Help for young couples to get on the property market so that they can start a family and are able to provide for them.
Robert, Inverness, Scotland

The difference not having to pay stamp duty will make is minimal to say the least. If you cannot afford a house for £150,000 (inc. stamp duty), then it's very unlikely you can afford £149,000. Even at the £100,000 threshold, a difference of 1% isn't big enough! Perhaps increasing tax for second home owners is the way forward?
Matt Stancombe, Cambridge

Scrap road tax and include it in the price of petrol. You would save a fortune on the debt collection and TV adverts alone....
James Murphy, Dorset, UK

I would like to see the tax on cigarettes increased again. If people want to smoke, and then need NHS facilities, then they should be made to pay.
John F, Bristol, UK

John F, Bristol. What utter nonsense. To say that a smoker must pay for NHS treatment - ridiculous. What about the car driver involved in an accident? What about the drunk who has over indulged? What about sports injuries? Like those in A&E on a Sunday following the local pub teams match? To think people have sacrificed their lives for the likes of you.
Wayne, Stockport

Make a significant change to the inheritance tax threshold Chris, Herts

Surely he must make a significant change to the inheritance tax threshold. A tax which was aimed at the big country estates now affects an enormous number of "ordinary" people. Hardly a socialist policy, surely?
Chris, Herts

No surprise that he is pandering to the selfish and short sighted elements of the electorate by freezing fuel duty. When will the government bite the bullet and tax cars off the road and move people into greener transport? Everyone knows it will have to happen one day since the current system is unsustainable. Let's do it before the whole country is paved.
Dominic Tristram, Bath, UK

Perhaps Mr Brown will pay some attention to communities, schools and hospitals instead of constantly trying to pump money in. I want to see effective and efficient use of what we have and thus allow resources for safeguarding the environment and to support community spirit.
Jeremy A. Brown, London

I want the taxman to get off my back. I want the state to stop subsidising layabouts. I want the Government to ensure my tax is spent wisely. And most of all I want someone from the Government to finally admit that the NHS is unsustainable as a free service to all, and have the guts to start charging people. Then again, I could just wake up and smell the coffee.....
Mark, Sheffield, England

I read this morning that Mr Brown may possibly raise the stamp duty threshold to £100,000 in tomorrow's budget. Has he seen the average price of a house these days? My girlfriend and I are currently in the process of buying our first house and if this is to be the case, for us he may as well be doing nothing at all. He is not helping the majority of first time buyers. Where can you get a decent house for under £100,000 these days?
Gareth, England

I'd second Gareth's comments on stamp duty. Messrs Blair and Brown acknowledge the fact that house prices are incredibly high but yet refuse to re-align stamp duty relative to the market.
Ade, Chelmsford, UK

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This debate is now closed.

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