Tax Burden and Economic Growth
Debate between Lord Wilson of Sedgefield and Lord Londesborough(2Â weeks, 1Â day ago)
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Lord Wilson of Sedgefield (Lab)
Obviously, I do not want to pre-empt anything that might come out in the Budget, but it is fair to say that the Government have protected the smallest businesses from the NICs changes by more than doubling the employment allowance, which allows eligible employers to reduce their employer NICs bill by up to £10,500. This means that around 900,000 employers, or around 40%, will have no employer NIC liabilities. We are thinking about small companies—we know that they are the ones that grow the economy—and we are going to continue doing what is best for the British economy.
Lord Londesborough (CB)
My Lords, returning to the original Question asked by the noble Lord, Lord Leigh, does the Minister agree that what really matters is growth in GDP per capita, where we sit near the bottom of the G7—given our population growth over the past five years—and that this has happened at a time when our tax burden has risen at the fastest rate in the G7? That is not a coincidence, is it?