Emma Chamberlain, tax barrister, visiting professor of tax at the LSE and Oxford University, co-author of the Wealth Tax Report, has a guest post with Comment is Freed -‘The right way to tax wealth’. Clear, practical thinking from someone who understands and has thought deeply about all angles.

Sam Freedman@samfr.bsky.social · yesterday

New post out: There's going to be a lot of talk about wealth taxes in the run up to the budget. So we asked one of the country's leading experts to give us a ten year plan for doing it right. (£/free trial) open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...

It's written by Emma Chamberlain - a barrister specialising in tax and co-author of the 2020 Wealth Commission report. I can guarantee you'll learn a lot about wealth taxes...

How will we manage - only six?

I’m pleased if government is looking at a whole range of fundamental reforms. The fact they are looking at them doesn’t mean they will happen but I hope some do. It is right to say big changes take time but we have to start somewhere. So worth looking but media and commentators should stay calm!

George Bangham@georgebangham.bsky.social · last wk.

Promising news. Extremely difficult to do this before 2029 though: even the mansion tax takes 2.5yrs (with a small number of properties). Is this policy credible if it takes more than one parliament to bring it in? inews.co.uk/news/politic...

This-( just a coincidence that this comes from my son 😉) When this kind of ‘budgeting’ is used to justify tax changes it show just what is wrong with our approach to tax design and reform. And the political and media fluff and speculation does not help sensible debate at all.

Sam Freedman@samfr.bsky.social · 2w ago

It's driving me insane. The govt spends £1.4 trillion a year. Borrowing estimates are often by tens of billions over a year. But we're supposed to imagine money is budgeted to the last penny.

“We need an Ozempic for cars. They are growing at a phenomenal rate, wreaking havoc on roads, squeezing out smaller vehicles and endangering pedestrians. Like ever-hungry teenagers, cars in Europe are growing on average a centimetre wider every year.” Don’t repeat North America’s mistake, Europe.

Britain’s cars and SUVs are growing bigger – but there is a way to stop this deadly ‘carspreading’ | Christian Wolmar

Larger vehicles crowd our roads and are far more dangerous to pedestrians. Let’s curb them before they do even more damage, says says transport commentator Christian Wolmar

theguardian.com

Lot to be said for what we used to call a Unified Budget under Major (tax and spending plans together_) as per @financialtimes.com www.ft.com/content/abf4... But to start from scratch and complete by autumn would be very brave, prime minister..

Andy Burnham explores holding expanded autumn Budget

UK’s incoming PM is considering combining fiscal statement with spending review to set out his political strategy

ft.com

Two baby beaver kits have arrived at Ealing's Paradise Fields. Reintroduced in 2023 with Ealing Wildlife Group and Citizen Zoo, beavers are already stopping Greenford station from flooding and saving us money on infrastructure. Here’s what they’ve been up to 🦫

It's tragically appropriate that we spent a whole generation telling students that the humanities were moribund, and they should all study STEM, only for the greatest innovations in STEM to prove why the humanities were so essential all along.

Lauri Donahue@lauridonahue.bsky.social · last mo.

futurism.com/future-socie... lol

In 1991 I argued against removal of audit requirements for small companies but politicians equate ease of incorporation with entrepreneurship and growth (which is rubbish) and have continued to raise the audit threshold. Incorporation should not be cheap and easy.

Jim Waterson@jim.londoncentric.media · last mo.

If I were Burnham: *Give HMRC a high street enforcement special unit and sell it to the public as "like that Steve Coogan thing Jim fell asleep watching on Netflix last night but for dodgy shops" *Shove the Companies House fee up to £250 and use all the extra money to get them to DO SOME CHECKS

From The Times today -Michael Jack was the first chair of the Office of Tax Simplification - I also prefer the idea of an Office of Effective Taxation

Our latest post open.substack.com/pub/everywhe...

Another Reason the Labor Share Keeps Falling: Taxes!

When firms pay workers in promises rather than cash, the national accounts struggle to keep track.

open.substack.com

We need more revenue. We should just tax large multinational more- easy, isn’t it? ( Irony klaxon)

Trump Action Tracker@trumpactiontracker.bsky.social · last mo.

Trump threatened to scrap a just-finalized trade deal with the European Union on Friday, saying that any country that levies a digital services tax would be hit immediately with a 100 percent tariff on all exports to the United States. TAT: [Foreign policy]

Not for the first time I ask: how can a bag be an unexpected item in a bagging area?

This is most striking figure from Millburn Review. They estimate that around half of the 18-24 population who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) are not claiming any benefits. This limits how effective any reforms to the benefit system can be in reducing the NEET rate.

Confused by Home Farm partnership storyline. What does partnership own if not the land? Does Brian rent the land to the partnership? Have they thought about inheritance tax ? Why can’t partnership own the land? Same thing with Brookfield. Scriptwriters get some legal advice- please! #TheArchers

It is a pity (though inevitable) that politicians play politics and someone decided to call this a ‘wealth tax’ but alignment of income tax and capital gains tax rates is not a new idea. We have been there before. The very non radical Office of Tax Simplification raised it in 2020/21.

Dan Neidle@danneidle.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Stunned, appalled, shocked etc to see actual tax reform from a politician. This from Wes Streeting today. A thread on why capital gains tax is broken. It's too low AND too high. & why this is a good proposal.

This is a very interesting video. After a brief intro, the first 3 minutes are a monologue starting in the English of 600AD and transitioning to modern American. Where do you start understanding it? youtu.be/842OX2_vCic?...

From Old English to Modern American English in One Monologue

YouTube video by Simon Roper

youtu.be

Yesterday I did not go to central London. For first time ever I was concerned about safety due to both marches. But today went to South Bank and felt London was reclaimed- people of all kinds walking along, children playing happily together at Jubilee Gardens play park. This is the real London.

A bigger question on the relationship between people paying council tax and being on the electoral register is whether Councils are routinely checking this?

Iran war accelerates ‘Regrexit’ as wealthy UK expats weigh a return- FT article notes that wanting to be near your adult children may be a reason to wish to come back to the UK ( for women more than men?). If money can’t buy you freedom to live near your family, what use is it?

Not one article or report I have read defines poor health. Are they including people on statins as poor health for example?

The Guardian@theguardian.com · 3mo ago

Findings on healthy life expectancy in UK shed light on its deteriorating health

So we are running out of CO2 and at the same time spending money on storing it. Why don’t we spend that money instead on purifying industrial CO 2 so that we can use it for all the things it is needed for? Can anyone explain please?

Proud grandmother reposting.

Sam Freedman@samfr.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Those of you watching The Pitt might enjoy my daughter's drawings of the student doctors and Dr Robbie.

Does no one else have this problem?

Judith Freedman@judithfreedman.bsky.social · 5mo ago

The new Arterio trains going into Waterloo have such a large gap between the train and the platform that they are dangerous for the elderly, disabled and people with children. How did regulators permit this?

The new Arterio trains going into Waterloo have such a large gap between the train and the platform that they are dangerous for the elderly, disabled and people with children. How did regulators permit this?

In a miserable world here are some very early bluebells to lift spirits

Carlin Moran nails it this week - Give Jim Ratcliffe a break. He’s just a billionaire www.thetimes.com/article/f387...

Having finally caught up with the need to do a story about Inheritance Tax the scriptwriters are making a total mess of it! Don’t seem to have made any attempt to understand the issues. Disappointing #thearchers