General Election 2015: George Osborne says Labour raised taxes by £2,000 as tax row escalates
Goerge Osborne will today claim that New Labour hiked taxes on earnings for an average household by £1,895 a year in real-terms, as the row between the parties over tax escalates.
The new figures come from the House of Commons library. The Tories say they hint at what Labour would do if it wins the General Election.
“Ed Miliband needs to come clean about what his £3,000 of tax rises for working families are,” he will say.
“We’re publishing new independent figures that show Labour’s got form on tax. They raised taxes on working families by almost £2,000 when they were last in government, and even before the Great Recession set in.”
The Liberal Democrats will also reveal new tax plans. They will say that any income brought in from tackling tax avoidance will fund increasing the personal income tax allowance to £12, 500.
This will start with a rise to £11,000 in the first term of the next parliament, which will be funded by increasing the tax rate on dividends for higher and additional rate taxpayers.
The developments come amid growing rows over possible changes in the next parliament.
Labour insists that if the Tories were to win power again, they would raise the rate of VAT. This is despite a categorical denial that this would happen by David Cameron in the last Prime Minister’s questions of the Parliament.
“The Tories have broken their promises on VAT again and again and again. And that’s why people will never trust the Tories on VAT again… VAT has always been the Tory tax of choice,” Ed Balls said yesterday.
The Lib Dems have also hit back at the Conservatives for trying to claim credit for the rise in the personal allowance in this parliament.
Chief secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander said: “We have had to fight tooth and nail with the Conservatives to deliver the biggest set of tax cuts in a generation.”
Meanwhile Tony Blair will re-enter the political fray today with a speech backing Miliband’s stance on the EU.