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Value-added Tax In The United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, the value added tax (VAT) was introduced in 1973, replacing Purchase Tax, and is the third-largest source of government revenue, after income tax and National Insurance. It is administered and collected by HM Revenue and Customs, primarily through the Value Added Tax Act 1994. VAT is levied on most goods and services provided by registered businesses in the UK and some goods and services imported from outside the UK. The default VAT rate is the standard rate, 20% since 4 January 2011. Some goods and services are subject to VAT at a reduced rate of 5% (such as domestic fuel) or 0% (such as most food and children's clothing). Others are exempt from VAT or outside the system altogether. VAT is an indirect tax because the tax is paid to the government by the seller (the business) rather than the person who ultimately bears the economic burden of the tax (the consumer). Opponents of VAT claim it is a regressive tax because the poorest people spend a higher pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chancellor Of The Exchequer
The chancellor of the exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and the head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the chancellor is a high-ranking member of the British Cabinet. Responsible for all economic and financial matters, the role is equivalent to that of a finance minister in other countries. The chancellor is now always second lord of the Treasury as one of at least six Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, lords commissioners of the Treasury, responsible for executing the office of the Treasurer of the Exchequer the others are the prime minister and Commons government whips. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, it was common for the prime minister also to serve as Chancellor of the Exchequer if he sat in the Commons; the last Chancellor who was simultaneously prime minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer was Stanley Baldwin in 1923. Formerl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late-2000s Recession
The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.“US Business Cycle Expansions and Contractions” United States NBER, or National Bureau of Economic Research, updated March 14, 2023. This government agency dates the Great Recession as starting in December 2007 and bottoming-out in June 2009. The scale and timing of the varied from country to country (see map). At the time, the |
Tampon Tax
Tampon tax (or period tax) is a popular term used to call attention to tampons, and other feminine hygiene products, being subject to value-added tax (VAT) or sales tax, unlike the tax exemption status granted to other products considered basic necessities. Proponents of tax exemption argue that tampons, menstrual pads, menstrual cups, and comparable products constitute basic, unavoidable necessities for women, and any additional taxes constitute a pink tax. Proponents of tax exemption argue that tampons, sanitary napkins, menstrual cups and other products which serve the basic menstrual cycle constitute unavoidable necessities for women and should be classified alongside other unavoidable, tax-exempt necessities, such as groceries and personal medical items. The BBC estimates that women need to use feminine hygiene products for about a week each month for about 50 years. According to the American Medical Association over 17,000 menstrual hygiene items are needed in a user' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1997 United Kingdom Budget
The 1997 United Kingdom budget (officially titled ''Equipping Britain for our Long-Term Future'') was delivered by Gordon Brown, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to the House of Commons on 2 July 1997. It was the first budget to be presented by Brown during his tenure as Chancellor, and the first Labour budget to be presented since April 1979. The 1997 budget marked a significant change of direction in economic policy following Labour's election win in May 1997. Among the measures announced were a five-year plan to reduce the budget deficit, a £5.2bn windfall tax on recently privatised utilities which was to fund Labour's planned Welfare to Work scheme, and a reduction in VAT on fuel. The budget was welcomed by business, which viewed it as fiscally responsible, but it was greeted less warmly by the UK's utility providers. Background The budget was to be the first presented by a Labour Government since April 1979. Gordon Brown announced plans to hold a budget on 10 June 1997 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1997 to 2007 under Tony Blair. Brown was Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Dunfermline East (UK Parliament constituency), Dunfermline East from 1983 to 2005 and for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath from 2005 to 2015. He has served as Special Envoy of the Secretary-General, United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education since 2012, and he was appointed as WHO Goodwill Ambassador, World Health Organization Ambassador for Global Health Financing in 2021. A Doctor of Philosophy, doctoral graduate, Brown studied history at the University of Edinburgh. He spent his early career as a lecturer at a further education college and as a television journalist. Brown was elected to the House of Commons of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1997 United Kingdom General Election
The 1997 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 1 May 1997. The governing Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party led by Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister John Major was defeated in a Landslide victory, landslide by the opposition Labour Party (UK), Labour Party led by Tony Blair, achieving a 179-seat majority and a total of 418 seats. This was the first victory for the Labour party in a general election in nearly 23 years, its previous one registering a majority of 3 seats in October 1974 United Kingdom general election, October 1974 under the leadership of Harold Wilson. It was also Labour's first comprehensive victory over the Conservatives since the 1966 United Kingdom general election, 1966 election, which had produced a 100-seat majority. This election also marked Labour's highest vote share since the 1970 United Kingdom general election, 1970 election and its second highest total number of votes in history (the largest being the 1951 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parliament Of The United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster in London. Parliament possesses legislative supremacy and thereby holds ultimate power over all other political bodies in the United Kingdom and the Overseas Territories. While Parliament is bicameral, it has three parts: the sovereign, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons. The three parts acting together to legislate may be described as the King-in-Parliament. The Crown normally acts on the advice of the prime minister, and the powers of the House of Lords are limited to only delaying legislation. The House of Commons is the elected lower chamber of Parliament, with elections to 650 single-member constituencies held at least every five years under the first-past-the-post system. By constitutional conventi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1992 United Kingdom General Election
The 1992 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 9 April 1992, to elect List of MPs elected in the 1992 United Kingdom general election, 651 members to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. The governing Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party led by Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister John Major won a fourth consecutive election victory, with a majority of 21. This would be the last time that the Conservatives would win an overall majority at a general election until 2015 United Kingdom general election, 2015 and the last general election to be held on a day which did not coincide with any local elections until 2017 United Kingdom general election, 2017. This election result took many by surprise, as opinion polling leading up to the election day had shown a narrow but consistent lead for the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party under leader Neil Kinnock during a period of recession and declining living standards. John Major ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Community Charge
The Community Charge, colloquially known as the Poll Tax, was a system of local taxation introduced by Margaret Thatcher's government whereby each taxpayer was taxed the same fixed sum (a "poll tax" or " head tax"), with the precise amount being set by each local authority. It replaced domestic rates in Scotland from 1989, prior to its introduction in England and Wales from 1990. The repeal of the poll tax was announced in 1991, and in 1993, the current system of the Council Tax was instated. Origins The abolition of the rating system of taxes (based on the notional rental value of a house) to fund local government had been unveiled by Margaret Thatcher when she was Shadow Environment Secretary in 1974, and was included in the manifesto of the Conservative Party in the October 1974 general election. In the 1979 elections the Conservative manifesto stated that lowering income tax took priority. The Government published a green paper in 1981 under the title ''Alternatives ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Norman Lamont, Baron Lamont Of Lerwick
Norman Stewart Hughson Lamont, Baron Lamont of Lerwick, (born 8 May 1942) is a British politician and former Conservative MP for Kingston-upon-Thames. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1990 until 1993. He was created a life peer in 1998. Lamont was a supporter of the Eurosceptic organisation Leave Means Leave. Early life Norman Stewart Hughson Lamont was born in Lerwick, in the Shetland Islands, on 8 May 1942, where his father Daniel Lamont OBE was the islands' surgeon. In 1953, he moved south with his parents to Grimsby, Lincolnshire, after his father took up a position at Scartho Road Infirmary. He was privately educated at Loretto School, Musselburgh, Scotland, and read economics at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, where he was Chairman of the Cambridge University Conservative Association and President of the Cambridge Union Society in 1964. Corporate career Before entering Parliament, Lamont worked for N M Rothschild & Sons, the investment bank, and became dire ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geoffrey Howe
Richard Edward Geoffrey Howe, Baron Howe of Aberavon, (20 December 1926 – 9 October 2015), known from 1970 to 1992 as Sir Geoffrey Howe, was a British politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1989 to 1990. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Margaret Thatcher's longest-serving Cabinet minister, successively holding the posts of chancellor of the Exchequer, foreign secretary, and finally leader of the House of Commons, deputy prime minister and Lord President of the Council. His resignation on 1 November 1990 is widely considered to have precipitated the leadership challenge that led to Thatcher's resignation three weeks later. Born in Port Talbot, Wales, Howe was educated at Bridgend Preparatory School, Abberley Hall School, Winchester College, and – after serving in the army as a lieutenant – Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he read law. He was called to the bar in 1952 and practised in Wales, after whi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
