Call for major tax overhaul hits milestone with Labour set to address changes
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A petition calling for the Personal Allowance from £12,570 to £45,000 has hit 10,000 signatures meaning the Labour government will need to respond. The petition - which was launched by Denver Johnson on Boxing Day - says the current Personal Allowance level has been kept "unreasonably low at the expense of the poorest, most needy people in our society”.
The Personal Tax Allowance is the amount of income you earn every year without having to pay tax on it. In the UK, it currently sits at £12,570. This means you can earn up to this amount before having to pay tax. If you earn over, you pay the basic rate of tax - which is 20% - on the amount over it. For example, if you earn £14,000 a year you will pay tax on £1,430.
There are then further levels for higher incomes. In England and Wales, you start paying the "higher" tax bracket of 40% on earnings over £50,271. Finally, if you earn over £125,140 a year, you will pay the "Additional" tax rate at 45%. It's important to remember that tax bands are different in Scotland. There are seven tax bands, including the Personal Allowance for Scottish earnings. The petition argues that £45,000 is a "more realistic" figure as it would see those earning more pay more tax. It explained: "We feel that the poorer majority should pay substantially less than the wealthy. We think that the tax system seems designed to make the divide between rich and poor increase exponentially.".
The petition's 10,400 signatures require the government to issue a formal response, which it has yet to do as of this writing. If the petition reaches 100,000 signatures, it will be considered for debate in Parliament. All petitions posted on the petitions-parliament website run for six months, with this one going until May 26. If it hasn't reached 100,000 signatures by then, it will not be considered.
