Why Alistair Darling should raise the personal allowance
This briefing, published in advance of the Chancellor's 2008 pre-budget report, calls for the personal income tax allowance to be raised from £6,035 to £12,000 for all UK taxpayers. This would take 7 million people out of paying income tax altogether, and ensure no one earning the minimum wage or less would pay income tax at all. It would be equivalent to giving the average worker an extra £1730 per year in gross pay, making them £100 per month better off. This policy could be implemented at a cost of £18.9bn to the Exchequer – a sum which should not require increased government borrowing.