I am a pensioner but not rich, and I do pay tax at standard rate on a proportion of it.   I cannot see any of the rich ones handing back any benefits without a stick.  The fairest way forward on this is to make all State Benefits taxable as has been done with Child Allowances.  Keep Universal Benefits, and so if you drop out of tax due to inflation and allowances overtaking your income then you would receive them in full.  A definite No To Means Tests, and yet another layer of officials to run it.

I also suggest a Millionares "Income and Perks" super tax, they won't miss it.

Instead of 'ring fencing' overseas aid you should be 'ring fencing' pensioners entitlements. These are not 'benefits' they are entitlements which have been paid for by many years of tax and national insurance contributions; in my case 47 years of such contributions. You, and all the other politicians, need to get your priorities in order.

Id use mine to pay for the unjustified increase in Police pension.  Its all political waffle with n o substance. Give with one hand and take away with the other.  All talk to try and get one over the opposition  but in reality they're all the same.  

I would invest in creating a vegetable plot on my roof of my urban flat - a bonus that keeps on giving!

REPEAL ALL TAX LEGISLATION RELATING TO VALUE ADDED TAX, CAPITAL GAINS TAX AND INHERITANCE TAX.

REPEAL ALL TAX LEGISLATION RELATING TO VALUE ADDED TAX, CAPITAL GAINS TAX AND INHERITANCE TAX.

so the government allows you to keep more money so the council can take it away in council tax by reducing ct benefits because you have more income

A £700 tax cut will not even make up for the fact that inflation has reduced the value of my salary and savings.

Rather than being better off under this government I am significantly worse off and that is before the increase in my pension contributions!!

Thanks Nick. I voted for the Lib Dems last time to try and keep the Tories out, but was let down by you and your party.

My £700 tax cut will subsidise the other tax rises that this terrible Government has brought in - be careful Nick, lie down with dogs - wake up with fleas.  The Lib Dems are tainted forever.

I might use the money to pay for university tuition fees that you promised to abolish, or to pay for food for my brother who is disabled and who will have to pay bedroom tax and council tax and who now can't afford to buy food due to a ruling by ATOS which you inflict upon him.  Or I could donate it to the food bank that has had to be set up in my area, or perhaps I could send it to you to give to an MP so they can survive, given how hard it is on £65,000 plus expenses, or maybe I could use it to campaign against the Lib Dem MPs who abstained or voted against equal marriage yesterday, despite claiming to be for equality for all. Or use it to help pay for the VAT increase you claimed to be against, or perhapsyou could use it for the bankers bonuses you haven't capped, or I could adopt one of the 3000 police officers that you haven't put into service or maybe you would like it back to pay for Trident? Or maybe I could just spend it on a celebration party for when you are wiped out in the next election

 It's a very efficient way of spreading spending throughout local economies, as most earners are on lower incomes.  If we can combine this with other measures to support local economies (such as balancing the playing field with large multinational internet based companies), then more of this money will work its way into local pockets - it's a virtuous circle.

A £700 tax cut could make the difference between success and failure for start ups and small businesses in the current climate. 

My husband will be 76 at Xmas he is still working, he has to pay income tax on his wage, I would like to see the threshold for paying tax start at £10,000. because so many people are in basic wage jobs or part time jobs.

£700 a year would go part way to replace the Disability Allowance I have not had re-newed due to the current cut backs.  I used this money for private therapy as I can't get that on the NHS anymore due to those cut backs.  Being able to afford to have the treatment which helps me to keep moderately mobile and reduce pain is very important to me.

I can't even afford to rent, so I have come up with an alternative route to shelter, but food costs money and it would be a relief to have a bit more cash for getting food on the table.  £700 would also make a significant dent in the tuition fee for the second year of my MA.

One of my family suffered from severe depression and anxiety and they were unable to continue working. The poor quality of NHS mental healthcare and long waiting lists forced us to go private, which was hard for us to afford, what with us being on low incomes. A £700 tax cut would have made it easier to cope and off-set the costs of treatment we faced in addition to losing a source of income.

An extra £700 a year could be the difference between me learning to drive and then being able to run a car or being stuck where I am with no opportunities to further myself which would make my current hard work towards becoming a teacher pretty null and void.

Simple really. My £12k salary goes on staples and there's precious little for gifts and 'like to have' rather than 'have to have' shopping. I can't help get the economy going again unless I can pay less in tax.

I'm not in the zombie bracket because I don't have debt to service but I daren't spend savings in case of emergencies to the one car we own or the boiler etc. I claim tax credits at the moment to help but hate all the form filling and feeling like a scrounger when I'm working for a charity and they can't afford to pay me any more than they already do.

£10000 threshold can make a difference for many workers who earn minimum wages like myself. 

It wouldn't make much difference to me, as I am reasonably well off, though not in the league of those targeted as "super-rich". But I urge you to beware of bandying the word "fair" around. One type of "fair" is for people to pay equal amounts: rejected, as in the poll tax. Another type is equal percentages: used for people with similar incomes in the same tax band. A third type is higher percentages for higher earners: the current system. This means that the super-rich are already paying far more than everyone else, unless they exploit a loophole (which really MUST be removed). It's easy to say raise tax from someone else, but taxation and representation should go hand-in-hand, as the Americans famously claimed in the 1750s.

When I retired in autumn 2006, we thought we had a fairly secure future. My partner, twelve years younger than me, had what we thought was a safe job in the NHS, and it seemed that we'd have enough to pay our way.

But early last year she was made redundant, and has only been able to secure part time alternative work, nearly twenty miles away, at one seventh of her former income. We can't even move to cut travel and housing costs as we at first intended, because a revived government road scheme very close to our house -  ironically instigated to help kick-start the local economy! - has made our house unsaleable for the next few years, at least at a price that would enable us to buy where we'd need to be.

So we struggle from month to month; so far just managing, with - thus far! - only one scolding letter from the bank fining me because I was briefly slightly overdrawn! Faced with that week-by-week reality, a £700 tax would be pure delight.

A small step forward would enable me to make back some of the extra money taken by higher fuel prices and VAT since this government came in. Not to mention the real cuts in services such as Local Govt and NHS. The consumer pays more for less in the UK than anywhere else while the corporations and the 1% pay virtually nothing and get it all.

It would mean less of a struggle paying day-to-day bills, such as utility bills which are going up at a rate far higher than the increase in incomes.

To be honest this is not a huge difference to me as I have a pretty well paid job, but I'd like to see much higher taxes on the 1% and most importantly END CORPORATE TAX EVASION:

http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2012/11/13/starbucks-google-and-amazon-the-tax-crash-of-monday-afternoon/

Having paid tax all my working life & still paying tax on my pension income, I am now having to use my savings to supplement my liveable income in order to just get by. £700 would go a long way to helping pay my increasing oil heating costs & electricity bills. 

£700 per year is a relatively small sum, but when one's average personal take-home pay is not much more than that, it becomes an especial concern, particularly if a baby is on the way and in view of rising costs of living whilst salary increases are not guaranteed in all walks of life.  Any form of relief, such as a tax cut, would make a welcome difference to our quality of life right now.

It would be nice if it applied to me and I would spend it in the UK to the  benefit of the UK economy. But,as a pensioner, my allowances have been frozen. I initially accepted this as a contribution to the mess that the economy is in (which was not of my making); however, when this came into effect at the same time as the cut in the higher rate of tax, my blood began to boil and I am still angry that the higher rate tax payers, who belong to the class of people who were mainly responsible for the economic mess are benefitting at the expense of those who were not responsible for that mess. I am not against capitalism as such, but isn't it time that the phrase "the unacceptable face of capitalism" was brought back into the public consciousness.

I look after my grandson three days a week for free, which means I cannot work on those days.  This money would help make up for loss of salary.

With an income or £7K per annum a £10K tax allowance is irrelevant but that is just me.

Do I have a false memory from the '70s that we were proposing a tax/benefit system which ensured that the poorest did not fall below a minimum income and that those earning above the minimum did not start having to pay tax immediately. So called tax credits are a poor version so can we do better please.

An extra £700 in this household would mean we could afford to have a reasonable duel fuel stove fitted to ease the strangle hold of the ever increasing gas and electricity prices also keep us toasty and warm over winter here in Northumberland.

Although I would welcome the threshold increase with an open wallet I would also be thinking what else is going to suffer due to this? there are two sides to every coin and if we rob Peter to save Paul the mess we are in already as a Nation is just going to get even bigger, the fist sensible step to take in this country with winter rapidly approaching is lower the VAT on domestic fuel services, this would save us all a few pounds and help the pensioners who need it the most over winter.

Phil

currently have familiy; 4 kids, 2 at university, our discretionary spending has be drastically reduced over past 3 years, no new car, making do with less, shopping less. it's all very simple really. If you want to help the high street & small businesses the government has to help those who will re-circulate it & not hoard it.

A £700 tax cut would mean more money to save for a house deposit or to pay (the likely increasing) rent. This of course illustrates why reducing income tax (which is a good idea) on it's own would not be sufficient to make a real difference. It is also necessary to introduce a land value tax to prevent rent and house prices from absorbing the extra money. In effect this would be a subsidy to land owners and would not benefit those it is aimed at.

It would allow me to keep pace with the cost of living. Fuel bills are rising between 8 to 10% this winter. Rail fares are rising from 4.1% next year. Water bills were up by 4.7% this year. Who knows with council tax ? Factor in food inflation and this is outstripping my meagre wages. I'm encouraged to save but it doesn't pay to do so... cripplingly low interest rates mean that the value of my savings erodes year on year.

Cameron said he backed people "who worked hard and did the right thing". I thought I did both but as time goes on I begin to feel more and more let down. Especially when I see my licence fee money go to pay off George Entwistle a six figure salary in severance after his paltry 56 days in the job.

It doesn't pay to give money to the banks who forget what it was intended for when they get it. Or to cut the 50p tax rate to 45p after a year so dividends can be moved around to avoid paying the higher rate.

As I write this I'm thinking of the Libor scandal. News has just come on the radio of alleged price fixing of wholesale gas. This after the banks used deregulation to flog loans and financial products which were effectively worthless and for which we are now all paying for. And this against a backdrop of some of the biggest companies operating in the UK siphoning off their profits abroad to pay less tax.

People trying to make ends meet can't wait for the regulators to sort things out. Or for systems to be reformed. Or for reviews and inquiries to come up with recommendations which take years to be implemented. People need help now. Money needs to go where it's needed. Back into peoples pockets, even if it's just to carry on living so they don't feel punished at every turn.

The 20p tax rate will never be cut. This would be the next best thing and would be a sign to me that the government really does back those who "work hard and do the right thing". Anything less than that is just hot air.

If you have a low income it will mean a lot, and visa versa.

Money isn't everything, but if you don't have much it means an awful lot. 

2 years ago when I was made redundant I donated a lot via gift aid. Now  there is nothing to give because I pay no tax because annuity rates have been hammered by Quantative Easing.

Not really worried about a £700 increase, although my private pension is not inflation related ( fixed income, so wil not increase year by year). That means my real income will get less as each year passes. What I sincerely hope though is those idle rich tax dodgers are made to pay their legal dues, which would go a long way to reducing the other invisible taxes which the successive governments impose on us, so that we have to watch every penny!

I can sign up in local college to learn something to improve my career. Not only good for me but also for the educational institutions.

£700 WOW, that would pay a whole years car insurance so i could travel the £125 miles to see my children and not have the worry of trying to scrimp and scrape

It costs me nearly £900 a year for an annual train ticket for my daily commute to work.  And that only gets me between the stations.  I still have an hours worth of walking on top of the 40 minute round trip on the train. A £700 saving in tax would make travelling to work more affordable.

Actually I don't care about saving money, I'm on 19k a year not a lot by any means but fair means that everyone pays the same percentage, perhaps with a slightly higher rate the higher the income. What I'd like to see is the closing of loops hole, like being the only employee in your ltd company paying yourself minimum then taking a dividends as your wage, which take a lower rate of tax. I'd also like to see companies not be able to avoid corporation tax by spending their earnings on capital before the tax year is up.

At the moment U can't afford to go anythere during my annual leave, so £700 extra would give me that opportunity.

If only I had sufficient income to be a tax payer! Never have had and   never will now I'm retired. Done my service to society, now managing on £105 per week. Very happy with that thankyou. No car, no TV, no party membership. The computer is the next thing to go.

An extra £700 per year will take a little strain from my responsibility of wage earning, and make it a little easier to spend time with my gorgeous boys.  Even though they are growing up, they still value Mum being around when they come home from school and this extra money will give me a little more work flexibility to do the important things in life.

A £700 tax cut would take me a step closer to my dream of owning my own home outright by the time I retire. As a 45yo who expects to work until I am 70, I am desperate to purchase a small 1 bed property soon so that I stand a chance of repaying the mortgage before I retire. I really want to be paying off a mortgage rather than lining my landlord's pockets each month, and have the security of living in my own property.

I'm on a relatively good income i.e. a 40% tax payer so although £700/yr would be a bonus, I wouldn't really notice it, in fact I wouldn't mind being penalised by £700/yr so the less fortunate could benefit; to balance this I would like to see those who consider the dole as a career offered better opportunities to better themselves, however, if they don’t take advantage then these individuals should be forced to take employment if there isn’t a medical reason for them not to work. TBH when my brother became unemployed last year and he was keen to better himself i was amazed there wasn’t any re-training opportunities in fact he at mearly 50 had to ask his mum to pay for his training!! I would also likie to see our pensioners treat much better after all we're all going to be one one day!

With a twelve year old daughter at secondary school it would allow us to pay for the extra curricular activities that would in turn enhance her chances in her future life

I personally don't really need the additional money received through the change in personal allowance, which for me has amounted to about £20 a month, however it has allowed me to increase my charitable donations.

I do however have plenty of friends and relatives who it has been of much greater importance.

receiving the State pension plus a small occupational pension amounting to about £800 per month.  Paying £700 less tax would really help to pay the inflated energy bills.

I could spend the money I would gain on keeping my house warm instead of being cold all the time at home while I am working :)

Of course I want a tax cut.  But I also want to see an end to obscene wealth and poverty living side by side.  And the rich exploiting the poor to get richer and richer,  driving wages down and using their power to create poverty

A tax cut would allow me to buy a second home in order to raise capital for my pension fund! Who knows when we are going to retire and how much money will be the pension funds investments return? 

I am 63 and live off my state pension - I had a heart attack at 60 and have struggled to work part time after working full time since I was 15 - I pay so much tax in income tax, council tax, VAT and tax on petrol along with road tax and other hidden tax that I go hungry at times - I need a car to go to work so I have no choice.  I will no longer work after this month as I am working just to pay various taxes and I get so exhausted with it all that I wonder what the future holds for me and people like me.  The truth is that after a lifetime of being taxed to death I have no savings, no future and often no dinner - I am a british born citizen who is unwanted and a stranger in my own country

I'm retiring next year. A reduction in my tax of this level would mean I would be free of the worry that I may have to choose, next winter, between eating well and staying warm.

The tax cut would help me afford to heat my home over the next few months. Any chance of a "freeze " on energy charges?

£700 will mean I can donate more to charity.

I don't own a car and I never intend to. With the cost of public transport rising way above the rate of inflation, £700 could pay for my (or someone else's) public transport bill, or at least part of it.

£700 can be the difference whether a family goes on holiday or not. For a single person like me, it would pay for two holidays!

Christmas is a difficult time for many families, including mine. We always struggle at least a bit, £700 (£60 a month?) would help us make it through without having to worry so much.