Richard Carvath, Ind

Independent PPC (Salford and Eccles),

Richard Carvath's reply

"I will seek income tax reform as MP for Salford and Eccles. I believe in principle that: (1) The poor should not pay income tax at all, (2) Nobody should pay income tax at a rate higher than 20%, (3) There should be a fully transferable joint tax allowance for married couples. I suppose I could say it like this: The poor should pay nothing and the richer should pay no more than necessary. I don't know if that's quite the answer you were looking for but I hope it gives you a good quick grasp of fundamentally where I stand on income tax. Nobody earning £14,000 per annum or less should pay any tax at all. The aim (in the long run) should always be to lower public spending to fit tax yields rather than raising tax rates to fund high and excessive public spending. Fair taxation is the lowest necessary level of taxation for the State to function properly. Taxation should not exploit the poor nor penalise the wealthy; I do not believe in using the tax system to clobber the middle class or to 'redistribute wealth' - which is actually to 'rob' the hard-earned wealth of the middle classes".