Martin Lewis has queried a claim from Labour’s Keir Starmer about taxation and the voting age.
Mr Lewis responded to a report from The Times where Mr Starmer was talking about his policy of reducing the voting age to 16.
He reportedly said: “If you pay tax you should be allowed to say what you think your tax should be spent on.”
The financial journalist said on X in response: “This is quite a strange line reported from Starmer on reducing the voting age.
“Everyone is eligible to pay tax in the same way. Just most children don’t earn over the tax-free personal allowance.
“On this logic, a 12 year old who’s a film star, or has a big inheritence or savings, or a helluva paper round so that they pay tax, should get a vote.”
Mr Lewis said in another tweet: “It’s questioning linking voting to taxation as an argument. Many people pay tax who don’t get a vote (foreign residents etc). I think we need to be careful in political debate to reflect the realities.”
The Labour Party previously pledged not to increase income tax, National Insurance or VAT if elected to power.
Tax experts at Hargreaves Lansdown have warned that tax bills could increase by £630 a year due to frozen income tax thresholds.
Sarah Coles, head of personal finance, said: “Someone earning £30,000 and getting pay rises of four percent a year will pay £620 more in tax between this tax year and the end of the freeze in 2028 than if the thresholds had risen.”
She explained that taxes are likely to go up for many people even if the Conservatives are re-elected and bring in their policy of increasing the personal allowance for pensioners in line with the triple lock.
The Conservatives have also set out a policy to cut the main rate of employee National Insurance by 2p and to scrap the 6p rate for self-employed workers.
Ms Coles said: “The IFS calculates that adding these changes to frozen thresholds means employees earning between £24,000 and £62,000, and almost all self-employed people would pay less tax.
“An employee on £35,000 would pay £260 less tax by 2028/29 and a self-employed person making the same would pay £1,230 less tax.
“However, an employee working full-time on the minimum wage would pay £240 more tax thanks to the changes. Despite the proposed change in the personal allowance for pensioners, once you factor in the impact of frozen thresholds so far, those paying basic rate tax would still be paying £490 a year more tax overall.”
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