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Budget Spree
Page 132
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CAUSE the new roads have been so long in coming, we can forgive .the strident note in some of the publications put out by the organizations representing ro d users. It is none the less refreshing to come across a new poster that makes their case with' restraint and a t uch of irony. Printed and distributed shortly after the enactment of the Finance and Appropriation Bills, it is based on the Budget figures, and uses them with an effect all the more telling for being muted: The poster appears at first to have little to do with roads, and in that lies its strength. The design is simple. Divided by a line down the centre of the poster are two piles of coins, one showing how• each pound of Government revenue is made up, and the other providing a similar analysis of Government expenditure.
Taxes on income and capital, paid by individuals and by companies and in the way of death duties, amount to 10s. 8d. in the pound. Those' of us who have enough money must pay these taxes whether Or not we spend anything. The other taxes we can avoid in theory by being careful what we buy. They are shown on the poster as taxes on spending, and account for 8s. 8d. We pay as we smoke (2s. 9a.), as we drink (1s. 7d.), and as we indulge in entertainments, television and betting (2d.).
It may be noted, in passing that the individuality of whoever designed the poster comes through strongly at this point. An intriguing blend of discrimination and puritanism prompts him to regard television and betting as things quite distinct from entertainment. He adds a touch of mystery by showing the cost of broadcast licences with a number of other miscellaneouireceipts, under the completely separate heading of "non-tax revenue, 8d."
Rake's Progress
The lu ky person with few vices will have added together the contr butions to the Exchequer from tobacco, alcohol and the est, found that they total 4s. 6d., and congratulated himself upon saving at least that much in the pound. He has not yet reached the end of the account. The rake's progress of spending continues with purchase tax (Is. 100.) as thougl this were on a par with the preceding items. These are in a way luxuries, and the change of emphasis is smooth ml that the same thing may be said of certain kinds of goods that attract purchase tax.
This caiinot be said of commercial-vehicle goods chassis, the tax on which has recently been vehemently attacked by the manufacturers, and will shortly be just as vehemently attacked by the hauliers. The poster could hardly be more subtle in making the same point for them. It does so by making no specific reference to vehicles, but by bracketing purchase ax with the " other " indulgences. The poster deserves, 4nd will receive, serious consideration from the thinking $iblic, who will quickly grasp the point that the purchase df a goods vehicle appears to provide a case for tax exempfion at one end of the scale and for taxation at the other.
There is a clear link with the next item, still on the subject of ,spending. It covers the oil and motor duties, which amonnt to £345m. and £104m. respectively, no less than is.. 8d. in the pound. Road uiers are of more importancel, to the Chancellor than are the consumers of alcohol, and if they must pay for the luxury of driving a vehicle, it may be some consolation that they pay one-fifth of all the taxes on spending. , The post r does not make the rdistake of dwelling on the figures but leaves them to speak for themselves. We turn to the record of Government expenditure with the ironical mood firmly established. Having been told that we pay £5,439m. in the year, we are now to learn what we get in return. • We must not expect every offering tobe matched with an equivalent blessing. The man who pays twice as much income tax as somebody else will not reap twice as many benefits from the Welfare State. In more general terms, it has rarely been a principle of Government finance that contributions from one source should be earmarked for specific purposes.
The main items of revenue and expenditure are set out on the poster and shown opposite each other, but one does not expect precise parallels between individual items. It may be by accident, or as a deliberate effect of irony, that as we go down the scale one or two odd juxtapositions are noticed. For example; tobacco is shown against health (2s. Id.), and alcohol against education (1s. 9d.). The alert reader finds these oblique associations a sufficient clue. He looks to find something significant in the item of expenditure facing oil and vehicle duties.
Special Taxation Sure enough, he comes upon the only direct reference to roads that the poster has to offer. They are mentioned as third in the running after housing and police, under the heading of "assistance to local authorities," which at £351m., or Is. 4d. in the pound, is much less than the single item representing special taxation on road users. If there is expenditure on roads under any other heading, it is so small as not even to be worth a reference.
To complete the story, while not disturbing the prevailing mood, there is a quiet footnote to explain what happens to the surplus of ls. 40. in the pound, "SAVED," as the poster states with its solitary indulgence in capital letters (a particuIarly nice touch), "to help finance the nation's investment." There is not much difficulty in guessing what the nation's investment will be bound to include. The footnote obligingly gives the answer, explaining that the surplus, together withborrowed money, is used for expenditure " below-the-line." First on the list of such expenditure are "loans to nationalized industries."
Without a word of overt criticism, the poster contrives to put the whole case for the road user, and particularly for the independent road transport industry. The amount spent on roads, although more than it used to be, is still so small as to be scarcely noticeable on the scale of the national budget, whereas oil and vehicle duties constitute a major item of revenue. Without them, there would be a national deficit, rather than a surplus ample enough, among other things, to keep nationalized transport out of the red.
The poster should have a wide readership. I understand 190,000 copies have been printed, and sent to factories and offices, schools and institutions of all kinds. The reticence, as telling as it is subtle, that characterizes the poster apparently extends even to its authorship. Neither the Roads Campaign Council, nor the British Roads Federation, nor the Roads Improvement Association are prepared to admit responsibility.
There is even a rumour that the Government have issued the poster themselves in order to show the taxpayer that there is nothing to hide. The rumour has only to be set down in cold print for its absurdity to 'become apparent.