Releasing the Brakes

The British taxpayer got good news last week. Last year Chancellor of the Exchequer Derick Heathcoat Amory put through such a severe anti-inflation budget that he now had a large cash surplus. So this year he was able to put an extra billion or more into the hands of spenders and investors. Items :

P:Income taxes will be reduced for the first time since 1955. For Britons, among the world's most heavily taxed people, the rate goes down from a basic 42 1/2% to 38 3/4% P:Indirect taxes were slashed on a wide range of items. Most spectacular was a cut of about 2$ on a pint of beer, which, observed Amory, is "a fitting celebration perhaps of the achievements of an exhausting decade." Purchase tax on cars, TV sets and cosmetics is to fall from 60% to 50% ; on washing machines, refrigerators and vacuum cleaners it drops from 30% to 25%.

P: Increased tax write-offs will benefit business, spurring investment and plant construction.

With an election ahead, the Tory budget scattered benefits among millions. A Rolls-Royce dealer took a column frontpage ad in the Times to coo: "A wonderful budget." On the stock exchange, share prices went to an alltime high.

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