Fiscal drag

[Michael Rolls]

that's how the way government drags its heels over updating tax allowances to recognise inflation, resulting in n=more and more people being dragged into higher tax brackets. An illustration:-
Back in 2008 I cashed in a small insurance policy taken out in 1965 to protect the mortgage lender should I be unable to meet the mortgage repayments (don't laugh, it was for £4000!). It cost £4.50 a month. Originally it had no cash-in value but the rules changed, and I was able to cash it in and instead of paying £4.50 a moth I received an annual payment. In 2008 it was £273.84, not inflation proofed. This year it is £198.60 - ignoring inflation (had it been inflation proofed, that would represent around £450 today) that means fiscal drag, in monetary terms, has reduced the value of the payment by 28%.
And that story is being repeated time and again as the taxman gets ever greedier

[klondike]

Phew - I thought that would mean they were changing the picture of the monarch on banknotes to encourage the move away from cash. Charlie in fishnets would be too much to bear. 

[Michael Rolls]