GPs set to be hit by the Chancellor’s National Insurance increase could be given compensation following a backlash against the plans.
Family doctors warned surgeries could close, or staff be laid off, while care homes said they faced bankruptcy as a result of moves to increase employers’ contributions.
When the Budget was announced, the Government had said that the public sector would be exempted from the rise.
However, on Thursday night Darren Jones, the Treasury minister, said “GP surgeries are privately owned partnerships and not part of the public sector and will therefore have to pay”, sparking fury from family doctors.
Of course they’ll get relief.
There was a GP mouthing off yesterday about how the increase could cost his practice £40k.
At 1.2% that equates to a salaried payroll in excess of £3.3m. I assume the actual partners are not subject to ERNIC in which case that’s just for staff. A lot of staff.
GP surgeries may indeed be part of the private sector but it’s my understanding that GPs are considered to be NHS employees as regards their employment pensions scheme. Their pensions are funded by the taxpayer.
Happy to accept that I’m wrong but if I’m not, then GPs are already double-dipping into the private sector-funded, public sector trough.
@John: you may have overlooked the fact that the threshold for having to pay employers NICs has been reduced to £5k p.a. That will be costly.
Something of a regressive tax in fact – just like the green taxes that subsidise prosperous people in their virtue-signalling: Teslas, solar panels, heat pumps, …
If this move encouraged GPs to cut down on their golf and spend more time with their patients it wouldn’t be an entirely bad thing.
Well, the entire GP model is crap, so it’s a natural for socialist subsidising. Pay people for the number of customers they have rather than the number of customers they keep happy. So GP practices become very big, too large for them to cater for, so they can’t see all the patients they get paid for. The typical socialist “never mind the quality, feel the width” approach which is so successful. Not.
@John, got to ensure you have enough receptionists to stop anyone from getting a face to face with the boss.
I’m facing hardship as a contractor who sells his services to the public sector if NI increases, I demand to be exempted as well!
@ John
Most of the GPs in my local surgery are salaried non-partners, which has been a growing trend for a score of years. The reason is that the partners have to deal with the NHS bureaucracy so life is simpler/easier for non-partners and the fewer partners each get a larger slice of the profits.
Obvs it’s just money being circulated from one State pocket to another and all that, but is there not something seriously obnoxious and immoral about a tax from which certain favoured groups are exempted?
is there not something seriously obnoxious and immoral about a tax from which certain favoured groups are exempted?
Yes.
Like income or capital gains taxes which only punish those who work hard and try to get ahead. Or fuel duty that only punishes mother vehicle drivers.
Remove all these taxes and put it squarely on food. Everyone has to eat
So the doctors will just have to work harder to bring in more income from seeing patients. Work evenings and weekends, sweat their assets a bit. A bit like Steve Reed (the new Defra minister) told farmers the other week, ‘You’re going to have to do more with less’.
Oh, wait…….
The next logical step is to exempt public sector workers from income tax…
And VAT
That’d give Two Tier Taxing Keir.
Of course they will. Plumbers and electricians facing exactly the same tax hikes won’t, but they will. It’s just as well they can’t be arsed to make home visits any more, or they might be facing something like this into the bargain.
I read this morning (can’t find the link) that only 20% of the public think the budget was any good. So she obviously hasn’t pissed off any Labour voters then.
The public sector are being ‘protected’ from the Er NIC increase with increased funding.
So the private sector will be paying extra taxes, have lower pay rises and job losses.
And some of those taxes will be used so that the public sector isn’t affected by lower pay rises or job losses.
@John
From April of next year the increase in minimum wage, increased rate of employer NI and most importantly the reduced threshold for employers NI will all impact businesses. It works out to £1500 for each minimum wage employee and rather more for better earners. I can easily see it costing GP businesses 40k.
Another interesting side effect is that if you employed someone for 14 hours so ~2 days a week on minimum wage there was no employers NI payable. Now it will be over £650 per year.
@Chernyy Drakon
Based on the idea that ‘those with the broadest shoulders should bear the most’ then applying VAT at 20% to all food is spot on.
“But the poor pay a greater share of their income on food”, some will shriek.
Which overlooks that the poor already pay a greater share of their incomes on food (e.g. takeaways, chocolate, sugary drinks, nice food) that already attracts VAT, so extending VAT to all food is actually progressive.
@Jim So the doctors will just have to work harder to bring in more income from seeing patients.
Afraid not. GPs are paid on the number of people signed up on their books as patients, not on how many they actually treat. If anything it will have the opposite effect where GPs reduce staffing levels (apart from receptionists) and other costs and consequently see fewer patients. 3-month waiting lists for a GP appointment anytime soon?
@asiaseen: I was being sarcastic…..