Cash in hand?

A senior taxman has said that paying workmen in cash, avoiding VAT and income tax was in effect diddling the state and taxpayers.
Have you thought, this could all be avoided if the ordinary man in the street didn't have to pay income taxes and the State's spending money was raised by other means? With no income tax to be collected it would free business people from the need to make PAYE returns, saving them money and giving them more time to concentrate on their businesses.
How would the state collect money? By extending VAT to cover everything at the moment exempted, including food. It could be rated at a lower level than the current twenty percent. Because people are able to keep all the money they earn, a very satisfying prospect, they shouldn't complain about a rising cost of living, especially as everyone would now contibute to the tax burden. No one, except those on hunger strike, could avoid paying some tax since even the scroungers and cheats have to eat. Of course, some people should pay income tax. Those earning over one hundred thousand pounds a week should be taxed on their income as should those with houses worth more than one million pounds. Pensioners should be given special exemptions as should those with special means but the broad premise should be that those most fortunate should shoulder the greatest load. This should be adopted as a privilege with special awards being made to those that contribute most. Capital gains tax as unearned income should be taxed to the hilt to avoid speculative practice and stop the spiralling price of housing that leads to pernicious booms. Companies, especially banks, should be made to pay almost all profits as dividends to the shareholders, giving income to the owners and not increased share prices and the opportunity for unearned capital gains to the grasping chief executives.

Since I was very young we have seen a shift in the way people live and work. When they had children, women used to stay at home and look after the children while the man went to work to earn a salary sufficient to maintain a standard of living for the family. These days it is a necessity, not an option, that wives have to work just to make ends meet. Forgetting the sideline issues of women's rights, why is this so? I believe it is due to the fact that macro-economists believe that we need annual inflation of about two and a half percent. Why? I believe that the Governor of the Bank of England should try and maintain it at zero so as to preserve the value of money and property. With an increasing elderly population, the UK is rapidly impoverishing all those who have contributed to the Country with their hard work and their taxes, only to see it eroded by inflation. It's no good politicians arguing that it depends on overseas resources and interests. Those in charge are where they are NOT to feather their own nests, like some have recently done, but to protect their citizens from outside influences and make their lives easier and fairer. It's not only physical attack we worry about; financial duress is every bit as bad. Imagine if Ted Heath, say, had realised the problems to be faced if gas and oil ran out. It would not now be a problem if the country had invested in safe and clean nuclear energy and converted all vehicles to electric. The UK can provide its own food if their fisheries are better protected instead of handing them over to the Spanish to exploit and the same can be said for supporting UK farmers in the face of unfair EU subsidies.