VAT is an easier tax to collect.

I expect they will put up basic rate of income tax too. They can do it now, by 2p or so, with a plan to cutting it back down in 2024 in a pre-election giveaway, and challenge Starmer to match their proposed tax cuts.

Taxation right not wont work, business collects VAT, business aren't selling. Income Tax is collected via PAYE, business and individuals are not paying PAYE, by and large the government are, via Furlough. Times will get hard, increasing taxes on the limited income of the majority will lead to unrest.

Now is not the time to be applying any mechanism to repay the monies, but it is to be hoped that the mechaniam is being planned and an idea of a suitable economic landscape in which it can gradually be implemented is being pictured.

People will start spending as soon as the floodgates open - they will not being on holiday so they will have additional monies to blow - if they have a job

You would hope for this effect but also if households have been running down their savings and businesses running down reserves during the shutdown they may have a more risk-averse attitude so consumption and investment will fall, especially as future expectations will be more negative - even those in jobs will be more fearful of their job security and businesses may anticipate future falls in demand. Remember there is potentially no deal Brexit at the end of the year and all the associated additional costs that will come from that.

I'm guessing you're one of those who think we'll just return to how it was before?

I think the UK, and the world for that matter, will be a very different place post COVID-19. If anything, I think people will become more thrifty, and more inclined to save than spend, ready for the next global disaster, whatever form it takes.

Indeed, and people will stop to think about over paying for things, once they have gotten used to (if they haven't already) not paying £3.20+ for a pint etc. and remembered you can actually walk] to a lot of places in less than 30 minutes, habits will change. My big concern is extended credit, I know people taking 3 month mortgage holidays, not because they need to, but because they can, I doubt very much they are invesring the money elsewhere. I'd also be interested to know if anyone else has had a similar email to the one I got yesterday, saying my credit score had changed (from Experian, which I have to subscribe to for ID purposes for contracts), when I checked it last it was mid 700-800 ish, now it is 999! It may have been a one off, but it does seem strange.

I drink in Wakefield and £3.20 a pint is pretty much top end. It's a bargain when you think a pint in Leeds is verging on London prices; £4.50 - £5.50+

Last time I spoke to my Mum, she asked if it was worth me getting a mortgage holiday or looking into government schemes. I'm on full pay, my wife is on full pay, why the hell would we want to add interest or more debt?! If anything, we'll be using this lockdown period to pay more off and build up savings. Like you say, I can imagine there will be plenty who will be doing it because they can.

HS2 money doesn't exist without HS2 - it's funded by future income streams and isn't a pot of revenue expenditure which we can dip into.

We should increase income tax, especially in the higher bracket(s), increase corporation tax, try and get some global co-operation on tax avoidance and immediately address some of the glaring inheritance tax loopholes.

What inheritance tax loopholes? Inheritance tax should be abolished IMHO, people have paid taxes already, it is very much a tax driven by envy.

VAT comes from already taxed income, for example, and presumably the inheritors haven’t paid tax previously on what they are inheriting.

The success of our economic system is based around productive economic activity. We can tax income, transactions and assets. Intuitively, and based on no research or evidence whatsoever, I wonder if less of the first two and more of the latter would be a better mix for the UK economy. You could, ideally, tax assets differentially to encourage productive investment ahead of rent-seeking and speculation.