General Council rip offs

[12gauge82]

3 hours ago, Lloyd90 said:

Yes, but you also have to appreciate that these same multi millionaires / billionaires are the ones that fund the political parties with donations, campaign funding, buying media outlets and publicising stories that go in their interests. 
 

The rules we have now have been set by the top 1% to preserve their wealth and property. 
 

The scale of which they could never spend in multiple lifetimes, and their fortunes swell beyond measure whilst everyone else is expected to tighten their belts. 

Sunak himself worth £730,000,000. 
 

Apparently made £4.7m over the last 3 years but only paid 20% tax. 
 

People making several million in ‘profit’ each year only paying 20% capital gains tax whilst someone on PAYE earning just over the 40% threshold gets nailed for almost half of the income. 
 

I know several Nurses, teachers, doctors, builders, paying 40% tax as they have worked very hard in their roles and specialised, yet the PM only pays 20%. 
 

The billionaires who fund the parties aren’t going to change the rules are they? 

This is on the money. It is a system that has seen little meaningful change since the Norman conquest and ensures the very rich stay that way.

3 hours ago, JohnfromUK said:

Works both ways, the Labour party also gets large donations, mainly from the Trades Unions, but also from wealthy individuals.  In Q2/24 Labour had larger donations from wealthy individuals than Conservatives (see link below).  They just don't like to talk about it.  Blair is also a multi millionaire and his son a very wealthy multi millionaire.  Starmer isn't exactly a pauper.

https://www.tatler.com/article/who-are-the-super-rich-labour-donors-bankrolling-sir-keir-starmer

The idea that the Tories are only funded by the rich and Labour don't take funds from the rich is nonsense.

Money buys influence the world over; always has and always will.

They're virtually a uni party, only separated by minor deviations to fundamentally the same ideology.

1 hour ago, JohnfromUK said:

The Treasury need to make the rules "fit for purpose".  To be fair, BOTH parties have (apparently) wanted to improve the 'take' from this area going back through many parliaments, but for whatever reason, the Treasury have not come up with a viable new legislation as far as I know.

Strange that. I wonder why!

[Yellow Bear]

5 minutes ago, 12gauge82 said:

Strange that. I wonder why!

Where is the sarcasm emoji when you need it.

[oowee]

1 hour ago, JohnfromUK said:

Income tax was implemented by William Pitt in 1798.  It was a variable rate even then, from 2d (less than 1%) in the pound on income over £60 and rose to to 2/- (10%) in the pound on income over £200.

Its the self employed tax dodgers we need to crack down on. Pay yourself in divi's make a loan to your own company from an increase in your mortgage. Tax is a joke. 

1 hour ago, Yellow Bear said:

The senior civil servants don't want it being well into six figures and being party to all the loopholes, so they do what they always do in these circumstances, delay and prevaricate until a change of government when the bill is quietly forgotten for a couple of years.

That's nonsense. Servants will do what it says on the tin. It needs a political direction to do it. No self respecting tory is going to tax his mates. 

[JohnfromUK]

1 minute ago, oowee said:

No self respecting tory is going to tax his mates. 

Neither party has done it.

One possible problem is the absolutely ridiculous complexity of the tax system.  The current issue of Tolley's yellow book runs to over 16,000 pages.  How can anyone ever expect to fully understand all that?

[oowee]

11 minutes ago, JohnfromUK said:

Neither party has done it.

One possible problem is the absolutely ridiculous complexity of the tax system.  The current issue of Tolley's yellow book runs to over 16,000 pages.  How can anyone ever expect to fully understand all that?

There has only been one party in power the last decade. The system is complex but like every public service is currently under resourced. 

[JohnfromUK]

Just now, oowee said:

There has only been one party in power the last decade. The system is complex but like every public service is currently under resourced. 

You could argue that being over resourced is what has led to the over complexity.  Lean and simple = loophole free should be the aim.

[oowee]

1 minute ago, JohnfromUK said:

You could argue that being over resourced is what has led to the over complexity.  Lean and simple = loophole free should be the aim.

Taxing those that earn it fairly and proportionately would be my aim. 

[JohnfromUK]

Just now, oowee said:

Taxing those that earn it fairly and proportionately would be my aim. 

Indeed and it needs to be simple.

For some reason one of my former boss's exasperated dictum to our contracts people keeps coming to mind;

"Stop telling me why we can't do it and start telling me how we are going to do it ........... because I'm telling you now that we are going to do it.

[oowee]

1 minute ago, JohnfromUK said:

Indeed and it needs to be simple.

For some reason one of my former boss's exasperated dictum to our contracts people keeps coming to mind;

"Stop telling me why we can't do it and start telling me how we are going to do it ........... because I'm telling you now that we are going to do it.

That's what we need in Govt. 👍

[udderlyoffroad]

13 hours ago, oowee said:

Its the self employed tax dodgers we need to crack down on. Pay yourself in divi's make a loan to your own company from an increase in your mortgage. Tax is a joke. 

Every time government cracks down on 'self employed tax dodgers' it ends up costing the exchequer.  In particular the MoD and their suppliers make large use of self-employed contractors because they need flexible work forces to respond to demand, and don't want to take on employees.  Crack down on the self-employed, and the costs get passed straight back to the tax payer. 

Even some senior civil servants managed to grasp this, but as ever, the myopic spreadsheet warriors in the treasury won the argument.  Queue many legal expenses in the high court, but hey, it's tax payer money so it doesn't matter, it's the principal of the thing.

 

12 hours ago, oowee said:

Taxing those that earn it fairly and proportionately would be my aim. 

Then tell that...person of questionable parentage in no 11 to increase the thresholds PDQ, and drop VAT.

 

12 hours ago, oowee said:

That's what we need in Govt. 👍

By all accounts, it's what we need in the civil service too.

 

13 hours ago, JohnfromUK said:

The current issue of Tolley's yellow book runs to over 16,000 pages.  How can anyone ever expect to fully understand all that?

The idea is that no-one understands it; this path was started down by Brown and of course, no Tory chancellor since has had the fortitude to reform it, they've only added to the problem.  Uniparty indeed.

[Bobba]

18 minutes ago, udderlyoffroad said:

Even some senior civil servants managed to grasp this, but as ever, the myopic spreadsheet warriors in the treasury won the argument.  

That is because the treasury spreadsheet warriors are economists and not Accountants.

[armsid]

As i said previously we have a benifits system that can give someone well in excess of the tax threshold and they pay no tax it would be nice if our civil servants could give the breakdown of the ones claiming in excess of the tax threshold and that includes the amount with housing costs,

[Bobba]

14 hours ago, armsid said:

As i said previously we have a benifits system that can give someone well in excess of the tax threshold and they pay no tax it would be nice if our civil servants could give the breakdown of the ones claiming in excess of the tax threshold and that includes the amount with housing costs,

It beggars belief that the DWP has recently found it necessary to issue advice to those on ESA (Employment Support Allowance), Universal Credit, Job Seekers Allowance etc about going on holiday and the potential effect to their benefits. I am socially minded enough to recognise the need to give a helping hand to those in need but it stops at the point where it is at a level which can fund also their holidays when many low wage employees are unable to afford holidays.

[JohnfromUK]

5 minutes ago, Bobba said:

It beggars belief that the DWP has recently found it necessary to issue advice to those on ESA (Employment Support Allowance), Universal Credit, Job Seekers Allowance etc about going on holiday and the potential effect to their benefits. I am socially minded enough to recognise the need to give a helping hand to those in need but it stops at the point where it is at a level which can fund also their holidays when many low wage employees are unable to afford holidays.

Living on benefits has become a lifestyle choice for some.  All it takes is to be dishonest. 

There are problems though because some genuine need people (the genuinely long term ill, the disabled whether through illness or accident and carers for them) can struggle to get a decent (but far from luxurious) living.  On the other hand, others take benefits as a 'lifestyle choice'.

There have been quite a lot of cases locally where people have claimed tens of thousands of pounds in benefits for 'disability', then have been found to be working, taking part in sports activities, and earning well.  Neither the civil servants who hand out the benefits, nor the medical staff who sign off the disability are doing their jobs properly. 

I think the problem is twofold;

1. Many who are able to work are financially better off on benefits because of the way anything they earn (and honestly declare) gets deducted directly from benefits, so why work if in effect you get nothing extra for working?
2. If you are prepared to be dishonest - and that could be a 'fake' disability/illness, or a genuine disability but still able to work and earn, or an illness from which you have recovered, but still continue to claim for .............. then you are unlikely to be found out and can if you wish both work (possibly for cash) and still get full benefits.

I am in favour of a system where benefits are paid in a way that can only be spent on 'essentials', possibly by having an account that will only pay for certain items (i.e. foodstuffs, (no alcohol or tobacco etc.) fuels and energy, public transport locally etc., but it's quite hard to set up.

[old man]

On 25/05/2024 at 23:09, Minky said:

It seems that ANYTHING and EVERYTHING to do with the councils is a rip off. Underhanded and duplicitous. 

1.  Garden waste bin... Two years ago it was £40. This next year it is £60.

2. car parks.  They have all been linked to Ringo so if you use this option, not only do you pay the excessive fee for the car park but you get loaded with the ringo surcharge

3.  public toilets.  Nearly all public toilets have been closed or even sold off for various purposes.  Recently I was up in London at a Royal Park and there was a public toilet avaliable but it had entry flap gates.  The entry cost was 20p.  But you couldn't use cash you had to use either card or phone payment.... for20p. 

4.  This afternoon we went to the coast with one of our daughters.  They decided to go to a fish and chip shop.  There is a carpark behind the shop that used to be free but now there is a camera that monitors your entry and exit.   The fee is a minimum of 40p for half an hour... cash.  If you use a card this ramps up to £1.40 for half an hour.   Now in our local small town the plague is traffic wardens.  It used to be really busy and it was difficult to find a parking space but  now there are lots of spaces. People either buy online or...and get their groceries delivered.  The result of this is that all of the shops are closing down making it even less likely that shoppers come into town and the council gets less income from shop rates.

 

[.357shooter]

it is simple all the money has gone and all they can do is put the price of everything up.if people can not afford it does not matter.they need money now.every council has no money left.not a problem though as the tax will just keep going up so they can keep on wasting it.