General Chat

Has anyone calculated how much tax they pay...before I receive mine 21% is deducted at source with PAYE/NHI.... council tax another 8%...water rates another 2.5% car tax and television licence over 1%...we then pay VAT on clothes and other 'non-essential' purchases...stamp duty when we buy a house plus registration fees....buy a brand new car and pay another registration fee...duty when we buy petrol or alchohol. We save our hard earned cash and pay tax on the interest. We die and leave our estate to our sons and daughters and they pay inheritance tax... I am sobbing over my keyboard....

Careful Chris, there`s a tax on tissues, lol

Chris I try not to think about it otherwise I'd be sobbing as well and now Tony's back for another stint, he might tax tissues, you never know LOL. Jan :-))

I'm not a Labour supporter and I don't know anything about politics really. However I do wonder if any other party would really cut taxes? Unless they completely revamp spending, the civil service etc etc then aren't they just in exactly the same position the current government is in?

Get those tissues out again because after he has re-evaluated your house, hey ho you will be paying some more tax. I love it here

But think about what you get for your tax - so far I have had a lifetime of free medical treatment and free education for myself and my two sons, street lighting at night, waste disposal, public libraries, which have helped enormously in my family research, access to the National Archives at Kew, the Family Records Centre, BBC television, parks for the children to play in, the police and the army and navy to protect us...

Hi Nell We pay for the BBC................ I shouldn't complain - my husband has had life saving treatment with the NHS but that is what National Insurance is for....we all have insurance - car, house, house contents etc but hope never to have to make a claim...but now we also pay for prescriptions...eye tests and spectacles....dental treatment.....

I'm sure the tax my husband has paid over the last few years will have stocked a few libraries....

Tax used to be something the better off paid to help the less well of. Now if you earn £6000 yes six thousand pounds you will pay tax and NI on it.

I think you will find that a library costs a few thousand just to pay the staff. I bet the money they spend on books is much less than the money they spend on lighting, heating, security etc. Staff are the big cost in most things, not just the wages they are paid, but the things like pension schemes, sick pay, maternity cover etc etc. It all adds up. nell

And the sad thing is that nowadays libraries are more interested in schemes to get people through the doors than providing books they actually want. Also, many libraries have staffing problems because not enough money is being set aside to staff them.

what we all seem to forget is we all work to fulfill the lives of the few. derek

They could rake in more money if they put road tax costs onto petrol, that way all the tax dodgers would have to pay the same as the rest of us - that would bring in bundles I'm sure. Just a thought. Jan :-))

The easiest way to look at it is as a percentage of the Gross National Product. At the moment it's heading towards 42%. That's way too high. The really successful World economies are all those where the percentage is around 35% (USA) or less.

I guess the amount of the GNP taken by the government could be much less if we were to drop the NHS and be like that 'successful' economy in the USA. If we want 80 year olds (my wife's uncle had one recently) to have heart by-pass operations then it has to be paid for. Can we afford the luxuries of Special Care Baby Units, fertility treatment, hi-tech cancer treatments, AIDS treatment etc etc. Sod 'em all - cut taxes!

Jan, Why should someone with a bigger car pay even MORE to travel the same distance that a smaller car would? we cant even do it faster, because of the speed camera tax.

You've lost me Bob LOL. Some would say I've got a bigger car, but I pay my road tax. Those that don't would have to contribute if the cost of road tax was on fuel instead of people's honesty - or otherwise. Jan

Jan, bigger car less MPG, so more gallons required to cover the same distance as a smaller engined car......... I DO agree something has to be done about road tax dodgers.........Bob

Something should be done about hospital car parks you go for an appointment...not sure if you will have to wait, so to be safe you buy a ticket for a longer time.......... why can they not introduce a Pay on exit system.? Bob

Are you aware that all county and local councils have had to review and re-assess the pay/jobs of public service employees? Single people who work in benefits offices are so lowly paid that they have to claim benefits!!!! maggie