observer Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 With a good deal of scorn being heaped upon "tax avoiders"; isn't it time the politicians came up with a simplified tax system that was "loop-hole" free? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inky pete Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 Yep. Simplest way is to abandon any attempts at income or profit based taxation - because that actively discourages aspiration and simply leads to companies and individuals seeking to hide their incomes offshore etc. Much fairer, much cheaper to implement and much, much harder to avoid would be to base the tax system on the consumption of resources. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbo Posted May 13, 2014 Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 Yeh, tax consumption, which will then reduce consumption, and then factories will be idle and we shall have more people out of work and no money to consume.good idea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted May 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2014 I would think the primary function of taxation is redistribution (from each according to their means, to each according to their needs); but they've made it so complicated, only lawyers and accountants finish up finding ways to avoid paying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inky pete Posted May 14, 2014 Report Share Posted May 14, 2014 WRONG! Obs. The primary purpose of taxation is simply to pay for the things the country decides it needs to be provioded collectively. Redistribution is just a political dogma which MAY drive spending decisions (if we were ever stupid enough to let sociallists play with the grown-ups!), not the purpose of the system. If we abolished all income taxes and corporation taxes we would be over-run with companies wanting to locate here and employ people here. Of course, the essential national services like health, education, policing and defence would still need to be paid for - so we would tax consumption instead via a sales tax. Prices in the shops would go up for sure - but without the taxman nicking a third of an ordinary workers pay packet before he even sees it, we'd all be able to afford it. It's a solution which is green (because it actively encourages minimising waste and limiting consumption), fair (because everyone gets treated the same), robust (because even the smartest tax accountant wouldn't be able to find loopholes in so simple a system), and progressive (because he who consumes most pays most). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Sid Posted May 14, 2014 Report Share Posted May 14, 2014 Simple tax form Q1) how much do you earn? Q2) when will we get it? :mrgreen: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davy51 Posted May 14, 2014 Report Share Posted May 14, 2014 Don't we have a sales tax anyway with VAT ? Nearly every transaction in the UK is subject to VAT which gives the government 20% of the total for its coffers & for every 1% rise in inflation or prices another 20% of that figure goes to the government. Then we are clobbered with fuel tax ,green tax on energy bills & anything else you can think of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbo Posted May 14, 2014 Report Share Posted May 14, 2014 So we replace income tax with a consumption tax. So all those who pay low or no taxes ie pensioners and the those on the minimum wage are suddenly hit with a tax that is the same as those who are bankers and directors. Like I said 'what a good idea' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stallard12 Posted May 14, 2014 Report Share Posted May 14, 2014 The Government calculates how much it needs for the coming year and then 'invents' ways to raise that amount. It doesn't matter what it calls it, VAT, income tax, beer tax television fees etc., the different names are just to make it more difficult for you to calculate how badly you're being screwed. If they came right out and said that they were takng 80% of your paycheck, the natives might get restless. Incidently, the less people working and paying income tax, just means that all of the other taxes have to increase to cover the deficit. The only way to reduce taxes is to reduce spending. Non-discretionary spending like police, fire and hospital services are difficult to reduce, so the cuts have to come from discretionary spending like welfare, unemployment pay etc., which is by far the biggest budget item. You can imagine the screams if this area was cut by half, but that is the only way to substantially change taxes, closing loop holes etc, changing the names etc sounds laudable, but it would hardly scratch the surface. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted May 14, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 14, 2014 Ink, the establishment of "public services" is the mechanism for redistribution; providing services otherwise not affordable to the majority. This has been undermined by privatisations of late, and the wealth gap has increased both nationally and globally; bringing with it the stark contrasts between rich and poor. As for this nonsense of taxing consumption (VAT?); the rich can only consume a given amount (three meals a day, one car at a time etc), so the idea of "tickle down" (Reaganomics), is merely a device for getting poor turkeys to vote for Christmas. No, to create a vibrant economy, we must have more folk spending more money, creating more demand, creating more jobs - to keep the merry go round in business. The only problem with this "freedom", is that the money tends not to keep "going round", but gravitates to the few. So we need taxation to constantly rectify this natural shift; plus provide the essential services and infrastructure that contribute to what we call "civilization". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davy51 Posted May 14, 2014 Report Share Posted May 14, 2014 I think another striking example of hidden taxation is the growth of local council services that are not now covered by council tax in order to make council tax bills look as if they are not rising......whereas many services now have to be paid for. I have just had to pay for a cremation with a new cemetery cremation plot & with everything added in it came to nearly £1200 ! That was as well as the undertaker's costs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asperity Posted May 19, 2014 Report Share Posted May 19, 2014 "Prime Minister, the Treasury does not work out what it needs and then think how to raise the money. It pitches for as much as it can get away with and then thinks how to spend it." Sir Humphrey, Yes Prime Minister. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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