the0ni0nking wrote:1nvest wrote:And see more at the bottom end, whose low income might otherwise have been exempt, being brought into having to file a self assessment and pay tax. Especially the elderly, for whom opening Windows in December/January would seem totally unreasonable. And as for a mouse - they live in a clean house.
But that's the price of having to fund the likes of MP's and Lords individually milking £60 million out of the public purse.
About time the tax reach extended more widely - state pensioners have had it easy with the triple lock since whenever - if the end result of that means some pensioners filing in tax returns then so be it. If they can't cope with it then they can pay someone to do it for them.
And if they fail, then they can be fined for their failure.
Same as I'm sick of people moaning about bank branch closures and the like - they're not really needed. It's time people managed to at least move into the 2000s and the way things are now.
Around a third of the tax take is paid by 1%. Better would be to expand that number to three-fold. Repeated governments however do not provide consistency/stability, so potential double/treble of that number tends to be more pushed away - elsewhere (our loss, beneficial country's gain).
We've transitioned from a working week being largely 8 to 6, 6 days/week, women staying at home ... to where the 'workforce' was doubled - women working, and business days extended to 24/7. Along with technology ... fields of farm workers replaced by a single machine ...etc. and the benefits should have been more shared around. Instead many are working on wages that barely even cover their rent - they have to be supplemented by taxpayers and there's a large pool of idle despite numerous job vacancies, because wages are too low.
With 3% paying all of the tax take, combined with purchase/sales tax (the more you have/spend the more you pay) there would be far less chasing individuals through courts for pennies discrepancies, less of those milking the public purse for £60 million and having no action taken against them.
As for HMRC and enquiries - you're lucky if you can get through in under 40 minutes, more often its longer, often with your long wait just being cut-off. Writing in and you're looking at months. But yes a revenue earner because if you don't respond/pay to their demands quickly there are penalties. Fining pensioners on low income for late/incorrect SA filings would just be another unfair tax.
As for a transition to electronic only payments, abolition of cash, that then means its not your money, but the states. Subsequently further automated tax/revenues would follow, such as fined for over-buying red meat, or too many flights/holidays etc. Tracking your every move, thoughts, actions, transactions = open prison, where those that aren't 'compliant' (to some quangos belief of 'right') can be fined or imprisoned. Fine if you perhaps subscribe to women being secondary and having to wear headwear etc. if/when that becomes the quangos preferred choice.
