Council Tax Again

[pipme]

Here we go, two Jags sniffing the trough again, but using a toe to start !!


Read abaht it

Will it be through the property banding reassessment due soon ?

This, I believe, could be mirrors and smokescreens .... Leak a pretty distasteful idea, worry people do-do-less .... Later, water it down by manipulation, 'Don't worry we'll not change council tax ... perhaps we should have a local tax as well !!' 'Phew' could be the collective sigh of relief ....

'Feather plucking the Geese with the minimum of hissing' ..... watch it evolve !!! See Govn discrimination in action as 2 jags seeks to divide and conquer us ...
Since when does property virtual values directly measure the ability to pay tax ? A very loose connection at best.
Middle Englands' had better start practicing their hissing !!!!
P

 

[TexMex]

Did you see that Labour MP being interviewed about it on the news yesterday. I could hardly beleive my ears. he said "well if these people can't afford to live in these expensive houses then they should move out, nobody forced them to buy them"

I suppose the same could be used to justify taxing all decent foodstuffs out of the pocket of the populus. "Let them eat cake" wasn't it?

 

[IanDB]

Also interesting to note that the 170k point at which the rates would begin to bite is now about the national average house price. So this will probably impact half the house owning population.

What happens to people who through no fault of their own, have lived in a house for umpteen years on a modest income, find that they are now walloped with a tax just because the property has gone up in notional value? When they die the government is going to take 40% of everthing over 215k (ish) anyway. I just despair.

 

[pipme]

They'll probably get you to sign your house over to the Govn and give a peppercorn pension in return .... when you are gone they can allocate a more deserving family to your old house.

P

 

[AdamW]

Or alternatively make it a "homes for votes" type system.

You know, since I started paying taxes, mortgages etc. I can really appreciate that Tom and Barbara Good were onto something back in the 70s

 

[TexMex]

when you are gone they can allocate a more deserving family to your old house.

Like someone who can afford the council tax and vote for them in the next ellection

 

[oilman]

Stop worrying. This is the government signing off. Remember what happened to Mrs. M. Thatcher with the "community charge". That was the end. Well if this bunch carry it through, they just might be short of a vote or two at the next election.

 

[pipme]

when you are gone they can allocate a more deserving family to your old house.

Like someone who can afford the council tax and vote for them in the next ellection

No, no .. the very opposite !! Your house would become part of the new age 'council house' stock ....

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[securespark]

They'll probably get you to sign your house over to the Govn and give a peppercorn pension in return .... when you are gone they can allocate a more deserving family to your old house.

P

Er, you mean even more of a peppercorn pension than they offer you now? Which will reduce gradually to £000.00 by the time the likes of me retire?

 

[AdamW]

Retirement? Luxury.

It has been estimated that people my age will be working into our eighties to pay for our pensions... Not that we will have much time to enjoy them.

 

[IanDB]

Retirement? Luxury.

Yes, that's right Adam. You've got to keep working in order to keep me in the style of living that I'm accustomed to!!

Seriously though, it is a problem, people are living longer and some ideas have got to change. I still think there should be retirement age where you can pack up work without penalty and get a reasonable pension, but I also think that if people want to stay on there should an incentive to do so. The economics are that with an aging population there aren't sufficient young 'uns coming into the workplace to keep what's left of our industry going. If people want to stay on - and let's face it - some people do- then why not?

The people who fare worst out of this though are those in manual work who have had enough by 65 and would be unable to carry on. You shouldn't be penalised in your pension because of what you've done previously.

Having said all that, my mother-in-law is in her 70's. She's no income, no savings (she came from a very poor background) but she was left a small house when her husband died. She was entitled to have central heating fitted and gets grants and benefits all over the place. She doesn't go on holiday or anything and she's quite happy as she is. I don't begrudge a penny of my tax going to someone like that (even though she is the mother-in-law ).

 

[waran]

I seem to recall that there was a solution to the rising council tax problem.
Wasn't it called the..................."poll tax"

 

[pipme]

Retirement? Luxury......... You shouldn't be penalised in your pension because of what you've done previously.....

You may very well be anyway.

Due to the way in which the OAP is calculated, one recieves additional pension depending on the lifetime earnings to that time.
I don't know if self employed people get that increased pension.

A friend recently retired, never worked o/t just office 9-5 his projected single person OAP = £82 P/W if he was 65 with the required NI contributions.
Another old colleague same age but not retired, was quoted from Newcastle in pension forecast an expected (single person) OAP of £130 per week ... purely due to the fact that he worked all the o/t going in the same job... earning more dosh.
This prompted a thought .. civil servants, usually aspire to good pay, perhaps non-contributory pension PLUS the OAP and additional pension on top !!
Never meant to be fair I suppose.
P

 

[IanDB]

When they die the government is going to take 40% of everthing over 215k (ish) anyway.

Bit out on that figure but it is happening. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3900831.stm

 

[pipme]

Hey up .... road pricing / congestion charging on the cards, undoubtedly, the shortfall in road associated taxes will be made up from other local, or council tax ... remember where you read this !!

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