I have always been a strong advocate of mixing business with pleasure .I was expecting some discussion about progressive taxation, but perhaps I should merge this thread with the watcha cooking’ tonight thread.
Joe
Not Elf and Safety again !!Spot on. How many people have been injured/ killed at work because health & safety was neglected? How about banks that repossess people’s homes? How about the violence of millions starved to death by famine while grain is exported to wealthy countries, who cream off poor countries wealth through foreign debt. How about those millions languishing in prison because they couldn’t afford decent legal representation. And so on and so forth.
A few aristocratic heads falling into a basket can’t compare.
I think we may be cooking up a rebellion.I was expecting some discussion about progressive taxation, but perhaps I should merge this thread with the watcha cooking’ tonight thread.
Joe
Progressive taxation is not the answer. It has been proposed many times and been defeated each time.I was expecting some discussion about progressive taxation, but perhaps I should merge this thread with the watcha cooking’ tonight thread.
Joe
You’d think that if money was in short supply, as our leaders tell us it is, we’d want to ensure our revenue service had all the resources it needed to maximise collection within the rules. It’s almost as though our government is trying to weaken the tax collection regime. I wonder why it might want to do that?I understand that H.M.R.C.'s capacity is being severely taxed by staff shortages.
Has anyone told the rich?Not your typical lefty paper, this commentary was published recently in Nature, the leading science journal.
Why the world cannot afford the rich
Equality is essential for sustainability. The science is clear — people in more-equal societies are more trusting and more likely to protect the environment than are those in unequal, consumer-driven ones.www.nature.com
The first two paragraphs and a graph from the commentary —
As environmental, social and humanitarian crises escalate, the world can no longer afford two things: first, the costs of economic inequality; and second, the rich. Between 2020 and 2022, the world’s most affluent 1% of people captured nearly twice as much of the new global wealth created as did the other 99% of individuals put together, and in 2019 they emitted as much carbon dioxide as the poorest two-thirds of humanity. In the decade to 2022, the world’s billionaires more than doubled their wealth, to almost US$12 trillion.The evidence gathered by social epidemiologists, including us, shows that large differences in income are a powerful social stressor that is increasingly rendering societies dysfunctional. For example, bigger gaps between rich and poor are accompanied by higher rates of homicide and imprisonment. They also correspond to more infant mortality, obesity, drug abuse and COVID-19 deaths, as well as higher rates of teenage pregnancy and lower levels of child well-being, social mobility and public trust. The homicide rate in the United States — the most unequal Western democracy — is more than 11 times that in Norway (see go.nature.com/49fuujr). Imprisonment rates are ten times as high, and infant mortality and obesity rates twice as high.
Joe
It's funded by the richHas anyone told the rich?
I posted in slight jest, but of course the situation is true; to such an extent that HMRC announced last week that they'd close their helpline for 6 months, April to September, allowing more staff to be reallocated. This surprise decision was counteracted by the chancellor within 24 hours, so back to 'normal'. Unfortunately, there's no email facility with HMRC, so telephone and internet are the only communication channels.You’d think that if money was in short supply, as our leaders tell us it is, we’d want to ensure our revenue service had all the resources it needed to maximise collection within the rules. It’s almost as though our government is trying to weaken the tax collection regime. I wonder why it might want to do that?
It isn't about accuracy for ordinary tax payers, any mistakes and they will pay. No, the real point is about people who don’t pay. HMRC has less and less resources to tackle tax avoidance by the super rich. Fewer and fewer prosecutions for tax avoiders. Just 11 last yearI posted in slight jest, but of course the situation is true; to such an extent that HMRC announced last week that they'd close their helpline for 6 months, April to September, allowing more staff to be reallocated. This surprise decision was counteracted by the chancellor within 24 hours, so back to 'normal'. Unfortunately, there's no email facility with HMRC, so telephone and internet are the only communication channels.
For such an organisation charged with accurately assessing the ever-increasing tax-paying populace, you'd think the gov't would consider it number one for efficiency and capability. It used to be so nice, convenient and friendly when local access was extant; only a decade ago, too !
Increasing 'efficiency' innit.I posted in slight jest, but of course the situation is true; to such an extent that HMRC announced last week that they'd close their helpline for 6 months, April to September, allowing more staff to be reallocated. This surprise decision was counteracted by the chancellor within 24 hours, so back to 'normal'. Unfortunately, there's no email facility with HMRC, so telephone and internet are the only communication channels.
For such an organisation charged with accurately assessing the ever-increasing tax-paying populace, you'd think the gov't would consider it number one for efficiency and capability. It used to be so nice, convenient and friendly when local access was extant; only a decade ago, too !
Thinking beyond that, just as we're trying to export asylum seekers to Ruanda at the mo', they'll try to outsource the bots to Botswana.Apparently it's all going to be done by "bots and AI"
It isn't about accuracy for ordinary tax payers, any mistakes and they will pay. No, the real point is about people who don’t pay. HMRC has less and less resources to tackle tax avoidance by the super rich. Fewer and fewer prosecutions for tax avoiders. Just 11 last year
Just 11 ‘wealthy’ people prosecuted for tax fraud last year
Critics say the figure suggests HMRC is doing too little to punish rich tax cheats at a time when millions of Britons are struggling to make ends meetwww.thebureauinvestigates.com
The purpose of tax havens probably isn't to benefit the ordinary residents of those countries.The world hasn't kept up with globalisation, just as it's easy to sell a good product worldwide it's also relatively easy to choose where you pay your tax. What we need is a universal tax rate applied over the planet.
The tax havens don't even work well for most of their residents. I've seen loads of poverty in them, obvs due to the low tax revenues, but many of the workers are on poor wages. You can get a good banker in BVI for £100k enabling them to live very well but the same person needs £250k to live in London.
Remind me what they called the first year of the French Republic..? It was more than a few aristos' heads in baskets.Spot on. How many people have been injured/ killed at work because health & safety was neglected? How about banks that repossess people’s homes? How about the violence of millions starved to death by famine while grain is exported to wealthy countries, who cream off poor countries wealth through foreign debt. How about those millions languishing in prison because they couldn’t afford decent legal representation. And so on and so forth.
A few aristocratic heads falling into a basket can’t compare.
Increasing 'efficiency' innit.
HMRC 2005 headcount: 104,000
HMRC 2017 headcount: 58,000
Just think how much more efficient it will be if they can get staff levels down to one bloke and a dog.
Apparently it's all going to be done by "bots and AI"
What could possibly go wrong.