Tax Changes

Author
Discussion

Skodaku

Original Poster:

1,805 posts

220 months

Thursday 23rd April 2009
quotequote all
The economy is in freefall, apparently, and Mr Badger is faffing around at the edges. What do you think should be the target products/services for Duty/Tax increases and decreases ? I'll start with :

Reduce fuel duty by 2p/ltr (impacts everything).
Remove VAT from tyres. (They're a safety item FGS !).
Reduce duty of draught beers by 5p/pint (helps the ailing Pub industry)
Raise duty on wine & spirits by £1.50/ltr
Raise duty on bottled/canned beers by £1/ltr, but only 50p/ltr for small breweries with outputs of ? per year. (And a £2/ltr rise for all those beers imported into EU.
Raise duty on tobacco & cigarettes by equiv of £1 per 20.
50p/ltr duty on all carbonated soft drinks. (There are lots of good alternatives).
20% VAT on cars over £80k new price. (Buyers at that level can afford it).
25% VAT on all pre-recorded CD's and DVD's.
Remove tax from Insurance policies.

That should get the ball rolling. Any other suggestions ?

GT03ROB

13,296 posts

222 months

Thursday 23rd April 2009
quotequote all
I'd increase the rate of income tax to 80% for all volvo drivers as they drive slowly & generally clog up the roads.... biggrin

TehMonkey

387 posts

188 months

Thursday 23rd April 2009
quotequote all
Your ideas are bks.

The government has been tweeking tax changes here and there to the effect that it will not change anything. What a complete waste of dollar. What the government should of really done is heavily spend in public works and leave tax/pensions all the other bks alone. 10 year waiting list for a council house in manchester. Why not build some instead of cutting VAT 2.5%.

And, if you wanna stimulate demand, give everyone a 100 quid and see what they do with it.

iggletiggle

1,380 posts

186 months

Thursday 23rd April 2009
quotequote all
TehMonkey said:
Your ideas are bks.

The government has been tweeking tax changes here and there to the effect that it will not change anything. What a complete waste of dollar. What the government should of really done is heavily spend in public works and leave tax/pensions all the other bks alone. 10 year waiting list for a council house in manchester. Why not build some instead of cutting VAT 2.5%.

And, if you wanna stimulate demand, give everyone a 100 quid and see what they do with it.
why should the govt fork out for housing??

there ae plently of others who PAY for there own houses!!!!

i think OPs ideas pretty much cover where i stand on it all - well done biggrin

now lets got bori johnson into power and enjoy!

V88Dicky

7,305 posts

184 months

Thursday 23rd April 2009
quotequote all
Skodaku said:
The economy is in freefall, apparently, and Mr Badger is faffing around at the edges. What do you think should be the target products/services for Duty/Tax increases and decreases ? I'll start with :

Reduce fuel duty by 2p/ltr (impacts everything).
Remove VAT from tyres. (They're a safety item FGS !).
Reduce duty of draught beers by 5p/pint (helps the ailing Pub industry)
Raise duty on wine & spirits by £1.50/ltr
Raise duty on bottled/canned beers by £1/ltr, but only 50p/ltr for small breweries with outputs of ? per year. (And a £2/ltr rise for all those beers imported into EU.
Raise duty on tobacco & cigarettes by equiv of £1 per 20.
50p/ltr duty on all carbonated soft drinks. (There are lots of good alternatives).
20% VAT on cars over £80k new price. (Buyers at that level can afford it).
25% VAT on all pre-recorded CD's and DVD's.
Remove tax from Insurance policies.

That should get the ball rolling. Any other suggestions ?
How about banning the sale of alcohol in all places other than pubs/clubs/restaurants. That'll at least get all the cider swilling chavs / neds off the street corners, and boost the pub trade. Reduce the fuel duty and road tax on commercial diesel vehicles to stimulate haulage companies.

tegwin

1,632 posts

207 months

Thursday 23rd April 2009
quotequote all
Skodaku said:
The economy is in freefall, apparently, and Mr Badger is faffing around at the edges. What do you think should be the target products/services for Duty/Tax increases and decreases ? I'll start with :

Reduce fuel duty by 2p/ltr (impacts everything).
Remove VAT from tyres. (They're a safety item FGS !).
Reduce duty of draught beers by 5p/pint (helps the ailing Pub industry)
Raise duty on wine & spirits by £1.50/ltr
Raise duty on bottled/canned beers by £1/ltr, but only 50p/ltr for small breweries with outputs of ? per year. (And a £2/ltr rise for all those beers imported into EU.
Raise duty on tobacco & cigarettes by equiv of £1 per 20.
50p/ltr duty on all carbonated soft drinks. (There are lots of good alternatives).
20% VAT on cars over £80k new price. (Buyers at that level can afford it).
25% VAT on all pre-recorded CD's and DVD's.
Remove tax from Insurance policies.

That should get the ball rolling. Any other suggestions ?
Agreed with you right up until the point you started talking about taxing high earners.... everyone should be treated the same.. if you work hard to get to the top the govermnent has no right to help themselves!

Taxing DVDs and CDs will increase piracy!

TehMonkey

387 posts

188 months

Thursday 23rd April 2009
quotequote all
iggletiggle said:
TehMonkey said:
Your ideas are bks.

The government has been tweeking tax changes here and there to the effect that it will not change anything. What a complete waste of dollar. What the government should of really done is heavily spend in public works and leave tax/pensions all the other bks alone. 10 year waiting list for a council house in manchester. Why not build some instead of cutting VAT 2.5%.

And, if you wanna stimulate demand, give everyone a 100 quid and see what they do with it.
why should the govt fork out for housing??

there ae plently of others who PAY for there own houses!!!!

i think OPs ideas pretty much cover where i stand on it all - well done biggrin

now lets got bori johnson into power and enjoy!
Because not everyone can afford one?

Build houses. Support construction industry. Bring in quicker right to buy rights. Houses get sold to private industry again. Everyones a winner smile

R11ysf

1,936 posts

183 months

Thursday 23rd April 2009
quotequote all
TehMonkey said:
iggletiggle said:
TehMonkey said:
Your ideas are bks.

The government has been tweeking tax changes here and there to the effect that it will not change anything. What a complete waste of dollar. What the government should of really done is heavily spend in public works and leave tax/pensions all the other bks alone. 10 year waiting list for a council house in manchester. Why not build some instead of cutting VAT 2.5%.

And, if you wanna stimulate demand, give everyone a 100 quid and see what they do with it.
why should the govt fork out for housing??

there ae plently of others who PAY for there own houses!!!!

i think OPs ideas pretty much cover where i stand on it all - well done biggrin

now lets got bori johnson into power and enjoy!
Because not everyone can afford one?

Build houses. Support construction industry. Bring in quicker right to buy rights. Houses get sold to private industry again. Everyones a winner smile
If you can't afford one then rent one. If you want to buy your own house work harder/longer hours/study for a new career/save more/drink less.

Why should I have to save for a house and someone else be given one?

TehMonkey

387 posts

188 months

Thursday 23rd April 2009
quotequote all
R11ysf said:
If you can't afford one then rent one. If you want to buy your own house work harder/longer hours/study for a new career/save more/drink less.

Why should I have to save for a house and someone else be given one?
Some people just do not know what unprivleged lifstyles some people lead.

People pay rent on council housing you docile so and so. The construction industry is crap atm. So, we build houses, the economy picks up and those in council housing are encouraged to use the "right to buy" scheme. Householders feel the "wealth effect" and go out and spend more, this has a subsequent multipler effect. It works, it worked in the 80s, so lets get on with it, because what other hope do we have, increasing fuel duty?

mcflurry

9,102 posts

254 months

Thursday 23rd April 2009
quotequote all
V88Dicky said:
How about banning the sale of alcohol in all places other than pubs/clubs/restaurants. That'll at least get all the cider swilling chavs / neds off the street corners, and boost the pub trade.
Maybe if the rip off merchants round here didn't insist on charging £4 for a pint they might get some business. At £2.50/£3 we would go a lot more often !!

For the price of 3 beers for me and a couple of mates, I can buy a whole case from the supermarket smile

Nothing wrong with earning a profit, but trying to rip customers off, then blaming the government for putting the excise duty up 1p doesn't wash here...

R11ysf

1,936 posts

183 months

Thursday 23rd April 2009
quotequote all
TehMonkey said:
R11ysf said:
If you can't afford one then rent one. If you want to buy your own house work harder/longer hours/study for a new career/save more/drink less.

Why should I have to save for a house and someone else be given one?
Some people just do not know what unprivleged lifstyles some people lead.

People pay rent on council housing you docile so and so. The construction industry is crap atm. So, we build houses, the economy picks up and those in council housing are encouraged to use the "right to buy" scheme. Householders feel the "wealth effect" and go out and spend more, this has a subsequent multipler effect. It works, it worked in the 80s, so lets get on with it, because what other hope do we have, increasing fuel duty?
No, fuel duty isn't the way as that effects everyone evenly, in fact worse hits rural drivers who need to drive to work.

How about to solve your housing problem and mine we slap a massive tax on all 2nd 3rd 4th homes. This bubble was caused by every Tom, Dick and Harry snapping up extra homes using, sometimes fiduciary, equity in their first one. How about a property tax of 5% on 2nd home, 10% on third 15% on 4th etc etc which would stop people owning more than 1 unless they really could afford it and would also free up more housing stock for you and me to buy.

V88Dicky

7,305 posts

184 months

Thursday 23rd April 2009
quotequote all
mcflurry said:
V88Dicky said:
How about banning the sale of alcohol in all places other than pubs/clubs/restaurants. That'll at least get all the cider swilling chavs / neds off the street corners, and boost the pub trade.
Maybe if the rip off merchants round here didn't insist on charging £4 for a pint they might get some business. At £2.50/£3 we would go a lot more often !!
Blimey, you should move up North mate! Seriously, most pubs have had to charge more and more because of competition from supermarkets and ever increasing duty on alcohol. p.s my local serves Carling at £2.10 a pint.

Edited by V88Dicky on Thursday 23 April 14:28

mcflurry

9,102 posts

254 months

Thursday 23rd April 2009
quotequote all
V88Dicky said:
Blimey, you should move up North mate! Seriously, most pubs have had to charge more and more because of competition from supermarkets and ever increasing duty on alcohol.
The excise duty went from 16.15 per 1% per 100 litres to 16.47.

That's about 40p a pint for an average beer. Assuming there is another 40p in VAT payments, that leaves a decent profit margin for the publician to cover his wages, heat, light, rent etc without resorting to £4 a beer smile

However, it's easier for certain pub chains to blame the government instead of taking responsibility for the rip off prices they are charging...


Skodaku

Original Poster:

1,805 posts

220 months

Thursday 23rd April 2009
quotequote all
tegwin said:
Skodaku said:
The economy is in freefall, apparently, and Mr Badger is faffing around at the edges. What do you think should be the target products/services for Duty/Tax increases and decreases ? I'll start with :

Reduce fuel duty by 2p/ltr (impacts everything).
Remove VAT from tyres. (They're a safety item FGS !).
Reduce duty of draught beers by 5p/pint (helps the ailing Pub industry)
Raise duty on wine & spirits by £1.50/ltr
Raise duty on bottled/canned beers by £1/ltr, but only 50p/ltr for small breweries with outputs of ? per year. (And a £2/ltr rise for all those beers imported into EU.
Raise duty on tobacco & cigarettes by equiv of £1 per 20.
50p/ltr duty on all carbonated soft drinks. (There are lots of good alternatives).
20% VAT on cars over £80k new price. (Buyers at that level can afford it).
25% VAT on all pre-recorded CD's and DVD's.
Remove tax from Insurance policies.

That should get the ball rolling. Any other suggestions ?
Agreed with you right up until the point you started talking about taxing high earners.... everyone should be treated the same.. if you work hard to get to the top the govermnent has no right to help themselves!

Taxing DVDs and CDs will increase piracy!
Didn't suggest taxing high-earners directly but I guess the extra VAT on £80k+ cars could be seen that way. Surely those cars are a matter of choice and not something that has to be purchased very often, if at all. Still maintain that if you can afford to pay £80k+ for a depreciating asset then the extra VAT shouldn't exactly be an onerous burden. End result on out-the-gate prices might be neutral to minimal as manufacturers/dealers might just adjust prices downward to retain demand, (but that's "might" with a capital M !).........I'm pretty sure they have enough margin to manage that. No problem with people keeping as much of their hard-earned salary as possible, (hence no direct taxation proposal), just trying to relieve those that can, presumably, afford it of a little extra when purchasing non-essential luxry goods.

The comment re CD/DVD piracy is valid and takes me into "Law of Unintended Consequences" territory so I'll drop that one.

Thanks for your comments.

Skodaku

Original Poster:

1,805 posts

220 months

Thursday 23rd April 2009
quotequote all
GT03ROB said:
I'd increase the rate of income tax to 80% for all volvo drivers as they drive slowly & generally clog up the roads.... biggrin
I've certainly met/followed some Volvo drivers I'd like to tax out of existence; likewise some BMW/Merc/Audi etc etc drivers but this one actually like to make "progress"...............where legal and safe to do so, of course. smile

Your vehicle history is pretty impressive; 1300 Viva to GT3 is no mean feat. Well done that man. What's the tax regime like in your part of the world, compared to Brown's Britain ?

pembo

1,204 posts

194 months

Thursday 23rd April 2009
quotequote all
R11ysf said:
TehMonkey said:
R11ysf said:
If you can't afford one then rent one. If you want to buy your own house work harder/longer hours/study for a new career/save more/drink less.

Why should I have to save for a house and someone else be given one?
Some people just do not know what unprivleged lifstyles some people lead.

People pay rent on council housing you docile so and so. The construction industry is crap atm. So, we build houses, the economy picks up and those in council housing are encouraged to use the "right to buy" scheme. Householders feel the "wealth effect" and go out and spend more, this has a subsequent multipler effect. It works, it worked in the 80s, so lets get on with it, because what other hope do we have, increasing fuel duty?
No, fuel duty isn't the way as that effects everyone evenly, in fact worse hits rural drivers who need to drive to work.

How about to solve your housing problem and mine we slap a massive tax on all 2nd 3rd 4th homes. This bubble was caused by every Tom, Dick and Harry snapping up extra homes using, sometimes fiduciary, equity in their first one. How about a property tax of 5% on 2nd home, 10% on third 15% on 4th etc etc which would stop people owning more than 1 unless they really could afford it and would also free up more housing stock for you and me to buy.
I'm with you in some ways, they do pay rent on council houses but from experience its considerably lower than I have to pay for the equivalant. Anyway, this option also wouldn't work because then surely this would just mean that they would buy a cheaper 2nd/3rd home and then the more affordable housing would betaken up.

LuS1fer

41,154 posts

246 months

Thursday 23rd April 2009
quotequote all
Tax texting so every text attracts a 1p tax to go to community councils. It goes up to 2p if you use textspeak.
Tax the purchase of mobile phones as most people only change them for fashion purposes.
Tax foglight usage by the minute - over a certain time and you qualify for 25% superprat tax.

V88Dicky

7,305 posts

184 months

Thursday 23rd April 2009
quotequote all
mcflurry said:
V88Dicky said:
Blimey, you should move up North mate! Seriously, most pubs have had to charge more and more because of competition from supermarkets and ever increasing duty on alcohol.
That's about 40p a pint for an average beer. Assuming there is another 40p in VAT payments, that leaves a decent profit margin for the publician to cover his wages, heat, light, rent etc without resorting to £4 a beer smile
£4 a beer seems about 90% too high mate, you sure your'e not just getting ripped off cos its darn sarf biggrin

R11ysf

1,936 posts

183 months

Thursday 23rd April 2009
quotequote all
Sorry, I wasn't clear. In the US instead of council tax they pay a property tax (amongst state and city tax as well) which is essentially a tax on the value of your home - somewhere circa 5%. If the owner of a property had to pay 5% or the value of his 2nd home 10% on 3rd etc etc this may be another factor added in to the buy to let equation.

Put another way when I was young I thought you worked hard, saved up for a deposit, borrowed 3-5 times your salary then bought a house. After you'd worked a while and done well you paid off your house maybe you bought a 2nd (holiday) home. No it seems you borrow 110% of the value of the house with no deposit, leverage yourself up massively with bank's money, if it goes up in value you use the fictional equity to buy another one and repeat until the whole thing goes t*ts up and then hand the keys back.

How many people do you know with second homes? I know a guy who earns under 30k a year who has 17 houses. This should not be allowed. The worst case for him is to walk away and start again. If the banks are to be forced to reduce reckless risk taking then so should people.

btdk5

1,853 posts

191 months

Thursday 23rd April 2009
quotequote all
R11ysf said:
Sorry, I wasn't clear. In the US instead of council tax they pay a property tax (amongst state and city tax as well) which is essentially a tax on the value of your home - somewhere circa 5%. If the owner of a property had to pay 5% or the value of his 2nd home 10% on 3rd etc etc this may be another factor added in to the buy to let equation.

Put another way when I was young I thought you worked hard, saved up for a deposit, borrowed 3-5 times your salary then bought a house. After you'd worked a while and done well you paid off your house maybe you bought a 2nd (holiday) home. No it seems you borrow 110% of the value of the house with no deposit, leverage yourself up massively with bank's money, if it goes up in value you use the fictional equity to buy another one and repeat until the whole thing goes t*ts up and then hand the keys back.

How many people do you know with second homes? I know a guy who earns under 30k a year who has 17 houses. This should not be allowed. The worst case for him is to walk away and start again. If the banks are to be forced to reduce reckless risk taking then so should people.
Whats wrong with it?? The renters pay the mortgages.