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Barbelith Poll: Tax

Smoothly

14:08 / 29.09.05

Do you think *you* are expect to pay too much tax, not enough tax, or about the right amount of tax.

Quantum

14:13 / 29.09.05

TOO MUCH TAX, not enough services

Char Aina

14:13 / 29.09.05

too much.
i feel i pay moremoney than the public services i get are worth.
being glaswegian, i am not alone in thinking so.
corruption used to be rife up here, and may well still be.
formy grans property, which is modest, she pays more than twice what that wifey in the news pays.
i pay around twice as much as Jailbird, and i live about forty minutes walk from town centre.

i'm going to a meeting on this very topic next week, incidentally.
more on that after the fact, i guess.

Kit-Cat Club

14:18 / 29.09.05

I feel that I pay about the right amount of tax but am fed up with the govt siphoning off vast amounts of cash to support awful PFI/PPP projects. If it were not for that I would probably sya I should be paying more.

A man might suggest that a man should be paying more anyway, given that a man might have done some freelance work and not declared it yet.

Axolotl

14:25 / 29.09.05

It's not so much the amount of tax I pay, which isn't all that onerous if I'm really honest, it's what my taxes pay for, or don't pay for, that irritates me.
Oh, and the fact that taxes seem less of a burden the richer you are, that pisses me off something rotten. The latest tax idea to piss me off is SIPPs, which as far as I can see is a way of lettting the rich seize even more property while I subidise them.
So I guess the answer is taxes don't bother me, government does.

Jub

14:32 / 29.09.05

I reckon it's about right. I'd be happy to pay more if it made the quality of life good for me. That's the thing though about taxes - people only ever want it to go toward things they think affect them.

Smoothly

14:43 / 29.09.05

Hmm, yes. I assume we’d all like tax to be better spent or a greater percentage spent on the things we like. But generally, all things being equal, assuming your government is going to continue to spend the money on the things it prioritises, do you think *you* should be expected to pay more or less?

sleazenation

14:56 / 29.09.05

I think that is a false dichotomy. You never pay less. You just pay differently, and perhaps to different people.

Jub

15:00 / 29.09.05

Less less less. I think they should lower obligatory taxes for all, and add more tax on VAT to certain things - like cars etc. That way only those who spent money on whatever would be taxed - ie if you can afford to spend money on things you don't need - you can afford to be taxed more for it.

Smoothly

15:20 / 29.09.05

Yes, sorry sleaze. That last line should really read ‘should you pay more or less *in tax*?’

And Jub, yeah, I didn’t draw a distinction between direct and indirect tax because I was looking for more of a gut reaction. I suppose I’m wondering whether people feel they’re paying their fair share of the total pot.

Fist Fun

15:24 / 29.09.05

I'd say about right. It pains me to see how much goes out but you got to pay your way. I've certainly taken my share of tax spending in the past.

Axolotl

15:26 / 29.09.05

If you put it like that Smoothly I'd have to say no. While I don't have a problem with the amount I pay, I don't think it's a fair proportion, if that makes sense.

Jub

15:27 / 29.09.05

hmm, well yeah - I guess people will always feel as if they are paying more, but if you will live in society! tsk! - nah - it's fair on reflection - although I am a bit miffed that the welfare contract has been fucked and we'll be paying out all our working lives just to be bent over and screwed by the government of the day (nothing changes huh?)

What do you reckon - you happy about the amount of money you give to Gordo?

Mourne Kransky

15:29 / 29.09.05

I'm a queen, so I don't understand why I have to pay tax when Elizabeth Regina doesn't.

I think the UK should be as Scandinavian as possible in every way, so that would mean more direct taxation. Even Harald, Carl Gustaf and Margrethe pay tax. I see sleaze's point about sales taxes though because direct taxation seems to be easier for the rich to evade.

Smoothly

15:40 / 29.09.05

What do you reckon - you happy about the amount of money you give to Gordo?

Fair question. You see, I have this middle class guilt thing whereby every time I buy something at all extravagant, or survey some of the more indulgent aspects of my life, I think ‘God, I should be paying more tax’. And I suppose it’s that ‘should’ that I’m trying to unpack for myself by throwing this question out to the floor.
But it’s tricky isn’t it? So – like Phox rightly observes - when I think of Isle of Man tax exiles, and rich loop-hole artists generally, what’s ‘fair’ becomes more complicated.

w1rebaby

15:46 / 29.09.05

Do I think the tax I pay is spent on a lot of appalling things? Yes, though also a lot that aren't.

But do I consider that the amount that I pay is excessive, irrespective of what it's spent on, that I'm being left without just recompense for the work that I do? Not for income tax. I'd quibble with a few other taxes; I think VAT is too high, for instance, and it's regressive, and I don't like that. But it's not like I'm out on the streets.

I'd never call for lower tax, not on me, anyway. I'd call for better spending. Not all of it is badly spent and there are some things that are better done by a central body which a bit more in everyone's pay packet would not make up for.

Quantum

16:02 / 29.09.05

I think the UK should be as Scandinavian as possible in every way, so that would mean more direct taxation

Hear hear. I wouldn't mind more direct taxation (esp. of the rich of course) in return for lower VAT etc. and more importantly a scandinavian level of public service.

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