Benefits and tax: astounding graphic

[somerset]

You want to check your toilet cistern for mini sub-aqua Ninja Assassins. Don't say you weren't warned ...

Checked.....all clear

 

[Twinkle Toes]

Checked.....all clear

What about the u-bend & the water pipes?

 

[beorhthelm]

...Not getting out the laser measuring tool but would estimate the light blue to have a diameter just over half that of the dark blue which seems to equate to the same ratio of 16 to 30!

yes, the diameter appears to double in line with the numbers, problem is this means the area of those circles is well over 4x larger. so vastly inflating the image relative to the numbers. not that it matter of course, its a shame they feel they cant make their point honestly.

 

[Seagull on the wing]

We may as well call the big red circle "Tory mates", that's why. The current government are transparent fraudsters, and nothing can be done about it until people can vote again. By then, they'll have set themselves and their mates up for life.

That's about as true as saying Tony Blair was an honest politician (with his multi-millions) and served government on behalf of the working class and didn't take us to a war on lies. As true as saying that Gordon Browns tenure at No 10 benefitted the country by selling our gold reserves and leaving the country bankrupt....won't go into the open door policy of immigration...

 

[Bold Seagull]

That's about as true as saying Tony Blair was an honest politician (with his multi-millions) and served government on behalf of the working class and didn't take us to a war on lies. As true as saying that Gordon Browns tenure at No 10 benefitted the country by selling our gold reserves and leaving the country bankrupt....won't go into the open door policy of immigration...

Yes, both are true!!! They're both a set of bloody crooks!!!

 

[MICK PATCHAM]

 

[somerset]

What about the u-bend & the water pipes?

That's menial activity, I have a queue of Rumanians just longing to get the job at 42p an hour.

 

[Hugh'sDad]

........1) To cover up the Government's inability to deal with tax evasion (there are complicated reasons for this) and their inability to deal with their own mistakes in overpaying (no excuses) and 2) the fact that it chimes well with the public to target "scroungers".

..... (there are complicated reasons for this).......NO THERE AREN'T - the 'Tories' in particular are up to their neck in the racket, that's all.


.....it chimes well with the public to target "scroungers". - It does indeed chime well, and that's no accident. Because they have repeated their mantra so often, it has taken on the life of a truism, and because people are fearful for their own futures, they are easily led towards scapegoating a group that has had a big target painted on it's back by the Coalition's black-ops propaganda department.

Mark my words, if we don't all get a grip, some sadistic sociopathic posh boy will be writing up his own version of the 'Final Solution'.

I should add that this is merely my opinion, why don't you try that, Mr Mail Reader?

 

[worthingseagull123]

But would not an ISA count as tax avoidance? A legal way though.

 

[Driver8]

But would not an ISA count as tax avoidance? A legal way though.

Nothing wrong with tax avoidance (it's part of my job) it's tax evasion that's illegal.

 

[Winker]

Fair point, yes, Labour should have closed them or at least made an effort. It certainly isn't as simple as some people think but a real Labour Government would have done more to try and tackle tax evasion than Blair's lot did. I hope the lesson will be that whatever Government it is, it should not be spooked by threats by business to quit the country and threats of how it will impact negatively on our growth. The same arguments were used to oppose the minimum wage. We should know now that they are wrong.

There isn't a damn thing any British government of any persuasion can do to stop corporate tax avoidance as the free movement of capital is at the heart of the EU's free market. Corporations can set up where they like and pay their tax to whoever offers the best deal.

 

[Kevlar]

the BOE pays the government the interest on the bonds it holds
a+ not a-

 

[Machiavelli]

Just out of interest,Mach,who do you vote for?Communist Party maybe?
Got to remember that even if one agrees that one should vote for the common good,individuals will disagree as to which party or organisation is best for the common good.

As you ask, the Communist Party only have a few members, but even if they were a serious force, I doubt I'd vote for them, unless they'd ditched a whole series of their policies and, more importantly, philosophical underpinnings. But I'm more interested as to why you are so keen to associate the common good with communism when the former notion has been around for over 2,500 years, while the latter has really only come to prominence over the past 150 years.
Individuals or parties may well disagree about which party or organisation is best for the common good, but it doesn't mean that they're all correct in their assessment of what it is. What's patently apparent is we've lost the ability to assess what it is, because we're more concerned with insisting on the private good. And look where that's left us.
In case you're unaware, that's most of us in debt, working longer hours, for longer years, with less rights and benefits, while a small cabal swans away with it.

 

[Machiavelli]

I'm curious, where does Tax Justice and PCS get that fantastic number from thats so wildly different from the official numbers?

Do i also assume the subtext to this that focusing on all the tax evasion and avoidance (otherwise known as compliance), we should forget about any benefit fraud, just allow those that wish to claim and carry on?

I'd be amazed if the PCS got their numbers from anywhere else other than the Tax Justice Network. The PCS are probably just promoting the TJN's assessment.
As regards 'subtext', the figures demonstrate that the main focus, by some considerable distance, should be on addressing tax evasion and avoidance. That it isn't, and that it's benefit fraud that finds its way into our papers -- including The Daily Mail -- so regularly suggests that there's something seriously warped about our political culture.

 

[HovaGirl]

With George Osborne seemingly determined to cut more benefits, thought I'd post this which is truly eye-opening if you don't know the statistics. According to the government's own figures, more is lost through benefit overpayment than benefit fraud - and they should actually be paying out a lot more because of the massive amount of unclaimed benefits.

What's more, according to some estimates, tax evasion (most of it corporate tax evasion) costs the country a HUNDRED times more than benefit fraud (25 times more, even according to the government's own conservative estimates). The DWP has over 3,000 people investigating benefit fraud, but HMRC just 300 people investigating tax evasion - why?

Of course benefit fraud is wrong, but focusing on this and on increasing austerity measures aimed at the poor, rather than getting a small chunk out of the massive amount owed by the corporate evaders is surely ridiculous on any level.

It's even worse in Greece. Next Troika - April.

 

[HovaGirl]

The government serves the corporations and rich elite, not the people - this needs to change.

No. The Government serves everybody. It is a myth the Govt serves only the rich.

 

[HovaGirl]

Are the rich elite not people then?

Yes, and most of them are your employers.

 

[HovaGirl]

Is not the answer because the Government and other people with power are in the big red circle?

Nope. In the Big Red Circle are Boots, Costa Coffee, Amazon, etc.

 

[The Merry Prankster]

Nothing wrong with tax avoidance (it's part of my job) it's tax evasion that's illegal.

Yes there is. It's a moral wrong rather than a legal one but it is still a wrong .

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Yes there is. It's a moral wrong rather than a legal one but it is still a wrong .

I must be immoral having two ISAs.