[Politics] Would YOU be happy to pay more income tax so OAPs could keep their fuel payments?

[SteveU]

I would be extra to pay more if we weren’t wasting it all on private hotels and the like for undeserving people from abroad and looked after our citizens first

 

[Weststander]

That’s enough @Westander now. Every-time I try and defend what I say, you take the argument even further off topic.

I support Labour but not with a blinded obsession and I don’t support the withdrawal of the fuel payments - you are tilting your lance at the wrong person here.

I was going to have the night off of politics, but I had to make the correction before the statement became NSC lore.

Anyway, have a good rest of the evening .

 

[Zeberdi]

I was going to have the night off of politics, but I had to make the correction before the statement became NSC lore.

Anyway, have a good rest of the evening .

I wasn’t even going to get involved in this discussion at all, especially with the NSC centre right! - on this or the other thread (and heartedly regret getting dragged further and further in to it )


ps. I will leave people with this about Liz Truss’s role in creating the economic crisis that led to the pension debacle

Truss' mini-budget helped knock £425bn off pension funds' assets

Pension funds were hit hard after the government announced tens of millions in unfunded tax cuts, which spooked the bond market.

www.cityam.com

 

[Super Steve Earle]

Sorry been getting constant push back every time I post because apparently my political credentials of being a Labour Party activist puts me in the firing line for those very angry about this and apparently I have to justify everything I say so I will make this my last post (after responding to @Weststander below) because its getting boring.

It wasn’t meant as anything extreme - In really basic terms - Every government comes in with their own ideology - the left, traditionally at least, big government, social contract, prioritised welfare and healthcare provision, the role of government to look after the vulnerable and weak and keep public services and utilities in the public sector, paid with by higher taxation. The right, traditionally, low taxation, laissez faire economy, private/free enterprise, helping people help themselves, lower taxation, competition in the market place. In a capitalist society, there will be greater divisions between the rich and poor under a right wing government than under a left. The inherent forces of capitalism depend on that division to flourish.

Each consecutive government redistributes wealth according to its particular ideology which should, in this instance, under a left wing government, make the fuel companies give back some of the profits they have made to reduce fuel bills and close the tax gap - that’s what I meant by the bigger picture.

Thank you. As a non political soul, I now see what you mean.

 

[dejavuatbtn]

Up the personal allowance to something sensible and raise the level of income tax so that overall tax revenues are increased. Need to do something about the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.
I can’t believe that Labour got in promising not to increase taxes - that’s Tory self interest tactics.

 

[Weststander]

I wasn’t even going to get involved in this discussion at all, especially with the NSC centre right! - on this or the other thread (and heartedly regret getting dragged further and further in to it )


ps. I will leave people with this about Liz Truss’s role in creating the economic crisis that led to the pension debacle

Truss' mini-budget helped knock £425bn off pension funds' assets

Pension funds were hit hard after the government announced tens of millions in unfunded tax cuts, which spooked the bond market.

www.cityam.com

Their headline drew people in, then the body of text reveals the true time frame and facts. Here’s the meat on the bone.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/10/04/global-bond-markets-turmoil-households/

 

[Zeberdi]

Their headline drew people in, then the body of text reveals the true time frame and facts. Here’s the meat on the bone.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/10/04/global-bond-markets-turmoil-households/

Don’t start quoting right wing papers at me.

As I said, lets end the discussion because this must be really boring for everyone else reading this thread now. It’s gone way off topic.

We differ in our political perspectives lets just leave it at that - Me supporting Labour in the election has not influenced my views on them now removing WFPs that should be enough for you.

 

[Weststander]

Don’t start quoting right wing papers at me.

As I said, lets end the discussion because this must be really boring for everyone else reading this thread now. It’s gine way off topic.

Truss didn’t knock £425b from our pension funds. If you hadn’t stated that, we wouldn’t be having this discussion.

Be careful of clickbait cityam, look at its latest headline drawing people in designed to raise hackles.
https://www.cityam.com/government-accused-of-trying-to-hide-horrific-impact-of-winter-fuel-squeeze/

FT it isn’t.

And to reiterate, no fan of Truss or Kwarteng here.

 

[South Stand Bonfire]

I overpaid a few times, always got repayments from HMRC within a few days once the calculation had been agreed

Ditto for me and it’s normally very quick if you use the on line service.

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

It wasn’t anything complex or contentious. My self assessment was incorrect to the tune of £745. My accountant re-submitted my self-assessment and we waited. I called after a while, they claimed they hadn’t received it, my accountant had a code or something he stated as evidence of the re-submission, they said they’d look for it, I kept calling, I kept explaining to a different person every time and kept being told they’d investigate and I’d get a call-back etc etc. Eventually we were asked to re-submit again and after another few months I got the money back plus 50 extra for the inconvenience. Whole thing took 18 months.

Was this a paper submission? How long ago are we talking? I always did mine electronically online. If you had an accountant submit it for you this could maybe point to additional complexities. Remember SA is only required to be completed for UK tax domiciles who have income outside of the normal PAYE environment. If there were international components on the return that can slow things down (depends on which country).

How near 31-Jan deadline day was it submitted? HMRC called every January "peak-processing" and before electronic SA submissions were possible, extra staff were redeployed to deal with the SA paper submission deluge and an IT change freeze was always implemented every January too

Now, most SA returns are submitted electronicallt online and can be processed way faster.

Sounds like you just had a bad experience?

Are you still doing SAs now? If yes, paper or electronically?

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Was this a paper submission? How long ago are we talking? I always did mine electronically online. If you had an accountant submit it for you this could maybe point to additional complexities. Remember SA is only required to be completed for UK tax domiciles who have income outside of the normal PAYE environment. If there were international components on the return that can slow things down (depends on which country).

How near 31-Jan deadline day was it submitted? HMRC called every January "peak-processing" and before electronic SA submissions were possible, extra staff were redeployed to deal with the SA paper submission deluge and an IT change freeze was always implemented every January too

Now, most SA returns are submitted electronicallt online and can be processed way faster.

Sounds like you just had a bad experience?

Are you still doing SAs now? If yes, paper or electronically?

It was a SA submitted electronically. I have rental income I declare in the UK but this is all, no other components and no international component.

It seems like this was a one off bad experience, the main cause of the delay was the constant “hmmmm, we need to investigate and will get back to you” the lost submission caused. Once they had stated it was best to re-submit it went relatively quickly.

 

[WestYorkshireSeagull]

The over 60s have had their 'winter fuel payment' by being fortunate enough to grow up through an unprecendented house price inflation era.
£10k salary and a 20k house now worth £500k?
Winter fuel payment my 'arris

 

[Stumpy Tim]

I have got three children, 2 currently at Uni one just graduated, i didn’t contribute anything to them going, they did all from the grant Also the high interest rate on the loan I’ve just checked and its not that high

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvg3g8wpwwqo

Good timing from the BBC!

 

[Ali_rrr]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvg3g8wpwwqo

Good timing from the BBC!

One of the main reasons I chose not to study in the UK. I mean, it's not even a debt anymore it's a tax.

Majority of people will never pay this off.

 

[Withdean South Stand]

In truth, the pensioners who need the allowance will get it and the additional tax revenue should come from those who don't currently pay their fair share. I pay every penny of my due taxes and if everyone did the same there wouldn't be a black hole.

 

[LamieRobertson]

The over 60s have had their 'winter fuel payment' by being fortunate enough to grow up through an unprecendented house price inflation era.
£10k salary and a 20k house now worth £500k?
Winter fuel payment my 'arris

Really ….i must have blinked as that never happened to me or my parents…perhaps it’s best not to lump everyone in the same bracket

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

One of the main reasons I chose not to study in the UK. I mean, it's not even a debt anymore it's a tax.

Majority of people will never pay this off.

Indeed, but a tax you only pay when you earn enough to do so - thresholds vary depending on which SL plan you're on, £25k-ish.
And if you don't pay the "loan" off, it gets written off anyway - again, dependent on which SL plan you're on, but by aged 65?

So, my interpretation is: pay (invest in) to get a degree to help you get a better paid job. If you do really well (getting very well paid) you will be able to afford to pay back the investment loan in full for the education that helped to achieve this well paid job.

Imagine taking out a £30k loan to use as an investment - if your investment does well, you are duty-bound to repay the loan - but if the investment fails, and you don't make the returns you had hoped to, the loan gets written off. Isn't that kinda how the Student Loan model works?

 

[Thunder Bolt]

The over 60s have had their 'winter fuel payment' by being fortunate enough to grow up through an unprecendented house price inflation era.
£10k salary and a 20k house now worth £500k?
Winter fuel payment my 'arris

Many over 60s still rent, and your figures for home owners are way out, but apart from that,

 

[GT49er]

One of the main reasons I chose not to study in the UK. I mean, it's not even a debt anymore it's a tax.

Majority of people will never pay this off.

Which just shows that University degrees aren't necessarily the passport to good jobs that the commercial organisations - sorry, universities - trying to sell the idea of getting a degree to our kids want them to think it is!