Poll tax -v- council tax : which is fairest?

[Wildcat]

Should he also pay a higher rate of VAT on his Mars Bar?

 

Do you think the inequalities in the economic system should be ignored when it comes to taxation?

 

What alternative do suggest as a means of obtaining Social justice for the poor?

[Tony]

I can just see the shopkeeper asking people for evidence of their wealth to work out what they need to charge their customers.

 

What's the difference with a Council Tax bill home when the council send the Band H bill out?

 

Do you think the inequalities in the economic system should be ignored when it comes to taxation?

Yes.

 

What alternative do suggest as a means of obtaining Social justice for the poor?

Stop them being poor.

[rubydazzler]

I can just see the shopkeeper asking people for evidence of their wealth to work out what they need to charge their customers.

Actually, that's a good idea. Charge your regulars one price and when a rich looking/sounding person comes in being all patronising to you, add RAT ... ruby's added tax

 

I wonder how long that'd last before you were rumbled.

 

*this is a local shop for local people

[Wildcat]

What's the difference with a Council Tax bill home when the council send the Band H bill out?

 

You were talking about a variable tax rate dependent on income payable on purchase of items like Mars bars. The main flaw in your proposal or suggestion is that it is completely impractical.

 

Yes.

 

So you rule out the basic and obvious method of redistribution of wealth we use to mitigate the negative impacts of power within the economic system. A principle that has existed as long as we have had taxation. Indeed Genesis even mentions the Pharoahs using a taxation system based on a proportion of what is produced.

 

Stop them being poor.

 

So how will you do this without using taxation to mitigate the imbalance of power within the economic system?

[Wildcat]

Actually, that's a good idea. Charge your regulars one price and when a rich looking/sounding person comes in being all patronising to you, add RAT ... ruby's added tax

 

I wonder how long that'd last before you were rumbled.

 

*this is a local shop for local people

 

Whether rumbled or not, it is worth considering

 

I know someone that did precisely that and would increase the charge for the service they provided based on who they were doing it for. On this occassion not based on wealth but obnoxiousness. Chubby Brown for example cost double anyone else because working for him was intolerable even on double pay!

[Tony]

You were talking about a variable tax rate dependent on income payable on purchase of items like Mars bars. The main flaw in your proposal or suggestion is that it is completely impractical.

I never suggested or proposed anything. I just asked questions. Your response isn't adequate.

 

So you rule out the basic and obvious method of redistribution of wealth we use to mitigate the negative impacts of power within the economic system. A principle that has existed as long as we have had taxation. Indeed Genesis even mentions the Pharoahs using a taxation system based on a proportion of what is produced.

I never ruled out anything. Does being obvious (to you) make it the right answer?

 

So how will you do this without using taxation to mitigate the imbalance of power within the economic system?

There are plenty of ways.

 

 

 

 

I don't have time or the inclination to indulge in a one on one because I'm interested in what other people think on this thread.

[rubydazzler]

So how will you do this without using taxation to mitigate the imbalance of power within the economic system?

You post this as though our over-riding concern should be to mitigate the imbalance of power within the economic system (whatever that gobbledegook means). Surely if people want to have power, whether financial or political, they should work out ways of achieving this for themselves? Too many people in this country think the world owes them a living and are content to live on a pittance provided they dont have to work for it.

 

You can see this by contrasting the work ethic of the lowly economic migrants with the idleness of the peasant class born here. They'll set up a car wash, live in a caravan on site, whatever it takes. Far too many of our own just sit on their backsides with their hands out.

 

I don't want to help them at all. I'd sooner keep as much of my money as I can and use it to help people whom I want to help. Like a Victorian philanthropist assisting the deserving poor.

[epiphany]

Only taxation that bears some relation to income can be considered fair.

It will be interesting to see if the Liberals go ahead with their promise to replace council tax with local income tax if they get balance of power in a hung parliament.

 

Actually I think tax based on consumption is far fairer than a tax on one's labour, but that's just IMO.

[carosio]

Because he can afford to pay more.

 

What the Duke of Devonshire can or cannot afford is (under CT regulations) irrelevant; the occupier, whether owner or tenant, will only pay Council tax on the living quarters (which the Duke now rents from the Chatsworth trust) within the Stately Home; and if his savings and income were low enough, he would be entitled to CT benefit even though the house is worth many millions.

[Ms Macbeth]

Actually I think tax based on consumption is far fairer than a tax on one's labour, but that's just IMO.

 

I think a balance is needed. I like the idea of a local income tax instead of council tax. I'm sure loads of folk on lowish (just not low enough) incomes would feel the same.

 

But four working adults in a house might not agree. They didn't agree with the poll tax, when in principle it was reasonably fair. It was never explained properly! The reality of any taxation is that the really rich can afford to pay (or know ways to avoid paying), the really poor don't have to pay, and all those in the middle (even if only marginally better off than the really poor) get taxed every which way.