The game has changed.. is it dawning on people yet?

[Rupert_Baehr]

...People have the wrong idea about much of the third world due to images of poverty seen on TV. Just round the corner from such pictures there may well be 5* hotels, modern cars, and all the trappings of wealth.

 

If we were to constantly film and show nothing but beggers sleeping in our shop doorways and run down council estates with burnt out cars etc, people would think the same about us.

 

...

 

Surely this happens already (and has happened for many years)?

 

It doesn't take very much to give outsiders a skewed impression of a place.

[MrSmith]

Our modern infrastructure is amongst the oldest in the world, and needs refurbishing, replenishing, or replacing just to keep up with growing economies.

 

 

Yep and we can't afford to refurbish it because of the vast sums of tax money that is wasted by government and the public sector.

[mossdog]

No it wouldn't, we would still have substantially more services and infrastructure than all the third world countries and economic growth isn't overly important. What will eventually turn us into a third world country is continued debt and population expansion.

Oh!..............and plus a Labour government!

[wednesday1]

Oh!..............and plus a Labour government!

 

The ConDems seem to be leaving nothing to chance.

[I1L2T3]

Yep and we can't afford to refurbish it because of the vast sums of tax money that is wasted by government and the public sector.

 

That's part of the reason why. Clearly we need a more efficient public sector. The other reason is we don't collect enough of the tax that is due because the tax laws allow too much of it to be avoided. We also have stubbornly high unemployment meaning benefit spend is way above what it should be.

[MrSmith]

That's part of the reason why. Clearly we need a more efficient public sector. The other reason is we don't collect enough of the tax that is due because the tax laws allow too much of it to be avoided. We also have stubbornly high unemployment meaning benefit spend is way above what it should be.

 

Clearly if tax laws allow for it to be avoided then it isn't due.

 

The last government got round that problem by employing them in the inefficient public sector which costs more than having them on JSA. I don’t see how we will ever get unemployment under control whilst ever we have high immigration and the ability to buy cheap stuff from abroad.

[I1L2T3]

Clearly if tax laws allow for it to be avoided then it isn't due.

 

If it is avoided it must have been due. You understand the argument

[MrSmith]

If it is avoided it must have been due. You understand the argument

 

Tax avoidance is the minimization of tax liability by lawful methods.

 

I avoid paying tax on savings by placing my money in an ISA; I avoid paying all the income tax that is due by paying into my pension. I avoid paying VAT by buying VAT exempt items.

[Anna B]

Yep and we can't afford to refurbish it because of the vast sums of tax money that is wasted by government and the public sector.

 

I agree Mr Smith, the waste is horrendous.

 

But how can we change that?

 

Both governments are as bad as each other and we little people aren't ever listened to. We have been very badly governed for a very long time and yet we still have to vote for more of the same or not vote at all.

 

The ballot box is no threat to either side. Manifestoes are routinely ignored once they are in power, and corruption is rife.

[Obelix]

If it is avoided it must have been due. You understand the argument

 

Not at all. If I put money in a pension I avoid paying that tax that would be due as income. That's avoidance and is legal.

 

If I fail to declare it as income, thats evasion and is naughty.

 

No matter how much you try and dress it up, avoidance is normal, and is generally something that is to be encouraged, as there have been laws passed to encourage it for good reason. Sadly that means that there are loopholes that will always be exploited, but they will still be exploited legally.