Unpopular Opinions

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  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,489
    edited July 2020
    rick_chasey said:

    pblakeney said:

    rick_chasey said:

    Gap year is not taking a career break to travel, no?

    Your career hasn’t started then!

    Purely for the sake of argument.
    Those not taking a gap year have one year extra experience over those who do.
    Quite important at the early stages.
    Disagree.
    Good point, well made.
    Makes my opinion unpopular and therefore on topic. 😉
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,325
    I think most of us should pay a lot more tax.

    50% tax rate for anything over 40K is my manifesto... gonna be popular!!
    left the forum March 2023
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,325
    The aviation industry should not receive any ad hoc help. It needs to be left to shrink to a size which is compatible with a more modern, more sustainable way of living. Those working in the sector typically have good transferable skills which should allow them to get a job in another sector.

    I've never seen this thread before, it's brilliant, I could literally post hundreds of unpopular opinions
    left the forum March 2023
  • shortfall
    shortfall Posts: 3,288
    ugo.santalucia said:

    I think most of us should pay a lot more tax.

    50% tax rate for anything over 40K is my manifesto... gonna be popular!!

    I think this has been discussed already in cakestop but I believe it is already possible to voluntarily pay more tax. There are also lots of charities who would gladly receive any donations from those who feel they've got spare cash to share out.
  • surrey_commuter
    surrey_commuter Posts: 18,867
    Based upon your threshold I am guessing you earn £39,000.

  • surrey_commuter
    surrey_commuter Posts: 18,867
    I think there should be a flat rate of tax on all income of 20% with no exemptions.

    One day a week working for the Govt is enough
  • nickice
    nickice Posts: 2,439
    ugo.santalucia said:

    I think most of us should pay a lot more tax.

    50% tax rate for anything over 40K is my manifesto... gonna be popular!!

    40k isn't that great in some parts of the country.
  • nickice
    nickice Posts: 2,439
    surrey_commuter said:

    I think there should be a flat rate of tax on all income of 20% with no exemptions.

    One day a week working for the Govt is enough

    You wouldn't even exempt the first 10k from tax and then have a 20% rate?
  • nickice
    nickice Posts: 2,439
    If we want to save money and we accept that the Government should sometimes provide housing, getting rid of housing benefit would be a start.
  • First.Aspect
    First.Aspect Posts: 17,380
    The tax shortfall in this country is nothing to do with the personal tax take from normal people, it is aggressive tax avoidance by corporations.
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,730
    nickice said:

    If we want to save money and we accept that the Government should sometimes provide housing, getting rid of housing benefit would be a start.

    This could be achieved by offering free re-housing for those on housing benefit with those who own spacious houses.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • nickice
    nickice Posts: 2,439
    First.Aspect said:

    The tax shortfall in this country is nothing to do with the personal tax take from normal people, it is aggressive tax avoidance by corporations.

    Why is it 'aggressive'?
  • First.Aspect
    First.Aspect Posts: 17,380
    nickice said:

    First.Aspect said:

    The tax shortfall in this country is nothing to do with the personal tax take from normal people, it is aggressive tax avoidance by corporations.

    Why is it 'aggressive'?
    The newspapers say so.

    Spending millions on accountants to find ways of avoiding tax that are cleverer than the policy makers strikes me as wrong. Seems to have something in common with the battle between software developers and hackers, or dopers and testers.
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,489
    Anti virus software companies hire hackers to make their software necessary.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 61,809
    ugo.santalucia said:

    I think most of us should pay a lot more tax.

    50% tax rate for anything over 40K is my manifesto... gonna be popular!!

    It's pretty safe to say you won't get elected on that basis. Even New Old Labour were suggesting 45% over £80k and 50% over £120k IIRC.
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 61,809
    First.Aspect said:

    The tax shortfall in this country is nothing to do with the personal tax take from normal people, it is aggressive tax avoidance by corporations.

    That is not correct. I can dig out the figures for you later if needed.
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 61,809
    surrey_commuter said:

    I think there should be a flat rate of tax on all income of 20% with no exemptions.

    One day a week working for the Govt is enough

    That's not too unpopular...
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • surrey_commuter
    surrey_commuter Posts: 18,867
    First.Aspect said:

    The tax shortfall in this country is nothing to do with the personal tax take from normal people, it is aggressive tax avoidance by corporations.

    corporation tax will never be big enough to make a significant difference to total tax take
  • surrey_commuter
    surrey_commuter Posts: 18,867
    nickice said:

    surrey_commuter said:

    I think there should be a flat rate of tax on all income of 20% with no exemptions.

    One day a week working for the Govt is enough

    You wouldn't even exempt the first 10k from tax and then have a 20% rate?
    I agree with you in scrapping HB and then would be tempted to align tax exempt with maximum benefit level.
  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 22,025
    rick_chasey said:

    Which reminds me: https://youtu.be/eKFjWR7X5dU

    Is this jealousy or a bit of snobbery? (I know it is supposed to be funny)
  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 61,809
    HMRC stats here - click on the report and have a read.
    https://gov.uk/government/statistics/measuring-tax-gaps

    There is a bar chart summary on page 5 breaking down the shortfall by type of tax payer, reason for shortfall (e.g. avoidance, errors, black economy etc) and by tax type. Avoidance is a small part of the shortfall - as is corporation tax.
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,325
    surrey_commuter said:

    Based upon your threshold I am guessing you earn £39,000.

    NO, quite a bit more.
    I want to pay more tax, I don't want to donate to charities, I trust governments... even this government... I might not always agree with all they do, but I trust them. They have built hospitals in record times, built up testing capacity from 10K to 200K in a couple of months and sourced medical equipment in very difficult times. Not sure what charities do, there is a lot less scrutiny on their activities.
    left the forum March 2023
  • surrey_commuter
    surrey_commuter Posts: 18,867
    ugo.santalucia said:

    surrey_commuter said:

    Based upon your threshold I am guessing you earn £39,000.

    NO, quite a bit more.
    I want to pay more tax, I don't want to donate to charities, I trust governments... even this government... I might not always agree with all they do, but I trust them. They have built hospitals in record times, built up testing capacity from 10K to 200K in a couple of months and sourced medical equipment in very difficult times. Not sure what charities do, there is a lot less scrutiny on their activities.
    i am sure your local hospital will have a variety of charities or ongoing fundraisers, pick the one that resonates and donate your perceived tax shortfall. Arguably more efficient than paying tax and redistributing funds with all the admin costs.
  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 22,025
    I agree with ugo on this. I can't see the point of being wealthy in a poor society.
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,227
    Gift Aid should not exist.
  • shortfall
    shortfall Posts: 3,288
    TheBigBean said:

    I agree with ugo on this. I can't see the point of being wealthy in a poor society.

    Just give it all away then, it's not difficult.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,660
    Charities that are obviously worthwhile are a stain on society as they shouldn’t have to exist as the government should be doing it.
    _
  • coopster_the_1st
    coopster_the_1st Posts: 5,158
    ugo.santalucia said:

    surrey_commuter said:

    Based upon your threshold I am guessing you earn £39,000.

    NO, quite a bit more.
    I want to pay more tax, I don't want to donate to charities, I trust governments... even this government... I might not always agree with all they do, but I trust them. They have built hospitals in record times, built up testing capacity from 10K to 200K in a couple of months and sourced medical equipment in very difficult times. Not sure what charities do, there is a lot less scrutiny on their activities.
    Pay more into your pension then and take responsibility for your own old age. That way you control it and everyone benefits in the long term. You also get some tax back to pay more money in
  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 22,025
    shortfall said:

    TheBigBean said:

    I agree with ugo on this. I can't see the point of being wealthy in a poor society.

    Just give it all away then, it's not difficult.
    That wouldn't lead to a rich society.
  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 22,025
    rick_chasey said:

    Charities that are obviously worthwhile are a stain on society as they shouldn’t have to exist as the government should be doing it.

    Presumably not if the recipient is abroad.

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