Annual Tax Summary 2013-14

[Guest]

If you don't like how the system works I suggest you find somewhere else to live.

 

Me personally or in general?

 

I have no problem paying tax and stuff as I'm happy to contribute to a better society provided everyone is playing by the same rules. Unfortunately they're not.

[Itsthejoeker]

Me personally or in general?

 

I have no problem paying tax and stuff as I'm happy to contribute to a better society provided everyone is playing by the same rules. Unfortunately they're not.

 

No, not you. I actually agree with your stance that everyone should play by the same rules.

 

What I don't agree with, is some on here, and across the country who believe that it is their divine right not to contribute to the health and education just because they do not use these services. It is pure narrow mindedness and ignorance to think that these contributions to welfare do not benefit them in some way. I would love someone to explain the benefit of a poor education and healthcare system. 

 

Stopping or reducing education funding is only going to achieve one thing, thick kids. Who will be paying for your healthcare and pension contributions when you are too old or ill to work. Thick kids, who will ensure that industry and services are driven out of this country as they are unable to provide the skills necessary to complete these jobs. 

 

I personally would much rather live in a country which looks after its citizens making it a much more pleasant place to live in. Rather than have millions living in poverty as can be observed in some of the third world countries and emerging BRIC nations because their governments and upper classes do not value other people quality of life.

[leicsmac]

No, not you. I actually agree with your stance that everyone should play by the same rules.

 

What I don't agree with, is some on here, and across the country who believe that it is their divine right not to contribute to the health and education just because they do not use these services. It is pure narrow mindedness and ignorance to think that these contributions to welfare do not benefit them in some way. I would love someone to explain the benefit of a poor education and healthcare system. 

 

Stopping or reducing education funding is only going to achieve one thing, thick kids. Who will be paying for your healthcare and pension contributions when you are too old or ill to work. Thick kids, who will ensure that industry and services are driven out of this country as they are unable to provide the skills necessary to complete these jobs. 

 

I personally would much rather live in a country which looks after its citizens making it a much more pleasant place to live in. Rather than have millions living in poverty as can be observed in some of the third world countries and emerging BRIC nations because their governments and upper classes do not value other people quality of life.

 

Some people just like their feeling of superiority, in the disguise of social Darwinism. It gives them a rush.

[MooseBreath]

If nobody was forced to pay towards one provider of health care and education then maybe the increased competition would improve services.

[Itsthejoeker]

If nobody was forced to pay towards one provider of health care and education then maybe the increased competition would improve services.

 

Because that system work seem to work in America doesn't it. When the poor cannot afford healthcare, and even the middle class are driven to thousand and thousands of dollars in debt for treatments because healthcare organisations can afford to drive up their prices because of the competition. 

[Guest]

If nobody was forced to pay towards one provider of health care and education then maybe the increased competition would improve services.

 

In the same way that competition in rail operation improved services?

[Itsthejoeker]

In the same way that competition in rail operation improved services?

 

Once again, all it did was drive up prices and make some services completely unaffordable.

[MooseBreath]

In the same way that competition in rail operation improved services?

The rail industry is a mess because it has never been privatised properly. We're still subsidising it and guaranteeing profits using public money. While that's still happening it isn't properly privatised and so we won't see the full benefits of privatisation.

[MooseBreath]

Because that system work seem to work in America doesn't it. When the poor cannot afford healthcare, and even the middle class are driven to thousand and thousands of dollars in debt for treatments because healthcare organisations can afford to drive up their prices because of the competition.

I don't know enough about how it works in America to comment, but clearly if what you're saying is true then the market isn't operating effectively over there. That doesn't mean that it couldn't operate effectively if it were managed more effectively.

I don't support full privatisation of the NHS though, I'm just playing Devil's advocate. For me it should be free at the point of use, though I've no problem at all with privatisation behind the scenes if done properly.

[Itsthejoeker]

I don't know enough about how it works in America to comment, but clearly if what you're saying is true then the market isn't operating effectively over there. That doesn't mean that it couldn't operate effectively if it were managed more effectively.

I don't support full privatisation of the NHS though, I'm just playing Devil's advocate. For me it should be free at the point of use, though I've no problem at all with privatisation behind the scenes if done properly.

 

Of course, privatisation of certain services will help the NHS thrive, but that doesn't mean you will receive any tax cuts.

[Guest Kopfkino]

Because that system work seem to work in America doesn't it. When the poor cannot afford healthcare, and even the middle class are driven to thousand and thousands of dollars in debt for treatments because healthcare organisations can afford to drive up their prices because of the competition.

If anyone truly wanted to follow the american system then they need admitting to a mental asylum. The government spends more on healthcare as a % of GDP than they do here.

Education funding in america is even more ****ed up

[Guest Kopfkino]

In the same way that competition in rail operation improved services?

It's not been opened up to competition though has it? All that happened was private franchises were given a monopoly on a route. This isn't going to improve standards because there is no incentive for them to. The only incentive is to keep cost down. To improve services you need more than one provider on a route. I've always found travelling on the WCM to London to be better than East Midlands Trains from Leicester and maybe that's because there are two providers rather than one.

There's actually an article about the railways on bbc today http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-31621300

[Guest MattP]

In the same way that competition in rail operation improved services?

As a regular rail user I think the service is twice as good as it was 15 years back.

Still a problem with one the day prices but a lot of people who knock the trains rarely use them in my experience.

[Guest]

As a regular rail user I think the service is twice as good as it was 15 years back.

Still a problem with one the day prices but a lot of people who knock the trains rarely use them in my experience.

 

Personally I can't use the trains as much as I'd like as my schedule is so up in the air and I can't plan far enough in advance to make travelling on them economically or logistically viable, although I've often said if there was a regular and affordable train service between the places I need to get to and at the times I need to go there (very early morning or late night usually between Leicester and Manchester) then I'd happily bin my car off. It's just not realistic at the moment so I'll be waiting for that self driving google car I reckon.

 

My experience though is that it hasn't improved in terms of service from when I used it 10 plus years ago but that the price has simply rocketed and made it unusable without  planning 3 weeks in advance. I guess that's all subjective though. 

[Jon the Hat]

_{To be clear I don't object to paying tax for the NHS or the welfare state in general.  I do object to the money is put in being mismanaged and the fact that the NHS is some sacred cow that we cant comment on without the usual hysterical responses.}

[Webbo]

 

 

Stopping or reducing education funding is only going to achieve one thing, thick kids. Who will be paying for your healthcare and pension contributions when you are too old or ill to work. Thick kids, who will ensure that industry and services are driven out of this country as they are unable to provide the skills necessary to complete these jobs. 

 

 

We had increased spending during the Blair/Brown years and I didn't notice any increase in the average IQ.

[Jon the Hat]

We had increased spending during the Blair/Brown years and I didn't notice any increase in the average IQ.

 

Pay increases don't necessarily give you better outcomes.

[Guest ttfn]

As a regular rail user I think the service is twice as good as it was 15 years back.

Still a problem with one the day prices but a lot of people who knock the trains rarely use them in my experience.

Generally speaking I agree. The London to Leicester route (which is one I take often and I imagine you do too) is actually brilliant - one hour to travel 100 miles on relatively comfortable trains.

But then again another route I take less frequently - London to Bath - is routinely at 75% over capacity and trains are either late/cancelled at late notice.

We're suffering from having had the (one of the?) first nationwide rail network. Unlike Germany which was bombed to pieces and to a similar extent to japan, we've simply not been able to start again with what is a public necessity and instead have had to cope with minor improvements rather than the required overhaul.

[leicsmac]

Generally speaking I agree. The London to Leicester route (which is one I take often and I imagine you do too) is actually brilliant - one hour to travel 100 miles on relatively comfortable trains.

But then again another route I take less frequently - London to Bath - is routinely at 75% over capacity and trains are either late/cancelled at late notice.

We're suffering from having had the (one of the?) first nationwide rail network. Unlike Germany which was bombed to pieces and to a similar extent to japan, we've simply not been able to start again with what is a public necessity and instead have had to cope with minor improvements rather than the required overhaul.

 

This. Our infrastructure is creaking because it's simply too old and hasn't had to be built from the bottom up again like the much better ones of other nations. 

 

That being said, can you imagine the cost and disruption caused by ripping everything up and starting over?

 

Pay increases don't necessarily give you better outcomes.

 

Agreed. But pay decreases are pretty much guaranteed to give you worse ones.

[Tommy G]

Especially if you have private healthcare and private schooling.

 

I thought you were a bit more switched on

 

I have healthcare too - so should my tax not go into the NHS? I cant exactly wave my AXA card if I am rushed into A&E. As for schooling, I shouldnt fund this either to provide an excellent education standard as a platform for young kids to go to school and later in life have the required skill set to contribute to the wide UK economy, and could even employ them one day?

 

What an arrogance you have.