Homes all over England with pleasant views or off-street parking may face higher council tax bills after a secret Government revaluation exercise, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.

 

Despite official claims that the revaluation exercise had been indefinitely postponed, ministers have admitted that inspectors have so far added the details of eight million homes to a database which will eventually include every house in the country.

 

Council tax has almost doubled since Labour came to power in 1997 and this week the Government will confirm that some homes in England will have rises this year of up to 11 per cent, more than four times the rate of inflation.

 

With council tax valuations already widely perceived as unfair, is there any justification for higher charges on homeowners who enjoy features like nice views or extra parking spaces?

 

Do you think you pay too much council tax? Is the tax unfair? Is there a better way to fund essential council services?

 

Source: Sunday Telegraph

The SNP in Scotland want to replace it with a local income tax. Is this a better or a worse system than council tax?

i dont think a change would be feasible... no one wants to pay more and the council wont want to collect less....

I would not mind paying as much as I do in council tax if the money was being spent in a way that benefits the whole community such as better street lighting, more security, improved leisure facilities, more school books and so on but it seems to be spent in this area anyways on housing illegal immigrants and various crackpot schemes and tons of "outreach co-ordinators"

 

Despite the rise in council tax I am seeing no improvement whatsoever in improved facilities in my area

I dont actually pay Council Tax, because it's included as part of my rent... I do, however, totally agree with the SNP, a system of Local Income Tax, which would be based on income and actual ability to pay.. is clearly a much fairer system than merely basing a tax on property values, which is entirely detrimental to people who have lived in a property for years but find their bills increasing merely because the property values (especially in London and South East/West) have sky-rocketed...

I don't think it should be based on ability to pay that is penalising success and penalising those who work hard for a living, I think the principles of the poll tax were a good idea and maybe a tweaked version of that where everyone has to pay something regardless of income would be fairer whereas your idea Scott sounds too "soak the rich" for me

I don't think it should be based on ability to pay that is penalising success and penalising those who work hard for a living, I think the principles of the poll tax were a good idea and maybe a tweaked version of that where everyone has to pay something regardless of income would be fairer whereas your idea Scott sounds too "soak the rich" for me

 

Well, considering you don't actually believe in an Income Tax based on actual Income (I do believe you advocated one flat rate of Tax for all regardless of what people actually earned - ridiculous... -_- ), that doesn't say much about your beliefs mate....

 

And frankly, yes, I'd rather "soak the rich" than have the system we have now at the present that bloody soaks the poor , the working classes, and the lower-middle classes to extent that they are being bled DRY by totally unfair tax and VAT/Stealth systems which YOUR party brought in..... <_< <_<

 

 

Well, considering you don't actually believe in an Income Tax based on actual Income (I do believe you advocated one flat rate of Tax for all regardless of what people actually earned - ridiculous... -_- ), that doesn't say much about your beliefs mate....

 

And frankly, yes, I'd rather "soak the rich" than have the system we have now at the present that bloody soaks the poor , the working classes, and the lower-middle classes to extent that they are being bled DRY by totally unfair tax and VAT/Stealth systems which YOUR party brought in..... <_< <_<

 

I do think there should be a flat rate of tax for everyone, it is for me the best system for a number of reasons

 

1) Easier administration so that it keeps Whitehall costs down, there are so many different tax brackets and tax codes and tax allowances, a simple one off right across the board tax rate of say for arguments sake 25% would save millions in Whitehall

 

2) A flat rate of tax would help retain high earning Brits who are thinking of plying their trade abroad and also help encourage overseas professionals to come here and trade

 

3) It would mean less penalising of hard work and success, where is the incentive to set up a business or go to medical school for 7 years only to find the government taking 40% of the money + NI ?

 

4) More disposable income higher up the food chain will filter down right across the board and lead to more jobs in the retail, automotive and leisure sector

 

5) A low tax rate for the rich would mean less incentive to defraud the inland revenue

 

Originally I would like to have seen income tax scrapped altogether and replaced by a much higher rate of VAT to make up for the lack of income tax but that is not practical

4) More disposable income higher up the food chain will filter down right across the board and lead to more jobs in the retail, automotive and leisure sector

 

5) A low tax rate for the rich would mean less incentive to defraud the inland revenue

 

4) Well, that's pretty much the bullsh!t argument the Tories came up with in the 80s.. Did that happen..? Did it fukk.... The Fat Cats only have only gotten fatter and left the rest of society to rot....

 

5) :lol: :lol: You sound like an apologist for white-collar criminals who defraud the system and cost the country BILLIONS every year.. Why not just go the whole hog and say to these rich, thieving b/astards, "hey, tell you what, Don't pay any taxes at all then, we'll just raise VAT and steal it all from the poor, so you can have that third holiday home in the Algarve that you dont really need, and that second lear-jet....". Start slapping some unlimited fines and prison sentences on a few of the worst offenders, confiscate some passports, start freezing and seizing assets, the rest of the rich scum out there will soon get the message and pay up what they damn well OWE.... <_<

My council tax has been frozen this year. :D

i don't pay any coz im a student

 

and if the SNP get this tax pushed through and start trying to charge me i'll tell the t**** that they can shove it 6 feet up their arses along with independence

I do think there should be a flat rate of tax for everyone, it is for me the best system for a number of reasons

 

1) Easier administration so that it keeps Whitehall costs down, there are so many different tax brackets and tax codes and tax allowances, a simple one off right across the board tax rate of say for arguments sake 25% would save millions in Whitehall

 

2) A flat rate of tax would help retain high earning Brits who are thinking of plying their trade abroad and also help encourage overseas professionals to come here and trade

 

3) It would mean less penalising of hard work and success, where is the incentive to set up a business or go to medical school for 7 years only to find the government taking 40% of the money + NI ?

 

4) More disposable income higher up the food chain will filter down right across the board and lead to more jobs in the retail, automotive and leisure sector

 

5) A low tax rate for the rich would mean less incentive to defraud the inland revenue

 

Originally I would like to have seen income tax scrapped altogether and replaced by a much higher rate of VAT to make up for the lack of income tax but that is not practical

 

 

thats totally unfair... a grand a year is alot of money for a person on a low wage, for a rich person its pocket money.

 

are you suggesting that a tradesperson, a factory worker, a nurse, a caretaker etc doesnt work hard? earning money and working hard dont always equate. not everybody in society can have a 'top job' and somebody has to do the menial tasks. that doesnt make them a lesser person.

 

oh alright then, lets lower the tax rates so the rich dont defraud the system! lol.. thats stupid.

 

for this to work and the government not be out of pocket, tax rates at the lower end would be raised as the higher rates are reduced... this is stupid. rates should be set with an element of ability to pay, after all, rich areas have far more facilities and money spent on them then poor areas per head...

 

 

thats totally unfair... a grand a year is alot of money for a person on a low wage, for a rich person its pocket money.

 

are you suggesting that a tradesperson, a factory worker, a nurse, a caretaker etc doesnt work hard? earning money and working hard dont always equate. not everybody in society can have a 'top job' and somebody has to do the menial tasks. that doesnt make them a lesser person.

 

oh alright then, lets lower the tax rates so the rich dont defraud the system! lol.. thats stupid.

 

for this to work and the government not be out of pocket, tax rates at the lower end would be raised as the higher rates are reduced... this is stupid. rates should be set with an element of ability to pay, after all, rich areas have far more facilities and money spent on them then poor areas per head...

 

I agree with you Mushy / Man / Rob (is your name Rob, Mushy or Man?)

 

A flat rate of tax would just make the rich poor divide even greater than it is at present - something Maggie Thatcher would doubtless approve of though.

 

Norma

 

thats totally unfair... a grand a year is alot of money for a person on a low wage, for a rich person its pocket money.

 

are you suggesting that a tradesperson, a factory worker, a nurse, a caretaker etc doesnt work hard? earning money and working hard dont always equate. not everybody in society can have a 'top job' and somebody has to do the menial tasks. that doesnt make them a lesser person.

 

oh alright then, lets lower the tax rates so the rich dont defraud the system! lol.. thats stupid.

 

for this to work and the government not be out of pocket, tax rates at the lower end would be raised as the higher rates are reduced... this is stupid. rates should be set with an element of ability to pay, after all, rich areas have far more facilities and money spent on them then poor areas per head...

 

Sure the people you mentioned deserve more money than they get and they do work hard but with the exception of the public sector and civil service every company in this country that employs someone was started by a risk taker, an entrepreneur and I think having taken the risk, many companies were set up with property and so on as collateral I believe the system should reward not penalise entrepreneurs and risk takers so I would have no objection at all to the man that took the risk and mortgaged himself to the hilt to set up the factory paying the same rate of tax as the factory workers he is employing, fair reward for risk taking

 

 

While it is not aimed at anyone here there is something about the mentality of Brits that I can't get my head around

 

People that have set up businesses and have made a massive success of their lives through taking risks are sneered at and called "greedy" "fat cats" and so on, in sport losers like Henman and Eddie The Eagle are revered as heroes whereas the likes of Andy Murray, Stephen Hendry and dare I say it Lewis Hamilton and so on are labelled "spoiled brat" "arrogant" because they have a single minded determination to win things, it is really something inbuilt in the British mentality I can't get to grips with, entrepreneurs and risk takers and single minded sportsmen should be looked up to as opposed to be sneered at

But Hamilton is a t***.

I do think there should be a flat rate of tax for everyone, it is for me the best system for a number of reasons

 

1) Easier administration so that it keeps Whitehall costs down, there are so many different tax brackets and tax codes and tax allowances, a simple one off right across the board tax rate of say for arguments sake 25% would save millions in Whitehall

 

2) A flat rate of tax would help retain high earning Brits who are thinking of plying their trade abroad and also help encourage overseas professionals to come here and trade

 

3) It would mean less penalising of hard work and success, where is the incentive to set up a business or go to medical school for 7 years only to find the government taking 40% of the money + NI ?

 

4) More disposable income higher up the food chain will filter down right across the board and lead to more jobs in the retail, automotive and leisure sector

 

5) A low tax rate for the rich would mean less incentive to defraud the inland revenue

 

Originally I would like to have seen income tax scrapped altogether and replaced by a much higher rate of VAT to make up for the lack of income tax but that is not practical

 

 

1)They do have very big and sophisticated computers at the Inland Revenue, I don't think having 2 tax rates of 20% and 40% is beyond a government department with thousands of employees to work out.Well unless they post the information on discs :lol:

 

2)So the apprentice plays the same percentage as Alan Sugar..................are you for real :wacko:

 

3)People who earn more can easily afford to pay higher taxes, however the rich pay a lower marginal tax than the poor, they just switch their income to dividends and pay it at 10% whereas we all pay 20%, like thats fair :angry:

 

4)How exactly, if a rich guy buys a yacht how does that help me exactly, most rich people buy houses abroad and buy Ferrari's etc, don't see how that helps the poorer members of society

 

5)no chance, the super rich pay less percentage wise than a cleaner, just switch their income overseas

 

If you increase VAT then an even higher proportion falls onto the lower paid, why not go the whole hog and bring back the poll tax :lol: no wait a minute the tory's tried that and there were riots in the street and that was the end of Maggie what's her name.

While it is not aimed at anyone here there is something about the mentality of Brits that I can't get my head around

 

People that have set up businesses and have made a massive success of their lives through taking risks are sneered at and called "greedy" "fat cats" and so on,

 

theres a big difference though between 'joe bloggs' who takes a risk to set up a 'small business' and the head of a multi national company. all to often the people at the top of big business are corrupt. they get away with murder all because of the class system, (dont forget alot of these guys were born into wealth...they didnt earn it). if these people are so well off then they wont miss paying more... like i said, a grand to me is alot of money, a grand to a millionairre is nothing, he will effectively paying nothing as he wont miss it. dont forget that per head more money is spent on rich areas then on poor areas per head... so why shouldnt they pay more?