One of the biggest names in British business has told the government not to scrap the new 50p rate of income tax.
The former head of Marks and Spencer, Sir Stuart Rose has not only said he opposes the move but is happy to pay more tax to help the country out of its current financial difficulties.
I see a man on a publicity quest. If you want to pay more tax then by all means write a cheque to the Inland Revenue. Championing punitive tax rates that hurt business and move assets abroad is not the way.
How would I explain to my secretary that I am getting less tax on my income, which is palpably bigger than hers, when hers is now going down?'
If you explained that to her then you would be an idiot. How does an idiot become the head of a large company like Marks and Spencers?
Why not explain to her how her job was created, how punitive tax rates harm business and send money and investments abroad. How about explaining the Laffer curve?
Rose is not alone in calling for the rich to pay more taxes, with several high-profile names adding their weight to the debate.
Billionaire investor Warren Buffet urged Congress in August to raise taxes for millionaires, arguing they have survived the financial crisis better than those poorest in society.
They have also paid a lot more tax than the poorest in society. In America, the top 5% of earners pay 50% of the income tax take. The wealthiest 1% earn 19% of the income but pay 37% of the tax.
It's all very well saying you are willing to pay more tax to help the country if you want to get in the Daily Mail, but if you really do want to help the country, more tax is not the answer. Giving the government more money only encourages them to waste more. It's the waste that has to stop.
I could go on for pages about high public sector salaries, foreign wars, the EU, etc, but you're already aware of where the money goes.
The government are addicted to spending our hard earned cash. Why give them more? If this country really is going to pull itself out of the toilet, the waste needs to stop, not be encouraged.
16 Comments:
In a nutshell.
Oh, if only I had your optimism!
AE - Because if he pays more, everyone else has to also.
Julia - Booze helps
The aim is to keep it as low as possible.
Companies should be taxed, not people.
Self employed, one man bands (or even 5 man) do not count.
Start with BP. Those feckers raked in 13 billion in PROFIT, FFS, while I'm paying 120 quid a week just to go to work in my own motor.
You must be the opposite of me - the booze makes it all seem so very black to me, but it's also the only cure for the blackness.
Strange, eh?
If only companies paid tax, the money would come from wages or be added on to price of products. Still, if tax was kept to a bare minimum, that wouldn't matter.
I'm a firm beleiver in a flat tax percentage of 10% (or so) for every earner. And next to fuck all in benefits. And nowt for the EU. And nowt on wars. And no civil servants. And...
We could argue all day, but if your proposition is true, BP would be paying their employees next to nothing (they're not) whilst charging through the nose (they are) and making no cash (13 Billion should last several lifetimes). Your equation appears faulty to this savage.
Nationalise the bastards.
PS The only previous problems we've had with nationalised companies have arisen from the fact that the Gov of the day have started acting like Company Directors and ripped people off on a galactic scale. Either that else interfered in the day to day running of a company they know bugger all about.
Put me in charge, I promise I'll be fair-no pot to piss in, no window to throw it out of? Tax bill 0. Smug twat who obtained his cash from fraud and theft (Branson, for example, but I could name a dozen others)? Tax bill - The lot, and think yourself lucky you are still breathing.
In what way does the oil in the land beneath British waters belong to a private company, any more than the air above my head? Why should I pay to use a telephone system my taxes have already paid to build? Why is my council tax used to but common land, which is then converted into a private, council car park, and then I am charged to use the thing I have already paid for, or imprisoned if I use it and refuse to pay?
Tax 'em to death.
PS I'm not falling out dude, I'm just so very sick of being taxed, and rich wankers pissing it away in order to get more.
However I dont beleive in privatisation. The last lot of privatised industry pissed billions in tax up the wall because it was so inefficient.
I would say that whoever pays to bring the oil up has the right to sell it, whoever creates the phone system has the right to charge to use it etc.
I beleive in low tax and very small government.
I know you're not falling out mate. I'm totally sick of it too.
You don't believe in privatisation or nationalisation?
Take a look at the railways now; totally inefficient, ridiculously expensive and STILL receiving millions of tax in Gov subsidies every year, despite being private companies paying out massive dividends to greedy shareholders.
BR was 10 times better, 10 times cheaper and you could get from A to B without changing 4 times.
With regard to paying of the persons who funded the systems that get the oil out of the ground, that would be my dad and grand-dad (and yours).
Our forefathers built giants like BP, with their taxes, and then we get to pay the highest prices in Europe for petrol, while fat shareholders light another cigar and count the dosh.
It aint right mate.
Another thing; ban dividends. You want to invest in a company? No problem. Buy some shares, and if the company is successful, the shares will rise in value and you will make a profit. The way we have it today means that companies deliberately overcharge to cover the cost of paying shareholder's dividends.
I could talk about how those people who work for the oil companies got their jobs, or how the huge price of petrol is down to the stupid amount of tax that's charged on it, but like you said earlier, we could discuss this all night.
I must admit a certain ignorance to how dividens work, but as for shareholders, the fat cat ones are the few, the majority are normal people like you and me who invest a small amount and get a small regular return.
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