Tag Archives: tax

A Cautionary Tale

13 Replies

Grey Squirrel

The photos of my pension documents didn’t attach themselves to the email I sent to the solicitor.It took another two day delay before they told me. The really annoying bit is that the question the documents answer have no bearing on the matter in hand. As the budget looms, so does the prospect that we will, after paying several sorts of tax on the property already, be hit by another chunk of tax. It’s always a tricky subject, as we need to pay tax for the services we want, but it’s also true that after fifteen years of living on minimum wage we aren’t actually rich. We just get caught up in the net along with the rich. It’s always been our position in society – too rich to get benefits and too poor to  do more than bob along existing. Part of the problem is that when we did have good wages, we saved money and if you save money you are expected to pay your way. Meanwhile, the people who blow it all on holidays and parties, are given more because they didn’t save.

Nuthatch

If I had my time over again, I would do several things differently, and one of them would be to take measures to shelter my money from the government. I am having to provide all sorts of ID and proof relating to my savings but other people take millions off the state and it seems so easy. I( have to provide more documentation to spend my own money than these people need to make thousands of bogus claims. They took more than £50 million.

The answer seems so easy – if they are going to treat me as a criminal for wanting to buy a bungalow because I have bad knees, why don’t I commit fraud on a massive scale. Do a maximum eight years in jail and I would be out with enough money to live well for the rest of my life. Of course, people aren’t having to do much jail time these days, so I may get away with just a couple of years.

Red Crested Pochard

 

A Few Words to Fill a Gap

15 Replies

We had thunder and lightening yesterday, as i have already noted.  After that we had hours of rain. It rained heavily all night, or at least for the parts I was awake, and it is still raining now, at midday. If you are a plant that needs rain, or a depleted pond, or a duck, this must be great weather. If you live near a river it is, I assume, less good.

It’s an example of how we all live our lives in selfish compartments. I’m lucky enough to live in a fairly hilly country, so we aren’t going to disappear as global sea levels rise, though we may change shape. If I were living in the Maldives, which would probably be a great experience most of the time, I wouldn’t consider myself quite so lucky as my country gradually submerged.

Healthy Salmon. Well, healthy for me. The salmon is looking like it’s beyond the reach of medical aid.

I have varying degrees of sympathy for flood victims. Some, like the people of the Maldives, are blameless victims (or at least as blameless as anyone cn be in these days of consumption and consumerism). People who come on the UK news, complaining that the government should “do something” to stop their house flooding, I have less sympathy for. If you buy a house by a river, this is going to happen. I don’t wish bad things to happen to anyone, but you have to take care of certain things for yourself, and government can’t fix everything. In fact, as we have seen recently, governments can’t fix much. It’s the old bookshelf problem, as the new government squeezes a new policy onto the crowded shelf, something else falls off the end.

It’s like taxing the rich. Good policy – far better than taxing the poor. But as we are already seeing, the rich are a moving target, and if you tax them they will move. And when they move, they take their taxes and their businesses with them and we end up losing out. labour, just like the Tories before them, have the right idea – impose tax on the middle classes. They can’t afford to move, they can’t afford expensive accountants, but they do have money. And, more importantly they can’t afford to give gifts to politicians. I mean, if you scare all the rich people away, who is going to keep Kier Starmer in suits and glasses?

A well known cure for depression and cynicism – you can’t feel bad with fish and chips.

Well, you’ve had Wordless Wednesday and Thankful Thursday, so welcome to cynical Sunday. I am now going away and will try to find a few non-cynical thoughts for a second post.

The List 02.07.2024

8 Replies

I got home, blogged about my inability to type the letter “i” in certain circumstances and talked to the garage. The electronic handbrake button fell off my VW. It has been faulty for some years but long experience with cars has taught me to put certain things off as long as possible. As I sat in the car and looked at the gap where it used to be, I wondered why I hadn’t had it fixed before. And why I always let these things build up.

The answer, when i spoke to the garage, was plain. It is going to cost me £130 plus VAT at 20%. I love VAT. After taxing my income using Income Tax and National Insurance the Government then charges me 20% on a lot of the stuff I buy with what remains.  That’s without all the other hidden taxes. And if you save money, despite all this tax, they will tax the money you leave, even though you have already been taxed on it. Yes, we do get some good services for our money, though if you save your money (see above) you do lose out as you are expected to pay for things that are given free to people who haven’t bothered to save. However, “stand for election on a tax reform ticket” isn’t on my list today.

So, to buy a shoddy piece of plastic, which broke with only light use, is going to cost me £130 plus £26 which the Government will doubtless squander on things like nurses and policemen and my pension, plus extra for fitting, and VAT on that cost too. No wonder the Government is loath to legislate on things being durable and repairable – they would lose a fortune in hidden tax.

I am now going to explore the fridge to see what sort of soup I am having for lunch and will think about what is for tea. It’s cool today so I’m not thinking salad.

This afternoon, when the telephone queues are shorter I will ring the doctor and make my blood test appointment for next week.

After that I will spend ten minutes making more plans. At least they haven’t found a way of taxing plans and dreams yet . . .

Soup features high in my plans for the day

I just remembered, it is cauliflower cheese for tea. The cauli is looking a bit jaded and needs using. My memory is shocking these days.

 

Day 189

18 Replies

On my own in the shop today. The other two had family matters to attend to and there I was, a whole shop to myself, It wasn’t planned like that but one of the “family matters” was an urgent visit to the vet, which turned out to be yet another false alarm – that dog is cheery and full of energy but a canine hypochondriac of legendary proportions.

After a quiet week, things got very busy and by 01,00 I had only just managed to pack my second parcel, though I had bought two lots of stuff, turned another down, run out of money and sold some Roman coins. All that and answer the phone on an almost constant basis. I had more phone calls this morning than I had answered in the preceding week. How did they all know I was on my own?

Fortunately the owner was able to get in just after lunch, which took some of the pressure off. I(t was a nice day so he decided that we should pack up at 2pm. It’s nice to have  a boss with an appreciation of the life/work balance.

That allowed me plenty of time to get to the pharmacy for my prescription. There, I was nearly hit by a reversing van, hit a kerb with the front of the car (caught the bit at the front under the number plate when parking) and found myself staring at someone in the pharmacy because they looked familiar.

It was the neighbour from across the road. I’ve known her for 34 years, but in  a mask, with only eyes showing, my facial recognition skills completely desert me.

In the front garden, the teasel is starting to flower.

When I opened the front door I found a letter from the tax office.You know the feeling of a cold, skeletal hand clutching your heart, well that was just how it felt. Letters from the tax office, in my opinion, are never good. I may make an exception for this one as it was news of a £108 refund. Say what you like about the tax authorities, they are vey fair.

That’s it. A day in a  nutshell, some good, some bad and some (like the tax letter) unusual.

Teasel – breaking into flower