To think that no cuts are ever going to be acceptable

[loveisagirlnameddaisy]

Not sure if this has been done, I'm not on here every day. But all the news stories since the Coalition govt came to power about unpopular cuts gets me thinking... if I were Dave for a day, what would I do? I hear about cuts to local services impacting vulnerable members of society which really upset me, but then others say that the arts/culture cuts are bad for other reasons. Assuming there have to be cuts (and I'm not saying there does), what would you cut and why? It seems like an almost impossible task, whoever is in power.

(Not clear on Labour's latest viewpoint - they initially appeared to be behind more investment, not less, but didn't Ed suggest recently that there would have to be cuts?)

Really, will he? are sure he wont be in a rental property? unable to afford to run a car?

I hate to break it to you but only fools and horses wasn't a documentary

It doesn't matter. The lead character was a tax avoider and he was a national hero. Can you think of a popular fictional character who was seen to dutifully paid their taxes to the exact penny?

I said greed started in 1982, not tax evasion. And it was a joke.

Can you not read or do you just not have a sense of humour.

MrsS the US tax code is even worse, trust me on this. Both systems need to be scrapped and replaced.

But it will never happen.

You know what? I am tired of having a battle if wits with an unarmed person...

tabitha must have a sense of humour. She wants me to imagine Derek Trotter as a real person

::tries to imagine::

::fails::

Tee I remember - although by the time I worked there I had safely escaped corporate tax.

The simplest way to get companies to pay more tax (I think) would be a sales tax - taxed at source like PAYE and therefore no way to avoid it, but at a much lower rate which you should be able to afford as you'll be getting more in. But as you say it will never happen!

He wasn't a real person. But fictional characters can be popular or hated. And he was popular. And he didn't pay income tax if he could help it.

You really don't think there's a culture of tax avoidance in this country? Of people looking for a discount for cash, etc?

Look at the furore over Greggs pasties when the government tried to close that "loophole". Public pressure soon stopped that.

People need to take more personal responsibility for the decisions they make both in work and personal life.

And stop excusing people who dont learn from their mistakes in life and continue doing the same thing again and again.

Of course the other problem in the US is that everyone does their own taxes. I was stunned to learn of PAYE when I moved here.

Of course, now I'm self employed.

Tabitha "It doesn't matter. The lead character was a tax avoider and he was a national hero. Can you think of a popular fictional character who was seen to dutifully paid their taxes to the exact penny?"

Barbara Good ( The Good Life) overpaid her rates by one penny. .

This is why I said change the laws and close the loopholes, niceguy.

But my point is that the way Amazon work is exactly how the EU was designed. Single market where any company based in the EU can trade freely with others and only pay tax once in their 'base' country.

Unsurprisingly they chose Luxembourg where the tax rate is close to 0%.

Let me put it this way. Closing that loophole would be akin to declaring that all people putting money in ISA's are tax avoiders and the loophole should be closed. Of course you can do it....but you may as well not bother having ISA's. Same here.

Tax each company in all 27 countries then you may as well not have an EU at all.

And Google operates in Bermuda and Ireland

Do they operate in Bermuda & Ireland? Certainly they do in the latter. So why not? I mean Rolls Royce is based in UK. Do the French complain that they pay no taxes there?

Tax avoidance is legal, how many SE people do you see not taking advantage of it? Not many but apparently its ok for them but not larger businesses. Huge difference being that SE can work the books and pay no tax and claim WTC etc so take out whereas at least the likes of Amazon etc are keeping thousands in jobs be it at their premises or delivery companies.

I'd cease all benefits bar disabled ones and a set period for JSA and simply raise the tax allowance to a far higher amount. Less paperwork, no taking money and giving back and far less fraud. Everybody gets treated the same and no benefits backlash.

I'd also invest more in social services so that they can rescue or intervene in far more families where the child is lacking in care or resources. If ha meant cutting funding to arts or sports then so be it.