To think the royal family should pay proper tax?

[marmaladeandpeanutbutter]

I think the RF should pay corporation, capital gain tax and personal tax, like every other family and company.

I was watching the channel 4 Despatches programme tonight, and was so astounded I
rewound and took notes. Yes, I should get out more! But in case you didn't watch it:

◦	£132 million is to be paid by government (ie tax payers )  to the Royal Family in 2025

◦	The RF also have extensive land estates (Duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster). 

◦	How the RF make their millions has been kept secret from us and parliament for centuries

◦	Over 5000 of their undeclared properties were discovered by Channel 4 despatches. 

◦	We pay, for example £1.5  million for Dartmoor prison every year, although it’s empty and not usable because of radon gas. We must also pay for any repairs

◦	The RF say they aren’t funded by the tax payer, but channel 4 says that in fact they are, and that they make many millions from us.

◦	Several state schools have to pay the family rent

◦	The family charge us for training our own troops to defend our country on their land. Despite the King being the head of the armed forces, they are cashing in. They refuse to say how much they charge.  They even charge for use of jetties on their shores, eg from where naval vessels set sail

◦	Even the NHS is  not exempt-they say they are “helping the NHS”  . Yes, but it turns out that it is by renting out land eg at Guys and St Thomases for lucrative amounts. All free of corporation tax, naturally, unlike any other company.

◦	Even some local charities and community groups pay them, all the while the RF is promoting them.: “Millions of pounds in rent”, including for MacMillan and Comic relief, of which the former has earned the RF £22 million. 

◦	They have new mining interests, often at odds with environmental campaigners, with potential risks to land, water and animals . 

◦	Many of the homes they rent out are amongst the lowest 14% in the uk in  terms of condition eg mould, cracks, no insulation. They say it “may not be feasible” to comply with UK environmental legislation, even though all other landlords must.

All whilst exempt from the corporation or capital gains tax paid by every other company. They pay some income tax, but they won’t divulge details.

The greed is shocking and breathtaking. I don’t want to hear another word on helping the environment, fixing the climate or eradicating homelessness from their mouths.

No wonder they are so astoundingly, breathtakingly rich.

I think this programme will become a big talking point in coming days.

I don't hate them, just the institution, but if you give it even a second's logical thought, isn't the fact that so many people seem to slavishly love them far crazier? I find the flag-waving utterly incomprehensible—they're just fancy scroungers, and they don't give two shits about "their" people.

I hate them. They are bad people who are doing bad things (hoarding wealth, ripping off charities, not paying tax, carbon heavy lifestyles etc.).

They have blood on their hands (along with the rest of the super rich).

this

Well where to start ?
Two examples among many many possible ones - assuming the right royal ripoff of the taxpayer revealed by Channel 4 and the Times has passed you by :
.
-Mountbatten , Saville Epstein and the royals’ history of having close friends who are pedophiles ( the FBI knew about Mountbatten btw) -. Charles even housed Peter Ball and wrote in his defence - his explanation being he was ‘unaware’ and that he , Charles, did not understand what accepting a caution meant.

-The queen and her tireless campaign to further enrich her greedy family - secretly of course . The fact that they are above the law , that they represent the worst of the uk - hidebound ,and regressive .

People say separate the individuals from the institution. Yes that’s one way to look at it of course - but I have an issue with that . The Windsors pimp themselves out . They sell their children to the PR machine . They sell themselves as the perfect middle class family not the feuding billionaires that they really are.

Just as Charles and William make a mockery of the law but deciding when something is ‘private ‘ or ‘public’ to avoid tax that the rest of us are subject to , the Windsors say they are a neutral apolitical faceless institution while simultaneously cranking up the PR machine and secretly campaigning ( and succeeding) for their exclusion from hundreds of laws .

There is literally a book full to the brim with the truth about the royals - read that and come back to me
’ And what do you do ? By Norman Baker

The Windsors are trying their tired old routine again today . We are hearing about how ‘tough’ Williams’s year has been - a clumsy attempt at deflection from the serious revelations on Channle 4

They take us for fools . And frankly that is also my assessment of their followers .

Misrepresentation much? George III signed over the management and income of the crown estates at the same time as his responsibility for the civil service and defence forces in 1760, effectively setting up the treasury. Still legally owned but not controlled by the sovereign, and they are only entitled to a small proportion of the income.

@RaspberryRipple2
’misrepresentation much’ right back at you

‘No. The Crown Estate is not the private property of the King. Our assets are hereditary possessions of the Sovereign held 'in right of the Crown’

from the crown estates website

Grasp this concept - the king has ‘hereditary possession’ in his position as head of state
Once he’s gone the Windsors do not claim back possession- the state does

And ps they previously had NONE of the profits - the queen had George Osbourne change that when she had the CIvil list replaced with her preferred payment system

https://www.republic.org.uk/the_royal_finance_stitch-up

If you tell a child from an early age that he was born better than everyone else, and that his family is superior to all other families, and if everyone in the country goes along with this idea, then you really can’t be too surprised when he grows up to give zero shits about people he sees as lesser than himself.

The whole concept of monarchy is ludicrous in this day and age. I’m an Aussie, and despite what the Murdoch media will tell you, Chuck’s recent visit to us was a bit embarrassing all round. Many of us have simply stopped caring about a head of state who doesn’t really know us or even live with us, and some have become rampantly anti-monarchy.

Sadly, I feel my compatriots are largely too apathetic to really do anything about it. But I really hope the UK wakes up to how these grifters are ripping you off. They only hold their pampered positions while UK citizens allow it.

Yep, totally agree. As an American I cannot fathom why people are so obsessed with these leeches.

There’s something of revolutionary France about this. Definitely a “Let them eat cake” ambiance.

So many people struggling. Homelessness. Atrocious work conditions, housing conditions. Poverty. Dying on waiting lists for care/treatment/help. Meanwhile, the Royals live a life of such magnificent privilege. It really is obscene. Yes, they have illness and difficulties but their experience is vastly different to ours.

They need to think about this, long and hard.

We pay a lot more money to politicians than we do the Royals.

What politicians do I , personally, give money to?

I don't

And if I want a cut of that I can work to get myself elected. I can't work to be born into the RF.

And I am not sure that is even true. And there are lot more politicians than royals. And we don't give money to the random brothers and sisters and nieces of politicians.

It is amazing how many "woe is me" Royal publicity puff pieces have been in the media this week. Funny that. Almost as if they want to distract us from the documentary.

Absolutely - I posted about 'William's hardest year yet' the other day.

On the front pages of most of the papers today we have "Brave Kate."

Additionally, in the Times, on the front page there is 'William: I want to be royal with a small 'r'.

He is quoted as saying 'I'm trying to do it differently and I'm trying to do it for my generation. And to give you more of an understanding around it, I'm doing it with maybe a smaller 'r' in the royal, if you like. So it's more about impact, philanthropy, collaboration, convening and helping people.'

Newswatch asked BBC news why they didn't cover the dispatches program on the royal finances but gave multiple coverage slots to William's earthshot.

Their reply..."Weekend bulletins have limited space and that day covered stories about the Valencia floods, US elections, Gaza and the announcement of a new conservative leader. We covered the report on our website."

The BBC are quite obviously not impartial and work very hard protecting the royals.

So it's more about impact, philanthropy, collaboration, convening and helping people

More word salad guess they have thay in cmo meigh the other two and utterly meaningless.

And smaller r...what does that even mean, he is born a royal... there is no small r. What a fool.

If he doesn't want the royal life he has options regardless of the consequences he can abdicate

Article in The Observer

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/nov/10/how-long-will-we-stomach-sermons-from-royals-made-rich-by-their-own-charities