Taxing times “Can you provide a calm, loving home where the dog can rest?”
Claire Devine Regional Volunteer Advisor – North East England.
I’m a UK tax payer and have been since I was 16 (40 years!).
I don’t mind paying tax, as I know everyone who earns money, pays it (or they should) and the more you earn, the more you pay.
I accept the tax on goods and services. I even accept (reluctantly) fuel tax (which is currently 57.95p per litre) and the more fuel I use, the more tax I pay.
The UK Government, to whom tax is paid, uses taxes to fund public services like the NHS and of course, to maintain the infrastructure of the country on things like highways etc; so, as a user of all those things, I’m happy to pay tax.
However, the tax I have a real issue with is council tax.
Council tax is levied on every single household in the country.
It doesn’t matter where you live or what the value of your property is, you will pay council tax.
Council tax is calculated on the value of what your property would have been in 1991 (even if it wasn’t built then).
In essence, at the outset of the current council tax system, it was already skewed in favour of the wealthiest among us.
In 2019-2020, council tax income for the UK Government is estimated at around £35.5bn.
But it doesn’t take into account the massive differences in house prices and house price increases, which differ enormously, depending on where you are.
This has resulted in it disproportionately benefiting the people with properties in the South and South East and putting the people everywhere else at a significant financial disadvantage.