R2OK!

mark occomore · Joined: 07 Dec 2006 Posts: 9955 Location: UK

For the nation's 31.6 million taxpayers, death is a less frequent constant: this year, the nation was taxed £152 billion on its income, £95 billion on national insurance and £80 billion on VAT.

According to the Institute of Fiscal studies, families pay £5,600 more tax in real terms than families in 1996-97.

And though salary increases mean families are still £6,100 better off, no one seems to know where the money from their wages goes each month.
So where exactly does your hard-earned money go?

Render to Queen Elizabeth that which is Queen Elizabeth's
For someone who need never carry money, the Queen gets quite a bit of the government's spare change.

According to official estimates, the Royal Family costs the public £37.4 million each year, or £1.18 for each taxpayer.

Other estimates place this figure at £150 million per year to factor in security costs, grants, unpaid tax and the local cost of a royal visit - £4.74 for each taxpayer each year.

The war's bottom line
The war in Iraq costs around £1 billion each year, or £31 from each taxpayer. The coalition's combined budget, on the other hand, is harder to fathom. According to figures from the BBC, the war in Iraq is costing British and American taxpayers £2,000 a second. The congressional budget office in Washington DC said that £250 billion has been spent on military action in Iraq, and the figure is growing at a rate of £5 billion each month.

The price of friendship in the EU
According to figures from Ukip, membership to the European Union costs every taxpayer the equivalent of £1,632 per year, though other sources place this figure much lower.

Members of the European Parliament earn £60,277 per year and are also allowed £19,500 for accommodation, £2,170 travel allowance and £150 each day they attend parliament. As there are 87 MEPs, that works out to be 22p from each taxpayer in the UK.

Sin is a nice little earner
The government received £8.1 billion from tobacco, £2.2 billion from spirits and £1.4 billion from betting and gambling duties. If everyone in the UK quit smoking, drinking and gambling, other taxes would have to rise by £403 per person per year to compensate.

Environmentally unfriendly taxpayers spent an extra £912 each year on fuel duties, air passenger duties, landfill tax and climate change levies.

The dear members of parliament
Taxpayers spend £150 million each year on the 646 members of parliament and their staff, according to the House of Commons - around £4.74 each person. Salaries for the MPs work out to be £1.73 each year, while £1.82 goes on staff, pensions and allowances for mortgage interest on second homes, travel costs and constituency surgery bills.

MPs are allowed to draw £87,276 each year for staffing, £20,440 for office expenses and £22,110 for additional costs.

The price of tax evasion
Around £75 billion is lost each year due to tax evasion and fraud, according to HM Revenue & Customs' evasion estimate. An additional £10 billion is lost due to tax avoidance; combined, the figure would pay for the total bill for education in the UK. Theoretically, if all taxes were paid as they should, the government could offer each taxpayer a £2,373 rebate without changing the current budget.

Take a day off tax
Every year, the Adam Smith Institute calculates Tax Freedom Day, the exact day that the average British worker starts keeping every penny earned.

It takes an average of five months to meet the tax burden, but this varies between regions in the UK.

Taxpayers in London and the south-east have to work from January 1 until June 5, while those in Yorkshire and Humberside celebrate Tax Freedom Day on May 24.

Workers in Wales quit working just to pay taxes eight days sooner than the national average, but Northern Irish taxpayers need to work four days more.

Where does the rest of your money go?
The US government currently operates a website that shows specific state spending, as well as single-budget items paid for by taxpayers.

A bill now being read in the House of Lords would make state spending more transparent. The proposed website would show all government spending above £25,000, though figures involving national security would be allowed to remain confidential.

The bill would require the Treasury to create the website, though cabinet office minister Gillian Merron said the bill was unrealistic on the grounds of cost. The bill has since been deferred to the next sitting of the House of Lords on October 19.

Of course, unless the bill operates retrospectively, it will never be known whether taxes will be increased to foot the bill to improve transparency in taxation.

Money Matters

firewirefred · Guest

Very interesting Mark.

John W · Joined: 07 Dec 2006 Posts: 3367 Location: Warwickshire, UK

firewirefred,

This is a final public warning. We've not had to refer to the rules for quite some time, in fact I probably can't find them, so any other instances that moderators recognise as you stalking a member will be punishable by a suspension, for a period determined by whatever we feel like at the time. Cool

Toggy tea slurper · Guest

RockitRon · Joined: 07 Dec 2006 Posts: 7646

Very interesting, yes. Also quite depressing.
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Ron

firewirefred · Guest

mark occomore · Joined: 07 Dec 2006 Posts: 9955 Location: UK

firewirefred · Guest

SantaFefan · Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2007 6:37 pm Post subject:

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Johnnie Walker read out my message on Pirate Radio! Very Happy

13/8/07
I have heard how radio should be.

Toggy tea slurper · Guest

mark occomore · Joined: 07 Dec 2006 Posts: 9955 Location: UK

gfloyd · Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2007 7:48 pm Post subject:

Sounds like a line from an old Perry Como song

"where did texas go ..."
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His name was ernie ........ and he drove the fastest milk cart in the west.....

RockitRon · Joined: 07 Dec 2006 Posts: 7646

't was actually "Where ha' Zora gone boys?" (Oregon)

"She went to pay her Texas"

Classic! Wink

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Ron

Behind Geddon's Wall · Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 10:08 am Post subject:

Keep up the good work, Mark. I, for one, often miss the snippets that you bring to the group. It also gives us the chance to add our own comments and discuss these matters.
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Geddon

You simply mustn't blame yourself -- the days were perfect
And so were exactly what I was born to spoil
For I am the Rider to the World's End
Bound across the cinder causeway
From the furnace to the quarry
Through the fields of oil

SantaFefan · Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 10:20 am Post subject:

mark occomore · Joined: 07 Dec 2006 Posts: 9955 Location: UK

John W · Joined: 07 Dec 2006 Posts: 3367 Location: Warwickshire, UK

firewirefred,

So there you have it fred. Mark is not spamming us, he's using the board as it was intended.

I don't get newspapers, just use teletext for local stuff, and I don't scan Yahoo for unusual news stories, so Mark's postings are very welcome, using this section for what it was intended. It wasn't intended for someone to stalk every posting with rolling eyes etc.

So let the matter be closed now.

John W