tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post6902097507653795594..comments2024-03-05T10:52:24.691+00:00Comments on Mark Wadsworth: "I confronted our bureaucratic tax system — and lost"Mark Wadsworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07733511175178098449noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-91922524187933684052020-02-04T17:30:29.395+00:002020-02-04T17:30:29.395+00:00"Whereas the self employed do not know their ..."Whereas the self employed do not know their profits until after the year end."<br /><br />OK, but even if your year end is 31/3, that still gives you until the end of the following January to do your tax return and find out how much tax you owe. The writer makes a big thing of how organised she is, but, in that case, why is she waiting until January to file her return? <br /><br />Could she not pay her income tax during the tax year she earned the income, in regular instalments, she would know how much she had to pay and when she had to pay it? If she did that, only the adjustment when she filed her return would be unknown and, if she got the amounts she paid right, that adjustment would be a credit to her.Bayardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15211150959757982948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-19310162936960813682020-02-04T07:11:20.968+00:002020-02-04T07:11:20.968+00:00Well you can take your business elsewhere, it just...Well you can take your business elsewhere, it just involves leaving the UK, cutting all ties and never visiting for more than 16 days per tax year during which you only buy items which are VAT-free/zero-rated or for which you are certain the VAT incidence falls upon the merchant.Curtishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10289346865017922952noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-20627876142734234582020-02-03T11:41:10.231+00:002020-02-03T11:41:10.231+00:00MW
1. Fair enough
2. Agreed about Sage and Xero ...MW<br /><br />1. Fair enough<br /><br />2. Agreed about Sage and Xero and MTD<br /><br />3. Agreed with 'monitoring' ambition of HMRC. The Holy Grail of all bureaucrats is 100% 'monitoring'.<br /><br />4. That works for me. And maximum rate of 10% should cut - after we have released millions of bureaucrats to find more worthwhile wealth creating jobs in private business.<br />Lolahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04586735342675041312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-30024646766677863872020-02-02T19:17:22.993+00:002020-02-02T19:17:22.993+00:00"But it's just money going round in circl..."But it's just money going round in circles."<br /><br />It's not even money any more, just credit, figures on a computer screen.Bayardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15211150959757982948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-13724224140701957282020-02-02T15:54:04.653+00:002020-02-02T15:54:04.653+00:00L: "Whereas the self employed do not know the...L: "Whereas the self employed do not know their profits until after the year end."<br /><br />Assuming you use a 31/3 year end, by 31/1 you will know your profits for the first ten months, and you are paying tax on six months' worth, so no biggie. If the last two months are catastrophically bad, you can ask to reduce your payments on account to nil, get your return in early and get your money back.<br /><br />And if you really can't know your profits until after the year end, choose a 31/12 year end.<br /><br />"Under MTD, it seems to me, that the HMRC are trying to tax businesses before they know their annual profits. Doubling down on this issue."<br /><br />MTD is of course taking it far too far. IMHO, this wasn't driven by HMRC, it was driven by companies like Sage or Xero who can quadruple their software sales. I hear the sound of revolving doors.<br /><br />"Possibly, like you observed once before, the HMRC are working toward having one class of taxpayer - workers - rather than two classes - employed and self employed."<br /><br />That's different, HMRC prefer employees to the self-employed because they generate more than twice as much NIC and a bit more income tax, and it's easier to monitor.<br /><br />If all different types of income were taxed at the same rate, this would not be such an issue. Even better, there'd be a personal allowance of £50,000 or something so only a tenth of people would need to bother (those who can afford an accountant).Mark Wadsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07733511175178098449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-32510548198938698242020-02-01T21:46:39.925+00:002020-02-01T21:46:39.925+00:00B. Yes of course they do. But it's just money ...B. Yes of course they do. But it's just money going round in circles. There is only one source of tax, and that is the surpluses of production; the profits of private business. Think about it. The people on both sides of the desk in the benefits office are on benefits.Lolahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04586735342675041312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-3426320306638272812020-02-01T20:06:23.622+00:002020-02-01T20:06:23.622+00:00@MW I tried explaining this to my irate mother a c...@MW I tried explaining this to my irate mother a couple years ago. Lol! benjhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11544297406005346095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-25927519000814690952020-02-01T17:49:35.895+00:002020-02-01T17:49:35.895+00:00"Of course what's really galling about th..."Of course what's really galling about this is that no HMRC employee is a 'tax payer'."<br /><br />I wouldn't be too certain about that. It would not be surprising to find out the government departments have to account for the income tax on their civil service employees' salaries just like any other employer.Bayardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15211150959757982948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-68102049521701081572020-02-01T16:14:44.351+00:002020-02-01T16:14:44.351+00:00Employess will have paid 10/12 of their total liab...<i> Employess will have paid 10/12 of their total liability by this stage in the tax year, so the self-employed are at an advantage, not a disadvantage.</i> That's not strictly true. Employees know their salary at the beginning of the tax year, so you can distribute the tax evenly across the year. Whereas the self employed do not know their profits until after the year end. <br /><br />Under MTD, it seems to me, that the HMRC are trying to tax businesses before they know their annual profits. Doubling down on this issue. Possibly, like you observed once before, the HMRC are working toward having one class of taxpayer - workers - rather than two classes - employed and self employed.Lolahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04586735342675041312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-77566694975004066272020-02-01T14:37:17.150+00:002020-02-01T14:37:17.150+00:00Of course what's really galling about this is ...Of course what's really galling about this is that no HMRC employee is a 'tax payer'.<br /><br />And I heartily object to the HMRC calling me a 'customer'. I am not a customer. I do not have a voluntary relationship with HMRC - I can't take my custom elsewhere. I am (unlike any of them) a 'tax payer'. (I think it was under Blair that we became 'customers' of the HMRC. I s'pect he'd read Nineteen Eighty-Four and thought it was a manual, not a caution.)Lolahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04586735342675041312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-278435313947979112020-01-31T21:51:51.727+00:002020-01-31T21:51:51.727+00:00"HMRC will eventually return the additional t..."HMRC will eventually return the additional tax, without interest.)"<br /><br />I must be getting old, I actually remember when there was such a thing as "interest".Bayardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15211150959757982948noreply@blogger.com