UK Proposes All Paychecks Go to the State First

[Jesus Jones]

The UK gets better by the day. Talk about control over every aspect of our lives there. Thank fook i left the place. Despite Thailand's own issues, life is sweet here.
-----

The UK's tax collection agency is putting forth a proposal that all employers send employee paychecks to the government, after which the government would deduct what it deems as the appropriate tax and pay the employees by bank transfer.


Sharon Lorimer

The proposal by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) stresses the need for employers to provide real-time information to the government so that it can monitor all payments and make a better assessment of whether the correct tax is being paid.

Currently employers withhold tax and pay the government, providing information at the end of the year, a system know as Pay as You Earn (PAYE). There is no option for those employees to refuse withholding and individually file a tax return at the end of the year.

If the real-time information plan works, it further proposes that employers hand over employee salaries to the government first.

News Headlines

[Marmite the Dog]

^ I would assume that the only difference this would make to most people is that they would pay the correct amount of tax from day one instead of overpaying and then receiving a rebate as happens now.

Sounds like a reasonable idea.

[keda]

They could do that by nationalising the banks. Then all pay cheques go straight to them anyway and they can shave off what they want before allowing the people access to what's left. Easy.

HMRC philosophy is simple: Whatever is not nailed down is mine; whatever I can pry loose is not nailed down.

[Larn]

Maybe this is how the new government can claim they will prosecute 6 times more tax cheats than labor did. Saw the claim on skynews last night.

[hazz]

I can see two reasons for this:

Before they go bankrupt a lot of companies use employees tax contributions as an unofficial bank lone. So when they go down, they go down owing a huge amount of tax. The government is no longer a priority creditor, so it has to line up with everyone else for whatever the liquidators recover. This would stop this.

When people dispute tax payments, this set up will allow the tax office to just take money from people who are querying tax demands and currently refuse to pay until the matter is resolved.

First I don't have a issue with, but the second is just plain insidious.

[Nostradamus]

I just got a rebate on Council Tax because I have not lived in my UK property for over ten years.

I'll make sure it gets spent wisely in Thailand.

[nikster]

The UK is the world's most prominent police state. First there's cameras everywhere, there are hardly any civil rights, now all money has to go through state hands...

What I don't get is the UK voters. Who in their right mind would vote for restricting their own freedom every election? Or is it propaganda? All those tabloids dumbing down the people?

[Marmite the Dog]

The UK is the world's most prominent police state.

I think you forgot about the Soviet States of America.

[Dan]

The UK is the world's most prominent police state.

I think you forgot about the Soviet States of America.

And North Korea. But it's definitely in third place.