UK Budget

[oumahexi]

It's little wonder we are in such a state! The Chancellor thinks it's clever to cap Housing Benefit at £400 a week! A week! That's about as much as I pay a month to my mortgage!

Working Family Tax Credits are being reduced for people earning more than £40k a year! I thought these were designed to help people who were earning low incomes! You'd be hard pushed to find anyone in our department earning that amount!

And what do we get? We get our pay frozen for the next two year! In the mean time, those of us not lucky enough to survive the downsizing will find ourselves out on our ears and having to give up our £400 a month mortgages in favour of a government supplied house at £400 a week! Yep, that makes a whole lot of sense to me

 

[Fifty2One]

Perhaps it is time to give up the working life and go on to the handouts and live the life of carefree leasure

It's little wonder we are in such a state! The Chancellor thinks it's clever to cap Housing Benefit at £400 a week! A week! That's about as much as I pay a month to my mortgage!

Working Family Tax Credits are being reduced for people earning more than £40k a year! I thought these were designed to help people who were earning low incomes! You'd be hard pushed to find anyone in our department earning that amount!

And what do we get? We get our pay frozen for the next two year! In the mean time, those of us not lucky enough to survive the downsizing will find ourselves out on our ears and having to give up our £400 a month mortgages in favour of a government supplied house at £400 a week! Yep, that makes a whole lot of sense to me

 

[PNGBill]

Where does all the money come from to pay these benefits ??

I know, from taxes, but the maths just don't add up.

I thought before we had our little crises last year that something like that was due and I believe even more so that it is overdue.

Govt's can't just go on spending borrowed money. We will all be speaking Mandarin soon

 

[oumahexi]

Perhaps it is time to give up the working life and go on to the handouts and live the life of carefree leasure

I would love to do that, but I just don't have the will power to give up anything else in my life

 

[Pauldohert]

Working Family Tax Credits are being reduced for people earning more than £40k a year! I thought these were designed to help people who were earning low incomes! You'd be hard pushed to find anyone in our department earning that amount!

40k a couple - if noone in your department is jointly on that kind of figure - they'll be pleased to know their pay is going up for the next two years!

Cuts were going to happen - whoever was in charge - the only differance really was in the timing of them. Most of the savings were already announced by Labour.

Lets hope the additional stuff is timed correctly - for all our sake

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The joke of UK politics - is the opposition has a right to reply on these complex budget figures straight after hearing them - inevitably it meant Labour didn't really know what it was talking about. Nothing new there.

 

[oumahexi]

40k a couple - if noone in your department is jointly on that kind of figure - they'll be pleased to know their pay is going up for the next two years!

Except those who are one income / no child families - which doesn't necessarily mean they are affluent, there are many reasons for a person not working.

The joke of UK politics - is the opposition has a right to reply on these complex budget figures straight after hearing them - inevitably it meant Labour didn't really know what it was talking about. Nothing new there.

They are politicians, do they ever know what they're talking about?

I'd like to see like for like in their posts, eg:

Minister for Education - an ex head master
Minister for Finance or indeed the chancellor - a Chartered Accountant
and so on

I think this would be very helpful. Also, I'd like to see the government imposing a fine on newly elected governments who do not keep their promises. So that if they are elected on the stregnth that an MP will come round to your house and waken you with freshly ground coffee every morning and this never happens, they get a hefty fine! That way we might have an idea what we're actually electing...

This mess is actually, in my opinion, a legacy from Mrs Thatcher. She's the one who bred the greed of the 80s that led the Banks to run awray and ruin us all, if a politician has to be blamed, it's her. But in the end, again, only my opinion, it's the banks that are to blame. It does, however, annoy me that any government past or present, bailed them out at the expense of the citizens and the newly bailed out bankers are still getting their huge pays and bonuses. This is a world wide issue! I say, let's drop our petty racisms and start on the bankers who deserve our anger!! Revolution!

 

[Pauldohert]

Except those who are one income / no child families - which doesn't necessarily mean they are affluent, there are many reasons for a person not working.


They are politicians, do they ever know what they're talking about?

I'd like to see like for like in their posts, eg:

Minister for Education - an ex head master
Minister for Finance or indeed the chancellor - a Chartered Accountant
and so on

I think this would be very helpful. Also, I'd like to see the government imposing a fine on newly elected governments who do not keep their promises. So that if they are elected on the stregnth that an MP will come round to your house and waken you with freshly ground coffee every morning and this never happens, they get a hefty fine! That way we might have an idea what we're actually electing...

This mess is actually, in my opinion, a legacy from Mrs Thatcher. She's the one who bred the greed of the 80s that led the Banks to run awray and ruin us all, if a politician has to be blamed, it's her. But in the end, again, only my opinion, it's the banks that are to blame. It does, however, annoy me that any government past or present, bailed them out at the expense of the citizens and the newly bailed out bankers are still getting their huge pays and bonuses. This is a world wide issue! I say, let's drop our petty racisms and start on the bankers who deserve our anger!! Revolution!

A 2bn a year levy on banks doesn't seem much does it - but I suppose if they can get others countries to move strongly this figure will hopefully get bigger.

 

[Yarp]

You haven't even mentioned that VAT is going to be 20%!

VAT = Sales Tax for the US readers out there

 

[boblarson]

You haven't even mentioned that VAT is going to be 20%!

VAT = Sales Tax for the US readers out there

I feel for you there. We at least don't have it that bad YET. In Oregon, where I live, we do not have a sales tax. We do have a state income tax but no sales tax or VAT. However, it may change in the U.S. as there has been talk about adding a VAT here as well. I don't know any specifics but just that I remember seeing something about that.

 

[Yarp]

Remember going to Oregon as a teenager as part of a drive up the coast from LA to the border and back again. Oregon was (I am sure still is!) beautiful land and I will have to get back there again sometime. Do they still do full service at gas stations (or does that tell you how long ago I was there)?

 

[boblarson]

Well, not full-service most of them, but you still can't pump your own gas. You have to let the attendant pump it.

 

[Vassago]

Well, not full-service most of them, but you still can't pump your own gas. You have to let the attendant pump it.

In Oregon? Wow, I thought only New Jersey still had that law. You MUST pump your own gas everywhere I've ever been.

And in Florida, we are actually opposite. We have a sales tax, but no State tax. This is why so many retired couples move here.

 

[boblarson]

In Oregon? Wow, I thought only New Jersey still had that law. You MUST pump your own gas everywhere I've ever been.

Yep, that is the way and it can be a royal pain at times. You have to wait for the one guy that is rotating through 10 cars to get to you to let you go.

And in Florida, we are actually opposite. We have a sales tax, but no State tax. This is why so many retired couples move here.

I actually like not having a sales tax. It makes it very nice when going to purchase something, the price paid is actually the price shown. You don't have to constantly figure out what the total will be when you add the sales tax on.

As for the state income tax, I would rather have it OR the sales tax but not both (like many states). As long as I keep enough withheld, I make sure to not have to pay at year's end and have gotten a nice return at times. Sure it isn't with interest but hey - I would have spent it anyway

 

[Steve R.]

Where does all the money come from to pay these benefits ??

I know, from taxes, but the maths just don't add up.

I thought before we had our little crises last year that something like that was due and I believe even more so that it is overdue.

Govt's can't just go on spending borrowed money. We will all be speaking Mandarin soon

PNGBill has it correct. The politicians offer us bread an circuses to get re-elected. Meanwhile, while in office, they don't bother to do their job of balancing the budget and running their respective governments for the benefit of the citizens.

Whether times are good or times are bad it never seems to be the appropriate time to balance the budget. Its spend spend spend.

 

[Fifty2One]

Never over pay income tax so that you would get money back - put that money into an investment and on income tax time if you are short then you have the money to pay up right away. Same as they do not give interest they also do not charge interest over the year. If you invest badly you can write it off anyway. This way your money works for YOU and not just going down the government vortex.

As for the state income tax, I would rather have it OR the sales tax but not both (like many states). As long as I keep enough withheld, I make sure to not have to pay at year's end and have gotten a nice return at times. Sure it isn't with interest but hey - I would have spent it anyway

 

[boblarson]

Never over pay income tax so that you would get money back - put that money into an investment and on income tax time if you are short then you have the money to pay up right away. Same as they do not give interest they also do not charge interest over the year. If you invest badly you can write it off anyway. This way your money works for YOU and not just going down the government vortex.

Easily said, and I know that is how I should do things, but I haven't been able to make it work. I will never be able to retire because I can't save. I will have to work until I die. I'm cursed with an inability to defer gratification in order to have something later.

 

[Fifty2One]

You are obviously not afraid of hard work and have a sharp mind so I doubt you will suffer if you had to work until the day you leave this world.
I was taught that you dont get something until you can pay for it, and dont pay for something until you get it...

Easily said, and I know that is how I should do things, but I haven't been able to make it work. I will never be able to retire because I can't save. I will have to work until I die. I'm cursed with an inability to defer gratification in order to have something later.

 

[Steve R.]

Never over pay income tax so that you would get money back - put that money into an investment and on income tax time if you are short then you have the money to pay up right away.

I don't know about Canada, but it won't work in the US. You can get dinged a penalty on a quarterly basis for underpaying your taxes. Totally unfair.

 

[boblarson]

I don't know about Canada, but it won't work in the US. You can get dinged a penalty on a quarterly basis for underpaying your taxes. Totally unfair.

As long as it isn't over $1,000 it is fine. But I'd rather receive back than have to ensure I have enough to pay at the time.

 

[boblarson]

As long as it isn't over $1,000 it is fine. But I'd rather receive back than have to ensure I have enough to pay at the time.

Okay, I was wrong. If you are covered for at least 90% of the tax due (by withholding or estimated tax payments) then you are fine. I have just never been under the 90% amount.