Tories=Bigots..... proof if needed

Out,_Vile_Jelly

mitchaa wrote: »

Single council tax payers do get a 25% discount though,

Why not a 50% discount, I do not know, but 25% is better than a kick in the testicles in my books. You want a cheaper council tax bill as a singleton? Move out of your 3 bed band D and into a 1 bed band A.

I do live in a 1 bed, thanks. The 25% discount is a begrudging acknowledgement that my household is less expensive than that of a couple living in the same space. Every aspect of my life, from rent, bills to holidays would be cheaper if I were not single. I'd personally like us to go down the route of paying specifically for the amount of waste we produce on a pay per bag basis, but according to the Daily Wail this would be the end of civilised life as we know it.

Actually, I may well be moving back to the Borough of Wandsworth before the election (5 mins up the road I was paying £40 a month C Tax as opposed to £95 on a 1 bed) so will be comparing the policies of my local candidates very carefully- I am one of those seemingly rare few who do make the effort to look up what my elected reps claim to stand for. I think the Putney & Wandsworth seat is meant to be one of the most tightly contested in the country.

ukcarper

I got married and divorced years ago when there was a marriage tax allowance and I can assure you it didn’t come into the equation. The financial implications of getting divorced are very high and losing a marriage allowance would not make much difference in the scheme of things.

crank_girl

peterg1965 wrote: »

The lack of support for marraige in our society is one of the reasons for the current social mess that this country finds itself in. At one time, marraige, the church and common law where the conerstones of our civilised society. These have been wittled away over the last generation, at an enormous expense to the fabric of this country.

We did alright without marriage pre-Roman invasion. Handfasting ruled the day. The Romans pushed marriage in order to steal land rights from celtic matriarchs. So before you start to proselytise about marriage at least give some acknowledgement to the violence, oppression, theft and cultural erosion that came with it.

I couldn't give a stuff who is married and who isn't - it's not my business.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

ukcarper wrote: »

I got married and divorced years ago when there was a marriage tax allowance and I can assure you it didn’t come into the equation. The financial implications of getting divorced are very high and losing a marriage allowance would not make much difference in the scheme of things.

True, and the current average cost of a wedding isn't likely to be softened by whatever the allowance is.

baileysbattlebus

LibbyR26 wrote: »

Mr.Knightley wrote: »

At present people are often financially better off claiming to be single, than married or with partner. This is a financial incentive for people to stay single, while punishing people that don't. It would be fairer to have an equal playing field where people are no better off single.

As a single girl, working full time, living on my own with no children. and has never claimed beneifts I would love to know how I could be better off financially being single than as part of a couple.

I presently subsidise couples through my Council Tax. I pay 75% of the full cost even though I use alot less of the facilities that 2 adults or those with children.

The cost to heat my home is the same whether one person or two people live in it. Even at the supermarket the bogoff offers on perishable goods are aimed at couples. Although I am capable at DIY I find myself paying out more to tradesmen than married friends, simply because there are certain jobs that a petite 5ft girl can't physically do.

Sorry to moan, but I just get a bit sick of the presumption that single life is cheaper. As for the Tory plan, I find it really insulting and it shows, as usual, how out of touch they are.

Maybe they have match.com signed up as a sponsor.

I thought council tax was a tax based on the value of property - not on the number of people living in it - unless there is only one where you get a discount.

What you need is the community charge - a charge based on the number of people living in a property - then a 1 person property would indeed pay half the amount that 2 would pay - it was tried and proved so successful it caused protests and riots.

The council tax contributes 25% of local government spend - the rest comes from central government.

Council tax pays for police, fire, recycling, refuse collection and removal, schools, leisure centres, park and ride schemes, parks and open spaces, street cleaning, subsidising of public transport, tourism, museums, social housing grants, housing and council tax benefits, environmental health and food safety in pubs, restaurants and shops, planning services, support for voluntary groups, meals on wheels, facilities for young people, adapting homes for disabled people, play centres for children, cctv installation, sports facilities, issuing taxi licences, flood defences, and many others.

Although there is more than one person living here we usually have less than a full bag of rubbish to go out - often it would fill a carrier bag - we recycle and there is only recycling collection for plastic and paper - so glass and anything else we have take ourselves to recycling points - we also compost.

However I do use the local park every day, I use the local leisure centre, library and swimming baths and I use public transport, I use restaurants and pubs and I have used the planning dept - I haven't needed to use the police or the fire brigade fortunately.

I quite like the fact the litter bins are emptied and not left overflowing into the streets, the streets in town are kept clean - and cleaned of graffiti - early Monday morning in our local town centre is disgusting - I'm glad I don't have to clean the vomit, empty bottles, empty and full take away packaging, clean the urine off building walls etc - although I play no part in putting it there I don't mind paying for it to be taken away and the streets cleaned and kept relatively pleasant.

I guess it would be nice to pick and choose the bits we wanted to pay for.

ukcarper

If you are living together is there a tax advantage in being not being married over being married

LibbyR26

mitchaa wrote: »

Your bin costs exactly the same amount of money to empty as a couples bin so why should you get a 25% discount?

Then we can go onto those on benefits who get their bins emptied for nothing.

But as original, surely couples are subsidising you, as you only pay council tax at a rate of 3/4 to what they pay even though costs are fixed for the same services.

No??

Perfect example proves my point: single person puts out 1 bag of rubbish, families in my street generally put out far more than that. The costs of emptying the larger household's bins eg landfill site, transport and manpower costs, will be greater because of the greater volume of rubbish. So I am subsidising them

ukcarper

You can use that argument over everything I don’t use Libraries, Leisure Centre and local parks I’m subsidising them.

peterg1965

esuhl wrote: »

It is simply NOT the government's business to regulate our private lives. And neither is it their duty to send out "signs" or "signals" about what they think is a virtuous life.

Oh really....have you been living in the UK for the last thirteen years?

The Govt has its nose in just about every aspect of our lives and constantly tells us what to do...

- CCTV cameras
- DNA database
- '5 a day'
- ID cards
etc
etc

macaque_2

esuhl wrote: »

It is simply NOT the government's business to regulate our private lives. And neither is it their duty to send out "signs" or "signals" about what they think is a virtuous life.

Otherwise, people should be legally obliged to get up at 7am and go to bed no later than 10pm, and alcohol ought to be illegal. Have you seen what happens to binge-drinking parents who stay up all night? This would be a welcome sign that that sort of behaviour is bad for the children.

Education is also important, so anyone without a degree should be chemically sterilised. This would "send out a signal" that education is important and makes for better parents. This will ensure a better life for future generations.

Orwell really could see the future...

It is perhaps a reflection of how deeply political correctness has contaminated our national psyche that someone can concoct a response like the one above.

No one is forcing anyone to get married or even telling them to for that matter. Giving couples a small tax incentive to stay married is a sensible and pragmatic thing to do. It benefits children, society and the tax payer.