The dreaded Council Tax

Mike_S_8

Councils are now starting their deliberations about how much the increase will be - again - next year.

It looks like it will be another 5% next April - on top of all the increases there have been over the years.

If you haven't seen it, the nationwide, non-party political Isitfair council tax protest group has a web site at https://www.isitfair.co.uk

Take a look. It's a good place to blow off steam about CT, and a place where you can get help if you you need it.

Mrs._M_7

The Lyons inquiry into the Reform of Local Government is due for release to the Government in December but it is highly unlikely to be revealed to the public for ages (if ever) and threatens to hold little joy for the council tax payer. The Isitfair campaign is your campaign if you want to be involved in fighting for the end of a tax based on the value of your property. There is no membership fee and you can join thousands of others on their website.https://www.isitfair.co.uk

SteveA_4

Whats for sure in this scenario is that if we dont all stand together then they really will tax us out of our homes. This incidentally will come "after" you have been deliberately impoverished, incriminated, discriminated against, taxed wageless or pensionless and all because you own a house.
Dont forget a vote is due to take place that will allow Council snoopers access into your property. If you resist this they will see you fined £1000, plus a further £200 per day thereafter.

seven-day-weekend

Are these people all members of the isitfair protest group?

CIS

Are these people all members of the isitfair protest group?

It would appear so....

Mike S certainly is

Mikeyorks

Yes - trifle unusual to get 3 consec posts from allegedly separate virgin posters:rolleyes:

Has a spam like taste to it

Mrs._M_7

Not spam, genuine people genuinely worried about council tax and how unaffordable it is. It has to change

seven-day-weekend

OK....if we are going to have a discussion...

Yes, the Council Tax is worrying for a lot of people and I know I'm going to get flamed here but I actually thought the principal of Poll Tax was fairer. (Notice I say the principal, not the way it was administered). I think it is fair that everyone should pay something as we all get the services. I don't think everyone should pay the same. (ideally, everyone should, but you have to take affordability into it). I don't agree with the local income tax idea as some people don't earn anything and they will end up not being liable to pay anything, and the ones that do earn will not get any better services. I certainly don't think it should be based on the value of your house.

Or....come to live in southern Spain. My council tax here is 80 euros A YEAR. It is £800 a year for my house in the UK.

Techno

I agree. IMHO the poll tax was much fairer to older people as if there were only one/two people living in the house then they used less services and paid less poll tax than the family of 5 next door. Just because you have a big(ish) house doesn't mean you have loads of money. Lets hope this new system where you pay 1% of your proerty's value each year doesn't come in

Mike_S_8

Techno wrote:

Lets hope this new system where you pay 1% of your proerty's value each year doesn't come in

A similar scheme has already passed into law in N. Ireland and will come into effect as from April next year. The chargeable amount will be about 0.7% of the estimated value of each home.

margaretclare

Hi

I've only discovered quite recently that part of what we're paying for are the Regional Assemblies. The idea of splitting England into Regions was dreamed up by John Prescott because it's what Europe would like us to be. Listen to Gordon Brown and John Prescott talking - they never mention England, it's always 'Scotland, Wales and the English Regions, this is since devolution of Scotland and Wales who have been given their own Assembly or Parliament. England is apparently 'too big' and needs to be split into 'regions' as approved by Europe. 2 years ago the people of north-eastern England were asked if they'd like to form the North-Eastern Region with their own regional assembly - the answer was a resounding 'no' with 79% voting against. No one else in any other part of England was asked to vote on this - however, it appears to have gone ahead anyway. I was made aware of this only this week by an article in our local paper, the Southend 'Evening Echo'. It seems we are now part of the East of England Region with a regional assembly at Cambridge, even though many of the local MPs, the Chairman of Essex County Council, and many others, are totally against the idea. And, importantly, this useless Assembly is taking up money which could be better spent.

So if you want to know where your council tax goes, that's one place. Have a look at: http://www.englishdemocrats.org.uk/news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1162635609&archive=&start_from=&ucat=3&

Margaret