Restoration of the age related allowance

MonkeyMad

I think the tax-free benefit being referred to is most likely a heated office. Which in practicality means most of us having to wear jumpers of fleeces in the winter ie we dress according to the season. Which I also do when I am at home, and have also been known to wear a hat whilst in my living room. Quite easy to keep warm without having the heating on full whack.

teajug

MonkeyMad wrote: »

I think the tax-free benefit being referred to is most likely a heated office. Which in practicality means most of us having to wear jumpers of fleeces in the winter ie we dress according to the season. Which I also do when I am at home, and have also been known to wear a hat whilst in my living room. Quite easy to keep warm without having the heating on full whack.

A bit different to what our millionaire government does to chill-out. Oh, forgot they gave themselves a massive tax reduction in the budge a couple of months ago all on the average tax payer we are such generous people compare to the French. The new President of France was voted in on the basis that he would tax the super-rich 75% tax and cut the salaries of the ministers by 30%.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-18138300

Extracts from a biography of the prime minister by journalists Francis Elliott and James Hanning suggest he "chillaxes" during weekends at his official country residence, Chequers, by singing karaoke, playing tennis against a machine dubbed "the Clegger", playing games on his iPad and partaking of several glasses of wine at Sunday lunch.


:T

zygurat789

jamesd wrote: »

Then the "would be happy" clause applies and you're happy.

I receive no significant free benefits from work, other than a little pension matching, which costs me at least as much in reduced gross pay to get the match.

Everything I get either costs me pay, is taxable for income tax, NI or all three. Days off work above the legal minimum, for example, cost me pro-rated days of pay.

Options for various types of insurance all cost me money or are taxable or both. Those getting various work things will be familiar with benefit in kind declarations that their employer sends to HMRC so it can reduce the personal allowance to charge the tax.

I don't know your personal circumstances but they could include the following
Free heating from 9 to 5
Free parking near town centre
Subsidised canteen
free use of office. Postage etc

zygurat789

MonkeyMad wrote: »

I think the tax-free benefit being referred to is most likely a heated office. Which in practicality means most of us having to wear jumpers of fleeces in the winter ie we dress according to the season. Which I also do when I am at home, and have also been known to wear a hat whilst in my living room. Quite easy to keep warm without having the heating on full whack.

Do You have any evidence for your usual sweeping generalisation?
When you grow up you will find that your metabolism slows down and you do not generate as much heat internally

I would love to be on equality with you, especially the salary

MonkeyMad

Shock, horror. The PM plays computer games and like to sing karaoke. He appears to share that interest with a large proportion of the population - so what?

The French income tax system is indeed different to ours and tends to favour couples (which may tend to harm pensioners more). They also have a system of social charges on income which is relatively high, and high contributions for welfare, as well as higher rates of capital gains tax. Pensioners may well be better off but they pay for it whilst they are working. Which elements would you like to cherry pick for your comparison?

MonkeyMad

zygurat789 wrote: »

Do You have any evidence for your usual sweeping generalisation?
When you grow up you will find that your metabolism slows down and you do not generate as much heat internally

I would love to be on equality with you, especially the salary

Does your grasp of English not comprehend that my statement covers all the people in my office-this is an office that is very modern and meets the latest requirements ie is warmer than most. You also have no idea how old I am or any health issues I may have that affect my ability to generate or maintain heat. I am aware that the body generates less internal heat which is why people tend to wear more clothes as space heating is a phenomenally poor way of keeping warm. Perhaps you should try moving about instead of watching TV which is something I seem to recall you suggest is the number one pastime of pensioners.

Perhaps you could provide evidence on the generalisation that pensioners are suffering because the price of extra lean mince is going up, suffering to the extent their life is threatened, not things are a little tighter, and there is less to give to the grand-children when they visit? You keep trying to trot out the idea that this allowance is all that is keeping pensioners alive and it is just not true is it?

Free postage - Er, no
Free parking - Employers being charged per parking space
Subsidised canteen - Er, no
Free use of office etc. - Yes I am allowed to attend my workplace for free. And have to wear more clothes when it is cold.

It's not the 1970s now you know, or whatever sheltered industry it was you may worked in. Have you been to an office of a large multi-national lately? You seem to think it is some utopian existance largely designed for the workers comfort. And you talk about generalisation!

You clearly have no clue about what life is like for anyone other than yourself, and have no interest in the welfare of anyone except yourself which is why you are so focussed on loosing the band. It doesn't matter to you that the lower rate allowance is being over-indexed to raise more out of taxation completely, you just want to maintain your differential because basically you are grasping all you can get as long as someone else is paying for it.

And you still haven't told us how, at time of retirement, new pensioners will be suffering by not receiving an allowance that they never had in their working lives.

And if you want equivalence with my salary, do my job.

margaretclare

This discussion has really gone from the well-meaning though misguided, to the bordering on ridiculous.

Even when I was at work I never got free postage, free parking, any of the things mentioned. I don't know anyone who did.

Where I intend to go, in about half an hour's time, there are a lot of older women, and I would guess - although the title is 50+ - many of them are in retirement years. We go to aqua-aerobics, others go to an exercise class called stretch-and-tone. They meet each other and have coffee afterwards. They're not sitting around watching TV all day.

If you get your home well-insulated - money well-spent - then keeping warm indoors in cold weather is not a problem. Nor is staying cool in hot weather either. It's called using a little bit of foresight and not expecting everything to be done for you by someone else.

It would be interesting, in an academic sense, to know just what was the thinking behind this original introduction of higher tax allowances for the retired, but only in an academic and historical sense. Life has changed almost out of all recognition for all of us since 1925. So how can it be argued 'oh, this was introduced in 1925 (no matter by whom, that's irrelevant) therefore it must be continued for ever and ever, amen'. Many years ago when a teenager started work they barely paid any tax at all on starting wages/salary. Now, day one at work and they're paying tax, even on very low starting pay. They're the ones I feel sorry for.

MonkeyMad

Here you go margaretclare:
http://www.parliament.uk/Templates/BriefingPapers/Pages/BPPdfDownload.aspx?bp-id=SN06158

rpc

zygurat789 wrote: »

I don't know your personal circumstances but they could include the following

Free heating from 9 to 5

In the office. They don't pay to heat my home where my wife looks after my kids (mat leave and PT work).

Free parking near town centre

Nope. Not near town centre and not available when I'm not working.

Subsidised canteen

Nope.

free use of office. Postage etc

Nope. Disciplinary offence if you got caught scamming postage or nicking stationery (in theory anyway!)

And I work for (IMHO) a fairly generous, laid back company!

dzug1

free use of office. Postage etc

So thieving from your employer is a benefit you no longer have when retired? And thus might justify a higher tax allowance?

That just about sums up the depths this thread has plumbed