hmrc collecting tax from public sector workers

CLAPTON

The_White_Horse wrote: »

why? why not just pay them a net sum and be done with it. won't that save money - presumably hundreds of people are paid at hmrc to deal with this charade? sack them all and just pay public sector jobs 20% or 40% less.

HMRC has floated the idea that all salaries both public and private sector should be paid gross to HMRC and then HMRC pay back to each person what HMRC think is appropriate.
This would have the benefit that atx would be paid must more quickly and of course in case of dispute thay have your money already.


so be careful what you wish for.

silverchair

ILW wrote: »

Apart from comparatively massive pensions, very generous sick leave, nice big pay offs in the unlikely event you ever get laid off, etc etc.

I think it depends where you work. Where I am if you get laid off its a weeks pay for each year you have worked, however you are not allowed to work in the same sector for a month & depending on the borough you cannot work in the same borough for a year if you accept the "pay off". Nice if you have worked there for 20 odd years, a different matter if you have worked for 3 years.This is if you have been made redundant by the way.

Again maternity pay depends on where you work too. Some of my friends were under the impression that I get something like 3 months full pay maternity pay. However, its a lot less.

I agree though, there is a lot of wastage in the public sector due to poor decisions and laziness which makes me angry as it ends up costing jobs (not theirs though) and is a waste of my tax money too. I wish some of them look at MSE and shop around when buying equipment rather than going for the easiest and usually most expensive route.

andyroberts1967

I work for HMRC and wouldn't dream of not paying my way by paying income tax. What an absurd thought to think that public sector workers shouldn't pay tax. Comments like that only wind people up and turn them against public sector workers. Maybe that's the intention of the poster who suggested it?

grizzly1911

andyroberts1967 wrote: »

I work for HMRC and wouldn't dream of not paying my way by paying income tax. What an absurd thought to think that public sector workers shouldn't pay tax. Comments like that only wind people up and turn them against public sector workers. Maybe that's the intention of the poster who suggested it?

I don't think that was the OPs suggestion.

What is the point of one part of the Teasury allocating money only for that to have to be recovered by HMRC to put back in the pot. By netting out the cost/revenue there is an argument that you could save money and cost as less people would be needed and money wouldn't be moving around the system.

Not that simple though.

BobQ

ruggedtoast wrote: »

Well my pension scheme is funded and every public sector worker I know is in the same one.

If you mean the civil service pensions then yes you are right but the civil service has always been a gravy train destination for Eton silver spooners.

Its funny how the rest of the public sector keeps having to contribute more for less for our pensions but if you ponce around in a blazer and old school tie the gravy keeps flowing for you.

For your shoulders

GeorgeHowell

ruggedtoast wrote: »

Well right now I'm in India. If you would like to come over here and see what the alternative is and how much you take for granted first hand, you can probably get an Emirates flight with a Dubai layover for about £600.

To make it more authentic you should agree to only use Indian public services. That means no taxis or private doctors, you should use your feet, the bus or the trains to get around and if you get sick you better go to a public clinic.

Try not to get really sick really fast or need a policeman as the emergency services aren't quite what you will have grown used to in the UK.

I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised by the tax regime though.

Comparison with somewhere like India does not make ours world class, but perhaps it seems that way when you are in a place like that. Years of cossetting by Labour, and the subsequent creation of a producer mentality, has turned our public services mainly into organisations where serving the public is not the first priority.

BobQ

The_White_Horse wrote: »

why? why not just pay them a net sum and be done with it. won't that save money - presumably hundreds of people are paid at hmrc to deal with this charade? sack them all and just pay public sector jobs 20% or 40% less.

This reminds me of the deal that previous Governments inflicetd on parts of the public sector. It said come and work for us, we will pay less than an equivalent job in the priivate sector but you will get a non-contributory pension that was worth a bit. Those foolish people went and worked for years earning much less than their friends in the private sector, but thought it was a fairly good deal. Then in came a Government that said your pensions worth a lot of money so we will confiscate some of your salary to help pay for it. They even persuaded those in the private sector that it was only fair to do this because pensions were unaffordable which is why they had had to give up theirs (unless they were directors etc of course)

So a good idea, TWH, completely impractical but plausible. But 10 years after its introduced some nice Tory politician will say .....Its so unfair that the public sector do not pay tax like their counterparts in the private sector. We plan to introduce a public sector income tax to match the private sector income tax. Once introduced then some bright spark will suggest merging it with the public sector pension conttributions since they are both taxes on income. But the public will be pleased after all its not fair the public sector get away without paying income tax.

BobQ

The_White_Horse wrote: »

why? why not just pay them a net sum and be done with it. won't that save money - presumably hundreds of people are paid at hmrc to deal with this charade? sack them all and just pay public sector jobs 20% or 40% less.

Sacking them seems so unfair when they coiuld be usefully deployed on investigating the tax avoidance industry that pays for the cheap coffee and books we enjoy or the tax evasion practiced by the great and the good.

Or they could be used to administer a system to revover child benefit from highly paid couples who just put it away in ISAs?

Graham_Devon

These threads are the reason I like public sector strikes so much.

Suddenly it's "oh, my bins aren't being collected, this is outrageous"

the_flying_pig

Radiantsoul wrote: »

I suspect it is more complex than you imagine otherwise it would already have been done.

How would you handle other income(interest, dividends, rent) in terms of thresholds. Public sector workers would still have a c£10k free allowance.

This is a white_horse thread. Don't think about it too much.