Tax and Spend - who pays?

Generali

I found an interesting piece in City am:

The statistics are illuminating. The taxes paid by Londoners are equivalent to 45.2 per cent of London’s GDP; public spending is just 34.9 per cent of London’s GDP, making a huge surplus of 10.3 per cent of GDP in 2010-11. In the South East, the tax burden is 41.1 per cent of local GDP, against spending of 40.3 per cent, equivalent to a surplus of 0.8 per cent. In both cases, the difference is sent to the rest of the UK. These regional surpluses compare with a UK-wide deficit at that time of 10 per cent of GDP. These two regions are much wealthier and less dependent on public sector jobs; they host the City, which pays a fortune in tax, especially via the tax of its staff; the bulk of stamp duty land tax is also paid in London and the South East. The 50p income tax rate is also largely a London and South East tax.

http://www.cityam.com/article/everyone-must-learn-pay-their-way

The North East, Wales and Northern Ireland spend more than double than they raise in taxes. No wonder most of the North is so keen on Socialism, they don't pay for it!

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

Hey!

Aberdeen is in the "North East" of Scotland and we blinking well subsidise half the country!!!

Generali

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

Hey!

Aberdeen is in the "North East" of Scotland and we blinking well subsidise half the country!!!

I think he means the NE of England!

It would be interesting to see a break down for Scottish regions. I suspect Aberdeen would be putting a lot in.

chewmylegoff

Is it really possible to calculate regional numbers in a meaningful way? If Bank A makes £5 billion by lending money to people in Wales and Northern England, and then pays £4 billion in bonuses taxed at 50% to London based staff is it really accurate to then say that London contributed £2 billion of tax and the regions contributed nothing?

Generali

chewmylegoff wrote: »

Is it really possible to calculate regional numbers in a meaningful way? If Bank A makes £5 billion by lending money to people in Wales and Northern England, and then pays £4 billion in bonuses taxed at 50% to London based staff is it really accurate to then say that London contributed £2 billion of tax and the regions contributed nothing?

That's not the reality of how things work though. While some money will be channeled to head office, much of it is spent locally on staff, office space etc.

Also, not all banks are headquartered in London: some of Britain's most successful banks like RBS, Northern Rock and Bradford and Bingley have HQs outside London.

ruggedtoast

Do people like socialism because they are poor, or are they poor because they like socialism?

Moby

Generali wrote: »

I found an interesting piece in City am:



http://www.cityam.com/article/everyone-must-learn-pay-their-way

The North East, Wales and Northern Ireland spend more than double than they raise in taxes. No wonder most of the North is so keen on Socialism, they don't pay for it!

Amazing how the internet enables you to pontificate about what is going on in one part of the world from the other side of it. Ever thought about the fact that all the resources of the north were drained away during the industrial revolution etc. We in the south are now re-paying the debt by building up the infrastructure again.

Moby

ruggedtoast wrote: »

Do people like socialism because they are poor, or are they poor because they like socialism?

I like socialism and I'm not poor now....I just remember things like seeing the quality of my father and grandfather's lives working in the coal mines in Wales prior to their early deaths. Its called empathy.

Generali

Moby wrote: »

Amazing how the internet enables you to pontificate about what is going on in one part of the world from the other side of it. Ever thought about the fact that all the resources of the north were drained away during the industrial revolution etc. We in the south are now re-paying the debt by building up the infrastructure again.

I don know who taught you economic history but I'd look for a refund if I were you.

antrobus

Generali wrote: »

....Also, not all banks are headquartered in London: some of Britain's most successful banks like RBS, Northern Rock and Bradford and Bingley have HQs outside London.

Ah, sarcasm.:)

Moby

Generali wrote: »

I don know who taught you economic history but I'd look for a refund if I were you.

1. Didn't pay for my education...I wasn't that privileged!
2. Self appointed 'experts' on economics are the problem not the cure imo.