Why pay tax?

GMbabies

A question.
Why would you pay a tax if there is no law requiring it?
Or is there a law that says you have to pay the tax? Do you pay tax because you simply received a letter from the tax office?

Mr G asked 5 solicitors and the tax office but nobody was able to answer his simple question. How bizzarr!? Having stumbled upon this video, I now would like to find out about the law. What is it called?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_r51nw1lkw

grey_gym_sock

all tax law comes from acts of parliament. there's a finance act passed every year. it's 1 of the least mysterious areas of law, in terms of where it comes from.

GMbabies

grey_gym_sock wrote: »

all tax law comes from acts of parliament. there's a finance act passed every year. it's 1 of the least mysterious areas of law, in terms of where it comes from.

So why the tax man couldn't even tell him such simple answer?
Even solisitors.....?
Isn't 'Act' and 'the Law' different?

grey_gym_sock

i haven't watched the video, but presumably because it's not a question they're usually asked. solicitors at least would know the answer, but perhaps they thought the questioner was a time waster. their job is not to engage in general debate about the law, but to deal with real legal disputes; though sometimes it does involve advising somebody that they have no case.

there are various sources of law in the UK. 1 of them is legislation passed by parliament; also called statute law. each piece of legislation is called an act of parliament.

GMbabies

grey_gym_sock wrote: »

i haven't watched the video, but presumably because it's not a question they're usually asked. solicitors at least would know the answer, but perhaps they thought the questioner was a time waster. their job is not to engage in general debate about the law, but to deal with real legal disputes; though sometimes it does involve advising somebody that they have no case.

there are various sources of law in the UK. 1 of them is legislation passed by parliament; also called statute law. each piece of legislation is called an act of parliament.

5 solicitors couldn't quote him what it was. He simply asked the question and not to debate.
Just because it's not a regularly asked question, I wonder why the tax man refused to answer it. If I was to ring up and ask what seems like a very basic question such as 'what is the tax rate?' I'm sure they will answer to help me understand where I stand.

grey_gym_sock

whether you call it debating or answering a question, the solicitors probably thought it would be a waste of their time. their role is not to educate the public about the law.

when you contact HMRC, you do not initially get a response from somebody with a deep understanding of the law.

agrinnall

If you're that concerned about it why don't you stop paying and see what happens? Good luck with your attempts to buy anything subject to VAT or duty by the way.

GMbabies

grey_gym_sock wrote: »

whether you call it debating or answering a question, the solicitors probably thought it would be a waste of their time. their role is not to educate the public about the law.

when you contact HMRC, you do not initially get a response from somebody with a deep understanding of the law.

The video was a follow up of an initial call because the tax man promised to send a reply letter but he didn't. It's all in the video.

CTA_2

What a waste of time watching that video. May i suggest to any user who thinks that income taxes have no legal basis to have a read of ITEPA 2003, ITTOIA 2005, ITA 2007 and the annual Finance Act.

malcumms7898

I think this stems from the idea that parliamentary statutes are not proper laws unless they are consented to - I don't know whether that is actually true or not. Probably not. As for the taxman, his job is to collect taxes, I doubt he is an expert in law. It is also illegal to murder, but I doubt there is a specific law or statute prohibiting it.

lavandergirl_2

There are many forms of tax and legislation covers these many forms of taxation.

History of Taxation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_taxation_in_the_United_Kingdom