Where does our tax money go?

gfplux

Within the thread "snap general election thread" I posed the question.

Looking at Britain from across the Channel I often wonder "where the money goes"
I read, and hear (from friends and family) that Britain has..

Poor infrastructure, roads, rail, airports bridges etc.
Bus and train travel is very expensive.
Educations is underfunded.
NHS is underfunded.
Prisons are underfunded.

On the other side of the balance sheet.

I hear from many people on Money saving expert that...
Income tax is too high.
VAT is too high.
Corporation Tax is too high.

So I ask myself. "Britain is one of the richest Country's in the World, where does the money go.

I had a few replies but it would be better if a new thread is started.

So I ask where does the money go. I now understand that Britain has a much lower tax take that FRANCE and German so actually the answer is Britain does not have as much money to spend on the above as our close neighbour.

What do you think.

A_Medium_Size_Jock

gfplux wrote: »

Within the thread "snap general election thread" I posed the question.

Looking at Britain from across the Channel I often wonder "where the money goes"
I read, and hear (from friends and family) that Britain has..

Poor infrastructure, roads, rail, airports bridges etc.
Bus and train travel is very expensive.
Educations is underfunded.
NHS is underfunded.
Prisons are underfunded.

On the other side of the balance sheet.

I hear from many people on Money saving expert that...
Income tax is too high.
VAT is too high.
Corporation Tax is too high.

So I ask myself. "Britain is one of the richest Country's in the World, where does the money go.

I had a few replies but it would be better if a new thread is started.

So I ask where does the money go. I now understand that Britain has a much lower tax take that FRANCE and German so actually the answer is Britain does not have as much money to spend on the above as our close neighbour.

What do you think.

Being from outside the UK, your headline is possibly misleading.

"Where does your tax money go" may be more appropriate should it not?
Unless as a Luxembourg resident you somehow pay tax to the UK?

gfplux

A_Medium_Size_Jock wrote: »

Being from outside the UK, your headline is possibly misleading.

"Where does your tax money go" may be more appropriate should it not?
Unless as a Luxembourg resident you somehow pay tax to the UK?

Sorry BB I believe the debate should be wider that just the UK.
On the other thread an interesting breakthrough centred on the ACTUAL tax take available in the UK available to be spent on society and how that compared with FRANCE and Germany.
You are welcome to make the calculations on other Country's but they might not compare in size with the UK.

mrginge

I think the UK is rubbish and the EU is much better at everything.

gfplux

In the other thread ANTROBUS gave a great contribution sighting the various % of GNP taken as tax in various Country's.
This is the post and my reply.

---

Quote:
Originally Posted by antrobus View Post
Total tax revenue by country, 1995-2014 (% of GDP)

....otal_tax_revenue_by_country,_1995-2014_%28%25_of_GDP%29.png">http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Fileotal_tax_revenue_by_country,_1995-2014_%28%25_of_GDP%29.png

!!! MSE keeps bogging up that link. Eurostat data shoes tax as 47.9% of GDP in France and 34.4% in the UK. That's the answer.
Brilliant.
So that's where the money goes....Britain doesn't Have as much.

So found this https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_in_Europe_by_GDP_(nominal)
And this
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_tax_revenue_to_GDP_ratio

Using 2016 figures
Numbers are in billion USD. SO A BIT OF FAG PACKET MATHS.

UK GDP 2,649,893. X 34.4% = $911,563 billion
FRANCE GDP 2,488,284 x 47.9% = $1,191,888 billion

You will see FRANCE has a lower GDP but takes much more in Tax.

So BRITAIN has $280,325 billion LESS to spend.

That would be $280,325,000,000,000 LESS.
As this is based on the total tax take Does it mean British people and British business feel well off in comparison to their French neighbours. They should do.

FRANCE is a good comparison as the population numbers are similar. I have done the numbers in the same way for Germany but could be unfair as Germany has a much larger population than Britain.

Frankly hardly believe these figures. So I am pretty sure someone will be along shortly to put me right.
Thanks.

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Tiners

As far as the UK is concerned It mainly goes to people getting tax credits whilst they (claim) to work precisely 16 hours a week earning precisely NMW.

gfplux

Just to repeat so the numbers are not in a fog.

NUMBERS in BILLION US DOLLARS
BRITAIN GDP 2,649893 % tax take 34.4% = 911,563
FRANCE GDP. 2,488,284 % tax take 47.9% = 1,191,888
GERMANY GDP. 3,494,898 % tax take 40.6% = 1,418,928

As mentioned above Britain has $280,325,000,000,000 LESS to spend on Society than FRANCE.
I leave others to calculate the difference with Germany and to point out the higher population of Germany.

Yah_Boo_Sux

Maybe the extra 5% funding compared to say Germany would improve all of your perceived but unproven "problems".

As you yourself say though, tax is already thought to be too high, so how do you think the UK public would feel about that rise?
You see?
You may indeed see and hear grumbles - try asking those grumbling how they feel about paying more (you won't even have to mention the word "tax") to get those grumbles resolved.
I suspect the answer you get would include the word "off".

ukcarper

You can see here https://www.one.org/international/action/calculate-how-your-taxes-are-spent-by-the-uk-government/

economic

go read up Laffers curve

Yah_Boo_Sux

An update on your concerns over UK lamb?
Since that seemed to bother you so much not long ago that you made numerous posts.
Well, so far at least it seems that your concerns over UK lamb were unfounded.

From the end of April:

"It has been good news for UK farmers," said Mr Herdwick, who said that exchange rates had made British lamb more competitive, securing more exports as well as extra sales at home.While imports declined during February, exports rose by 10 per cent on the previous year to 5,600 tonnes.

https://www.farminguk.com/News/Boost-to-British-farmers-as-UK-imports-substantially-less-lamb_46305.html


From March:

UK lamb will soon be back on dinner plates across Kuwait following a new deal worth up to £15 million, Food Minister George Eustice announced today.
The re-opened trade route was announced during the minister’s visit to the Gulf to promote British food and drink and strengthen the UK’s trading relationship with this rapidly growing market.
Three major UK suppliers are already set to benefit from the five-year deal - with shipments prepped to leave soon.
The UK exported £625 million worth of food and drink to the region last year, including £80 million of cereal and £22 million of cheese.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/15-million-boost-for-uk-lamb-exports