American Express in the UK

Alex9384

msallen said:

So it was drivel after all then.

In other words, you don't have any valid counterargument.

NoodleDoodleMan

What kind of weird mental processes can ever turn a sentence "They should be happy that they actually get any money from me" into "utopian world of no taxes".

Appears a clear, concise and unambigious statement to me.

Other opinions may differ of course.

Alex9384

NoodleDoodleMan said:

What kind of weird mental processes can ever turn a sentence "They should be happy that they actually get any money from me" into "utopian world of no taxes".

Appears a clear, concise and unambigious statement to me.

Other opinions may differ of course.

Absolutely not. Those are two different things.
Honestly, I'm shocked how you people are unable to comprehend simple statements.

Alex9384

Government wants my money = fact.
It's not a privilege to pay by credit card, lol! Privilege would be to not pay taxes or have them reduced. But that's not what I'm talking about, right? Allowing to pay by CC is just an additional way that should be a matter of course. Earning rewards even when paying taxes certainly would have some positive psychological effect.

You all might want to learn something from economics. It's called a Laffer curve. Google it.

The higher tax rates, the more likely are people to look for ways of avoiding those taxes. In the end, when tax rates are too high, government actually gets less money from taxes. How many of you would like to pay 90% tax (it really existed in the US decades ago)? And how many of you would still fervently defend it on the internet then?
Now, any additional option to pay taxes (such as reward cards) only makes it a little bit less painful and some people may think "OK, I need to pay that tax but at least I'll earn X thousand Avios points (or some other points or cash)". Although I said "little bit", it can still make difference. So, no, I'm not talking about any utopian world, just about government having a bit more common sense and make paying taxes "more attractive".

Voyager2002

Alex9384 said:

Just in case you didn't know, it's MY money that govs want from me. They should be happy that they actually get any money from me, don't you think? They should allow all forms of payments, perhaps even in bitcoin (since they are happy to grab your capital gain tax even for that).

Actually no, it is not. Whose head is on the coins that you use: yours?

They issue the money; it belongs to them at all times; you should be thankful that they are only asking you to return a tiny proportion of the money that they allow you to have. You should also be thankful that they allow you to make an on-line payment rather than travelling to the capital city, queuing outside an office, and then making a payment in cash.

Alex9384

Voyager2002 said:

Actually no, it is not. Whose head is on the coins that you use: yours?

They issue the money; it belongs to them at all times; you should be thankful that they are only asking you to return a tiny proportion of the money that they allow you to have. You should also be thankful that they allow you to make an on-line payment rather than travelling to the capital city, queuing outside an office, and then making a payment in cash.

Load of nonsense.
Most money is created by banks. Learn about fractional reserve banking and money creation.
We could as well use bitcoin and/or other cryptos, but guess what. Governments don't really like it.
They force you to use the official state currency. You have to pay taxes in it, therefore you have no other option. How are you supposed to be thankful for that?
Maybe you get all the money for free and you are happy to return a tiny portion of it, but I have to go to work to earn that money.

Alex9384

Professor Richard Werner might be able to help you with this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzE038REw2k

floppydisk1

Alex - OP asked a valid question about using and  acceptance of Amex . Your own view and understanding of tax system, fiat money or wider economy won't change it. Again, question was about general acceptance of Amex in Uk retail industry, not about why you feel that tax office should allow you to use it. As far as I am concerned, you can't use credit card ( Amex or other )  to pay vast majority of taxes in UK, you can't set up direct debit payment  from a credit card  either ( Amex or other ). You can't use credit card ( Amex or others ) for any gambling purposes also. Your personal view   ( and whether they should be privileged enough to accept your money, whichever method of payment you chose ) is irrelevant , use debit card or a bank transfer where you have to use it.
 The fact is that general acceptance of Amex has vastly improved in last decade and  majority of people can use Amex for best part of 90 % of all their day to day expenses.