h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

You could claim a rebate against your carbon tax return for the amount of plants you own related to the size of property.

Thus, as a cyclist and ex-motorist, I would probably make a profit on the carbon tax - due to being co-owner of a gardenless one-bed flat, the lounge of which has been colonised by my girlfriend as an impromptu greenhouse...

I have a quick question (a bit off topic maybe, but never mind).

If we had local income taxes rather than the council tax, wouldn't that mean that areas where there are generally lower incomes would have to pay a higher percentage of their income to achieve the same budget for local services as areas where there are generally higher wages?

Are Council Taxes in poor areas already lower than Council Taxes in wealthy areas? Is there a correlation between income and Council Tax? Does a library in Estuary England cost more to operate than a library in Cleethorpes?

If yes, then yes. But already many taxes (like VAT, Excise) are not means-tested.

Council taxes are invariably higher in poor areas due to high levels of unemployment meaning the total bill has to be shared out between fewer people.

Running costs for councils are much higher in London and the South East than further north.

This is why the council tax for my bit of London is one of the highest in Britain...

The increases in the south were (generally) higher than in the north this year - 29% in my area. Do poorer areas pay higher council tax now? Am just generally curious about how this would work.

"Are Council Taxes in poor areas already lower than Council Taxes in wealthy areas? Is there a correlation between income and Council Tax? Does a library in Estuary England cost more to operate than a library in Cleethorpes?

If yes, then yes."

I don't follw your logic here I am afraid, I don't suppose it costs more to operate a library in the south than the north but I don't see why that matters.

If an area has a population of 50,000 with an average income of 20k then at 2% tax the local council would have 20,000,000 to spend.

The same population with an average income of 15k at 2% tax would leave the council with 15,000,000.

The same number of people would (one assumes) need the same level of funding to supply all the necessary local services so to raise the 20,000,000 the poorer area would have to ask for 2.66% tax.

If yes then no then.

It comes down to what do you consider to be the boundary of your society. If it's your garden wall, then live in the US. If you like your town/village/coomunity, then be happy to pay council tax, however high. If it's national then be happy to pay 50% Income Tax.

Thus, what is best for humanity? To live in splendid isolation, in local autonomous communities or as part of a much wider society?

DMT

if you would like to climb down off of your high for just a sec...

Earlier in this thread researchers were talking about replacing council tax with some form of local income tax. Council tax is a *local* tax, so within the UK there are already defined boundaries that dictate that you live in one area or another. The nation's wealth is not so evenly spread that every area has the same average earnings so I am wondering how the burden of a locally collected income tax can be fair on those that live in lower income areas. Either they end up paying a larger percentage of their income in order to provide the same level of funding to their local council - or they pay the same percentage and experience a poorer level of service.

I suppose you could have everyone pay the same percentage and top this up from central government coffers, but why bother? If you go down that route then you might as well abolish local taxation altogether (and probably make a cost saving on the administration) and fund everything from central government by raising income tax.

How would the researchers proposing the idea (really sorry I can't remember who) deal with this problem? I am interested because this was one of those things I always thought would be good until I started pondering it this morning.

k - someone who cares about a much wider socitey according to Trout's definition above.

The lib dems are proposing a local tax "like income tax" too:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2987983.stm

Does anyone have any ideas on how this could be made to work?

Demon Drawer might know, he's running as a Lib-Dem on May 1st. Or you could always check out the LibDem site -> http://www.libdem.org (i think)
Oberon2001

Having followed most of this conversation the only conclusion I can come to is that my personal Tax is, and always will be, too high.
I have paid tax in one form or another for almost 60 years. I still pay tax. I have money put aside to cover my funeral expenses and it is more than likely that that final account will be subject to VAT.
R.I.P