Hope this isn't too boring, but wanted to know a few peoples thoughts.
As a result of tax evasion by freelancers in many trades, the inland revenue is apprently putting the pressure on companies/businesses who use freelancers to provide proof that the free lancers are registred self employed. Has any one in the industry had contact with the IR and found this to be the case? At a guess most models/performers are freelance, I imagine most producers pay a set rate rather than payroll people (tech crew included).
Ta
income tax etc
Re: income tax etc
Not that tax evasion is to be condoned - but it is understandable, quite simply because taxes are FAR TOO HIGH right across the board! This year, Tax Freedom Day (the day when the average citizen stops working for the taxman and starts working for himself) in the UK was June 3rd, having been May 25th just 3 or 4 years ago.
That's nearly half the year working for HM Government. Hardly surprising that some folk think "fuck that" and fiddle their tax if and when the opportunity arises.
The problem is that the politicians who impose these taxes (and then squander much of the money that they generate) are to a very large extent shielded from the effects that constant tax hikes have on the man in the street and even the economy in general - thanks to the very nice salaries, copper-bottomed pension schemes, generous expense packages and other perks that they award themselves.
The thing about increasing tax is that it's never more than a short-term "sticking plaster" solution to economic ills, because as any schoolboy economist knows, all that putting tax up achieves is to take more money out of people's & firms' pockets, thus slowing down buying power, which in turn leads to less goods & services being sold. This has the knock-on effect of putting the squeeze on businesses, which are able to invest less and have to lay people off. These people then claim assorted benefits, becoming in the process net consumers of tax (as opposed to contributors) and so the cycle continues. It also ultimately means that the government takes in LESS tax due to firms & individuals relocating their assets and / or domisciles offshore and more people working "on the black".
Sadly though, politicians - with their limited levels of intelligence and common sense - never seem to be able to grasp this simple concept.
I recall reading in one of the Sunday supplements an article by some eminent economist (whose name escapes me) who argued that if EVERYONE from the loftiest MD to the lowest teaboy were to pay a flat rate of just 13% income tax, the government would actually end up taking in MORE money from tax. To counter the argument that it's unfair that everyone should pay a single flat rate because 13% of the teaboy's wage is, in relative terms, more than 13% of the MD's salary, he argued that this discrepancy could be offset by abolishing ALL tax breaks, write-offs and other perks that in any case for the most part favour the better-paid and - most importantly - by CUTTING BACK DRASTICALLY ON THE AMOUNT OF TAXPAYERS' MONEY THAT GOVERNMENTS WASTE!
A greatly simplifed tax model along these lines would also, he argued, save BILLIONS in administrative costs, as it would eliminate the tax minefield that currently exists and all these silly "take-with-one-hand-then-give-back-with-the-other" tax credit schemes that the politicians constantly seem to be cooking up (and cocking up).
I know all this doesn't answer the OP's original question so apologies for that. But I can never resist the opportunity to take a pop at the tax system because quite frankly the whole fucking thing pisses me off when I see how much those fat-cat crooks & robbers in grey suits take off us all, only to piss it all away down a big black hole of waste and squander.
That's nearly half the year working for HM Government. Hardly surprising that some folk think "fuck that" and fiddle their tax if and when the opportunity arises.
The problem is that the politicians who impose these taxes (and then squander much of the money that they generate) are to a very large extent shielded from the effects that constant tax hikes have on the man in the street and even the economy in general - thanks to the very nice salaries, copper-bottomed pension schemes, generous expense packages and other perks that they award themselves.
The thing about increasing tax is that it's never more than a short-term "sticking plaster" solution to economic ills, because as any schoolboy economist knows, all that putting tax up achieves is to take more money out of people's & firms' pockets, thus slowing down buying power, which in turn leads to less goods & services being sold. This has the knock-on effect of putting the squeeze on businesses, which are able to invest less and have to lay people off. These people then claim assorted benefits, becoming in the process net consumers of tax (as opposed to contributors) and so the cycle continues. It also ultimately means that the government takes in LESS tax due to firms & individuals relocating their assets and / or domisciles offshore and more people working "on the black".
Sadly though, politicians - with their limited levels of intelligence and common sense - never seem to be able to grasp this simple concept.
I recall reading in one of the Sunday supplements an article by some eminent economist (whose name escapes me) who argued that if EVERYONE from the loftiest MD to the lowest teaboy were to pay a flat rate of just 13% income tax, the government would actually end up taking in MORE money from tax. To counter the argument that it's unfair that everyone should pay a single flat rate because 13% of the teaboy's wage is, in relative terms, more than 13% of the MD's salary, he argued that this discrepancy could be offset by abolishing ALL tax breaks, write-offs and other perks that in any case for the most part favour the better-paid and - most importantly - by CUTTING BACK DRASTICALLY ON THE AMOUNT OF TAXPAYERS' MONEY THAT GOVERNMENTS WASTE!
A greatly simplifed tax model along these lines would also, he argued, save BILLIONS in administrative costs, as it would eliminate the tax minefield that currently exists and all these silly "take-with-one-hand-then-give-back-with-the-other" tax credit schemes that the politicians constantly seem to be cooking up (and cocking up).
I know all this doesn't answer the OP's original question so apologies for that. But I can never resist the opportunity to take a pop at the tax system because quite frankly the whole fucking thing pisses me off when I see how much those fat-cat crooks & robbers in grey suits take off us all, only to piss it all away down a big black hole of waste and squander.
Re: income tax etc
A few more thoughts on tax:
You go to work - they tax you on your earnings.
You need to travel to get to work - they tax you on that too (petrol), and then tax you on it some more (road tax).
With the money you have left after paying tax, you need to buy stuff to live on. And once again, they tax you when you buy this stuff.
You buy a house over 25 years and they tax you on the essentials you need to run it, such as electricity, gas etc. Sell it, and yes - they tax you on that as well!!
You have a little bit of cash left, so you try to save it for a rainy day - and they tax that (if you're not careful) and even if you ARE careful, they still tax it.
Finally you shuffle off this mortal coil, thinking that any money you had left (after it's been taxed so many times) can now go where you want to leave it, unmolested (surely it should now finally be free of tax?!). But NO! They?ll try to get one last slice of that too, as a final farewell gesture.
Come the day they manage to put a tax on umbilical cords, they really will have bled us dry from the womb to the tomb.
You go to work - they tax you on your earnings.
You need to travel to get to work - they tax you on that too (petrol), and then tax you on it some more (road tax).
With the money you have left after paying tax, you need to buy stuff to live on. And once again, they tax you when you buy this stuff.
You buy a house over 25 years and they tax you on the essentials you need to run it, such as electricity, gas etc. Sell it, and yes - they tax you on that as well!!
You have a little bit of cash left, so you try to save it for a rainy day - and they tax that (if you're not careful) and even if you ARE careful, they still tax it.
Finally you shuffle off this mortal coil, thinking that any money you had left (after it's been taxed so many times) can now go where you want to leave it, unmolested (surely it should now finally be free of tax?!). But NO! They?ll try to get one last slice of that too, as a final farewell gesture.
Come the day they manage to put a tax on umbilical cords, they really will have bled us dry from the womb to the tomb.
Re: income tax etc
i disagree savings being taxed.