[Info-vax] OT: Politics - Was: HP stopping VMS paper documentation ?

[Paul Sture]

On Thu, 08 Dec 2011 20:02:53 +0000, ChrisQ wrote:

> On 12/07/11 16:37, Paul Sture wrote:
> 
> 
>> Please don't ask me about the UK "tax credit" system.  When I first
>> heard about it I asked in an accountancy forum and nobody there had an
>> clue either :-)
>>
>>
> I had difficulty understanding the logic behind the tax credit system,
> which takes with one hand, then gives some back with the other. Crazy,
> until you realise that it make more jobs for the inland revenue and thus
> expands their empire and influence. Socialism gone mad indeed.
> 

Crazy indeed.  The number of public sector jobs ballooned under the last 
UK government and it became an "us versus them" battle in some  respects.

> You may also be interested to hear that families with a combined income
> of up to around 40k ukp are eligible for tax credits. Pure madness: The
> tax credit system should be scrapped, with the thresholds increased for
> the low paid and a simple sliding scale for the rest...

I've stopped being surprised.  About 10 years ago I was discussing 
relative tax rates with a Swiss colleague and we worked out that all of 
our Swiss office, juniors included, would probably be on the highest tax 
rate in the UK.  The tax bands are more sensibly aligned to the cost of 
living here in Switzerland.


-- 
Fog differs from other clouds only in that fog touches the surface of
the Earth.

Paul Sture