Quote

Mr Osborne told The Daily Telegraph: “I was shocked to see that some of the very wealthiest people in the country have organised their tax affairs, and to be fair it’s within the tax laws, so that they were regularly paying virtually no income tax. And I don’t think that’s right.

“I’m talking about people right at the top. I’m talking about people with incomes of many millions of pounds a year. The general principle is that people should pay income tax and that includes people with the highest incomes.

“I’m not allowed to be shown the names of the individuals but I’ve sat with the most senior people at the Inland Revenue, the people who run some of the high net worth units there. They have given me examples, anonymised examples, and so we are taking action.”

The report found that Britain’s 20 biggest tax avoiders have used three main loopholes to legally reduce their their income tax bills by a total of £145 million in a year.

http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/osborne-im-going-wealthy-tax-200021296.html


So, millionaires not able to avoid income tax? Some of these people are paying less tax than you! 

Has been going on for a while - good job we've got a govt who's willing to try and crack down on it now.. also see the increase in stamp duty for homes above 2 million - 7% as an individual and 15% as a company... all good steps really as this sort of tax avoidance is reprehensible.  Though this is a thread about benefits so somewhat off topic really...

I doubts any of them are paying less tax than me though - they might be paying a lower percentage and avoiding a considerable amount but they're likely still paying a considerable amount all the same.

How would you get to repay people their vat? Some will spend money on a higher percentage of items that VAT is paid on than others. You can't just give them a flat amount. At that point it is unworkable.

Also, VAT is a flat rate tax on everyone, everyone pays it. The people who would gain most from an all VAT option are those with higher incomes. Most people see it as a highly unfair option. If you think any government would try it think back to the poll tax. Or how do you fancy paying a 50% VAT rate on everything and get to see your real rate of tax?

I'm just going to say I've had recent experience of the new employment and support allowance benefit. They're now being much tougher on people applying, as I can attest to. I had to apply for it about a year and a half ago for slipped disc so therefore quite bad back pain and also nerve pain down both legs and pelvis area. I only had my medical examination 6 months ago in January and have only just received my judgement, which is that they think I can work. So they are denying more applications but they take f**king ages doing it, and all this time they are paying someone £150 odd every two weeks. My pain was legit and also because it took them so f**king long it has gotten much worse and so the information they're going off is now incorrect. I intend to reapply because I now have difficulty standing in same place for more than 5 minutes without having to sit down. Sitting is also affected so I can only sit for a certain amount of time, I can't walk particularly far and then I also have the constant back pain, which I'm on 80mg Oxycontin for, and due to some issues around that drug I am now tolerant to a bigger dose than I currently take which makes for all kind of fun. add to that some other conditions I didn't have when I first applied. I'm still going to appeal the current judgement but because I'm absolutely skint and have justifiable reasons for applying again I'm going to do it

Anyway to boil it down I think they're rejecting more applicants but taking f**king ages to do it in, if you think it takes a year minimum for them to process it. Then they've made the appealing process more rigid.
 
In my denial letter I received 2 letters per se, the first was I think a template letter saying that'd I'd been denied and here are ways for you to appeal or ask us to reconsider the judgement. For appeals they include a leaflet which I'll move on to shortly and then to reconsider you had to contact them either by phone or in writing but didn't specify and address. When I rang the number on the front of the letter to ask them to reconsider they said they don't do it by phone and that in fact asking them to reconsider is the first part of the appeals process.
The second letter contained the transcript of my conversation at the work capability assessment that I had with their Doctor and also the assessment itself, It deigned that I had a score of 0 points and that I needed 15 points to get Employment and Support Allowance, I couldn't tell you what scored points and what did not as they did not provide that information. Probably because people would just say they had whatever the points scale said was worth 15. At the end of that letter they said if you wanted them to reconsider their decision to contact them either by phone or in writing, which was again half wrong, as I'm sure doing it in writing would work.
Thirdly I was given a leaflet titled "if you think our decision is wrong" at the front of the book they say you can do four things, 1, explain their decision face to face or over the phone 2, ask them to look again at the decision 3, ask for a written statement of reasons 4, appeal against the decision. They also say some decisions go to an independent tribunal. At the back of the leaflet there is a form for you to write your appeal in, it also states that you must say specifically why the decision is wrong, and not just "the doctor says I have a bad elbow"

I've heard they're denying more people and then letting them in on appeal, the idea being a legit person will appeal and someone trying their luck will not appeal. I don't particularly agree with that as it's a big f**king hassle for someone that they could just have let in normally, I mean if they could make the 15 points to a lenient examiner.

that's just my 2 pence, I don't think I've written it that well and may well delete it.

The whole Work Capability Assesment is designed to monitor you from start to finish.
My local one for example is on a 3rd floor of a building with no lift. One of the scoring is if a person can manage 3 steps on a stairs or not.
Other things like walking 50 meters without pain or discomfort, or needing to stop for a rest. It all starts before you even have your appointment with an examiner.
Also, dont forget, tehy are not medical trained or experts, they are just there to tick boxes & add up points. If they cant physically see a disability, it makes thing tougher
to convince them.