What do you think of my new tax proposal?

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What do you think of my new tax proposal?
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jema
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28235
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Sat Dec 17, 05 6:14 pm Post subject: What do you think of my new tax proposal?
I propose that all companies on any new person they hire are either awarded a tax credit or debit based on the following. If they employ someone who lives within 20 miles, they would get a tax credit of ï¿½1000 pounds. If they employ someone outside of a 40 mile radius, they would be taxed an additional ï¿½1000 pounds.

Rob R

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 31902
Location: York

Posted: Sat Dec 17, 05 6:16 pm Post subject:
I'd support that

Treacodactyl
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Sat Dec 17, 05 6:18 pm Post subject:
Well, it would stop companies hiring any immigrants overnight so it could be viewed as an extreme right wing idea. Not quite sure what the law would help with, especially as many companies will spend ï¿½1,000s on agency fees to find people.

jema
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28235
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Sat Dec 17, 05 6:21 pm Post subject:

Treacodactyl wrote:

Well, it would stop companies hiring any immigrants overnight so it could be viewed as an extreme right wing idea.

Obviously any such law would have a few caveats, e.g. for relocation etc. I expect quite a few other addendums would be needed, say to cover working on an oil rig!

Treacodactyl
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Sat Dec 17, 05 6:25 pm Post subject:
Well that would certainly help the house price market. I would suggest the money would be better spent encouraging people to work from home.

Rob R

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 31902
Location: York

Posted: Sat Dec 17, 05 6:26 pm Post subject:
And short term workers would probably not be included, I guess, it doesn't sound like it would stop them hiring anyone, just make it more attractive to think local (and have a knock-on effect of reducing various other social problems the Government has at the moment).

Bernie66

Joined: 14 Jan 2005
Posts: 13967
Location: Eastoft

Posted: Sat Dec 17, 05 8:42 pm Post subject:

This sounds like one of my favourite moans. I am hacked off with big companys pretending to be ethical, and I am sure being ethical up to a point, and then having similar grade managers from all the way around regions passing each other on motorway journeys of 40 odd miles each way every day on the way to work. Doing the maths, using a particular case in mind it adds up to 32900 miles each per year. this is happening in all major retailers all over the country! Barmy and should be taxed to hell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Apparently I am due to be moved soon because I will become stagnant in one place after too long and it will "develope me as a manager" to work in other stores. My thoughts are boll**ks-the better I know my staff the better I can treat them, motivate them and will achieve better results. So therefore I should pay ï¿½2.60 a day in tunnel fees drive a needless 30 odd extra miles and because of that will do little or no "goodwill" overtime because all I want to do is get home at the end of the day-developement my a*se
Sorry, I have finished now

dougal

Joined: 15 Jan 2005
Posts: 7184
Location: South Kent

Posted: Sat Dec 17, 05 10:39 pm Post subject:

Sorry Jema, I don't think its really 'on'.

One significant problem is the EU. You are penalising cross-border commuters, and thereby interfering with the free market in labour...

But I do agree that incentivising people to work more locally - and companies to recruit more locally - is a very laudable aim.

However, while reducing people's need to move house for employment reasons, I suspect you would reduce the number of house sales (bad for estate agents) and probably exaggerate property price differences between areas with different employment prospects.

Just a 'heads-up' in case anyone is unaware that *cyclists* can claim various worthwhile tax breaks - especially if you can use the bike (at all, ever) for 'business trips'.
https://www.leedscyclists.org.uk/Tax%20breaks.htm
Its worth being aware of...

But I don't think there's a way that you can be efficiently positively rewarded for cycling to work. Is there?

Caplan

Joined: 30 Aug 2005
Posts: 90

Posted: Sat Dec 17, 05 11:50 pm Post subject:

jema wrote:

I propose that all companies on any new person they hire are either awarded a tax credit or debit based on the following.

If they employ someone who lives within 20 miles, they would get a tax credit of ï¿½1000 pounds.

If they employ someone outside of a 40 mile radius, they would be taxed an additional ï¿½1000 pounds.

Who pays for the administration to check the records are correct then????

nettie

Joined: 02 Dec 2004
Posts: 5888
Location: Suffolk

Posted: Sun Dec 18, 05 1:06 am Post subject:

I can't see it working; employers might not find the right candidate locally for something specialist; companies and charities running healthcare provisions in the inner cities would be penalised for trying to attract qualified staff; individuals would be penalised as any thoughts of career progression and better salary elsewhere would be stifled, stuck in the sticks on a crap salary, with no way out of it for the majority. Companies would employ on geographic location rather than raw talent and suitability, and that would be a shame.

However, I can sympathise with Bernie, and I think he has hit on the real problem - my last job clocked me up 25,000 miles a year. And I was only the manager, not the sales rep! How many reps, lorry drivers and white van men are there out there, clogging up the roads, polluting the air, being late for everything and getting depressed while they sit in traffic queue after traffic queue. Jema's suggestion wouldn't fix that; as long as you were based within 20 miles of the office they could send you all over the shop and still be within the rules. What we need to do is to remove road tax and tax the petrol/diesel instead, and stop our roads turning into car parks full of fleet cars.

Last edited by nettie on Sun Dec 18, 05 1:39 am; edited 1 time in total

mark

Joined: 14 Jul 2005
Posts: 2191
Location: Leeds

Posted: Sun Dec 18, 05 1:37 am Post subject:

can't see this being very popular in rural & remote areas whee travel to work distance is usualy more than in cities!

another problem is that race and culture and background determine where people live!

if the purpose of the tax is to discourage employers from appointing distant workers this could result in unfair discrimination

if for example employers in north yorkshire discriminated against peope from bradford cos of a distance tax - it would also exclude those from poorer backgrounds and those of asian origin from

it would also make it hard for people in areas on low employment (which typically also have low house prices) to travel to find work where the jobs are (areas that typically have higher house prices). Frequently such people have to put with a long commute for a few years while they save up enough to move!

nettie

Joined: 02 Dec 2004
Posts: 5888
Location: Suffolk

Posted: Sun Dec 18, 05 1:47 am Post subject:

mark wrote:

can't see this being very popular in rural & remote areas whee travel to work distance is usualy more than in cities!

You're dead right Mark, an hour on the road in South London (wimbledon to crystal palace in rush hour) can hardly be compared to travelling from say Lincoln to Derby - still an hour, but a lot more miles)

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28235
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Sun Dec 18, 05 8:00 am Post subject:

The proposal was a little tongue in cheek as it is easy to spot quite a few issues with it.

But for all the execeptions that can be pointed to, the motorway here is still full of people travelling from Swindon to Bristol to do much the same jobs as people doing the opposite. I cannot believe that 90% of the jobs could not be "swapped" and done better by people who were fresher and more enthusiastic having cut well over an hour of commuting a day out of their lives.

I have been on the 30,000 miles a year commute treadmill myself

Dougals response in the thread I do find worrying:

Dougal wrote:

One significant problem is the EU. You are penalising cross-border commuters, and thereby interfering with the free market in labour...

To paraphrase, it "We can't help the environment, its against the law"

I think it will take bold radical proposals to change things, which means stepping on existing structures and overcoming unpopularity. If you look at congestion charging in London, that was a very bold move that one hell of a lot of people I am sure said was unworkable, but it worked!

Rob R

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 31902
Location: York

Posted: Sun Dec 18, 05 9:36 am Post subject:

jema wrote:

To paraphrase, it "We can't help the environment, its against the law"

True, it's a long term problem but we can't solve it with the existing laws & attittudes - change is something we should embrace rather than shun. All the free market trade will be no good when our infra-structure (or sanity) is ****ed up by climate change & the endless commute.

dougal

Joined: 15 Jan 2005
Posts: 7184
Location: South Kent

Posted: Sun Dec 18, 05 11:28 am Post subject:

jema wrote:

..Dougals response in the thread I do find worrying:

Dougal wrote:

One significant problem is the EU. You are penalising cross-border commuters, and thereby interfering with the free market in labour...

To paraphrase, it "We can't help the environment, its against the law"

No, that's not the right interpretation.
Its a case of not being allowed to stack the rules in favour of the locals.
Fair play - for all - is the principle.

Heaven knows there is enough EU environmental legislation, making it *against* the law *not* to help the environment.

Landfill directive? Biofuels directive? Air, water...
Remember the fuss over old fridges? Yet to come is a potentially bigger fuss over disposal of electronic waste.

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