What are council taxes all about?

[Gandalf]

I ask this question following a conversation with my sister talking about rents and council taxes. Now council tax is something that I really don't understand. I live in a place where I pay a local council tax of about 10 pounds twice yearly and that is the same for everyone. Most taxation is essentially in the form of income tax and that is what is used to fund education, infrastructure, cheap public transportation etc. Garbage disposal is funded by the purchase of cheap rubbish bags which is essentially nothing. So it horrified me to hear that my sister pays 200 pounds a month in council taxes.

So what the heck is council tax and what is it for? Where is the money going? It's not like Korea doesn't have the same things that the UK has. It has parks, roads and all the usual developed stuff. Though it clearly has a far lower single mother burden, but surely council taxes don't pay for that nonsense.

What's the deal with council tax and what are your experiences? I am truly curious about this.

[Gandalf]

Haha, Essex council spent 18 million pounds on this botched attempt at moving on gypsies? Is that the kind of thing that most money is being wasted on? Where is the money going? If everyone is chipping in at least 200 quid, where is it all going?

[Jimanuel Boogustus]

As far as I know it pays for the Local police, waste collection and.... well, the council's staff wages

[Gandalf]

The single response proves that most council tax payers have no idea where their money is going. It is a significant con process.

[Memphis]

The single response proves that most council tax payers have no idea where their money is going. It is a significant con process.

I think thats a pretty fair assessment.

Going back a few years my local council spent 100k planting a tree in a local health park garden. That might seem like a lot of money, but it was a special tree, it was upside down, y'now......art. Obviously there was no need to spend it on more medicine/equipment.

Within days some numpties had ripped it out of the ground. Poor uneducated fools couldnt see how an upside down tree could enrich their lives.

[Memphis]

Just heard a story on the news about a council installing gum boards in its town (dont know where it was)

The thinking is that if people have a special place to discard their gum they wont throw it on the floor. No doubt they spent thousands having them designed, thousands advertising them, thousands installing them.

If only they had already installed such a facility for all sorts of rubbish, not just gum, they could call them bins?

[Memphis]

Suppose we should also make note of the 13billion quid we've just wasted on an NHS central database thats now been scrapped

Although to be fair the consultants and engineers employed to put this shower of shite together will be paying massive amounts of tax back to the government so lets say we get a few billion back anyway, we get to waste that all over again on something else shit.

[Gandalf]

Thanks for the additions to the thread, Memphis. It is something that I have truly been trying to get my head around. If you are already paying considerable income tax, are paying VAT on everything you buy and then having to shunt 200quid a month on some local black hole, then that really is a lot in direct and indirect taxes. I have spent so long away from home that these things really do befuddle me when I hear about direct experiences of the system. It truly is a different world.

Then you factor in utility costs, outrageous rents and fuel costs and then you have a situation where it's no wonder many are living from paycheck to paycheck. If I was in the UK I don't see how I would be any different. It would be a struggle.

Things like nutty council tax are just another kick in the teeth IMO. Korea has nice parks, I have a lovely lake outside my window with radio played for you whilst you walk and a big fountain. There are well preserved mountain trails just a stones throw away and they can keep these things ideal for a tenner. If Korea can do it so easily and on a budget I just don't know why it all has to cost so much in the UK. It has to be a massive con. There is no other way to explain it.

[Master]

Council tax pays for local authority services such as bin collection, lights on streets, cleaning, it also pays for fire service and police. I pay £1300 a year, great value. It is based on the band your house is and what it is worth.

[Jimanuel Boogustus]

I remember watching this while on paternity leave...
BBC - BBC One Programmes - The Street That Cut Everything, Episode 1

[Andre]

We used to have workers going around looking for damage on roads etc now the council havent got roving teams that go in search of damage; instead they wait for complaints from locals. (that has saved them money).

They say it saves us money). Bullshit!

Thing is; we pay rates to cover the works but we also get our cars wheels knocked out of line in deep pot holes in the meantime, all at our own expense.

They also fly around the globe pretending to look for answers overseas and to support local tourism etc, that is also a massive crock of shit, it is nothing short of perks and in some cases with them regarding building permits its extortion.

[Gandalf]

How terribly generous! Obviously the irony is drooling down my mouth by the bucket load.

BBC News - George Osborne extends council tax freeze

Under Labour my council tax went from £700 to £1900 in under 10 years.

The part in bold is the comment of someone over at that article. It is disgusting that council tax was able to rise at those rates. There is just no reason for it to be that much. Councils appear to plan footpaths and take your rubbish away, I don't see why it is costing anyone 40 quid a week. Then there is your income tax and VAT, it's a wonder people have any money at all and there is Cameron telling people to pay their credit card bills. WTF? What planet is that man on?

[Ghost]

Council Taxes are there just to piss the working man off, make it easy for the rich to get their boats closer to home and keep themselves in a job.


Shoot em all, I say.

[Saddo]

In Germany I was Paying £100 a year....

I'n the 80's Thacher increased it ten fold and called it Poll Tax... there was almost a civil war so what did they do?

scrapped the Poll Tax and brought in council Tax charging the same high rate and everyone was happy ?!?!?!?!?

[Gandalf]

In Germany I was Paying £100 a year....

I'n the 80's Thacher increased it ten fold and called it Poll Tax... there was almost a civil war so what did they do?

scrapped the Poll Tax and brought in council Tax charging the same high rate and everyone was happy ?!?!?!?!?

Germany has it right. I pay about 20 quid a year out here.

I am curious to know what the American's here pay in local taxes as a comparison. But for sure, it is beyond me how people have accepted council tax and furthermore accepted it rising beyond inflation year after year. These so called plugs by the Tories are nothing more than shielding what are in reality continued increases.

Council tax is madness.