Ungeared Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Having a crap at work is a taxable benefit! Having worked in Bristol, I used to take the bus or walk it. It is congested. I honestly wouldn't like to have to drive into Bristol for work. I disagree with this new proposal however! I await the next squeeze Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habeas Domus Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 not a problem if you work for a large public sector employer, just make sure you drive to a different office every other day and claim it all back on expenses! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gadget Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 (edited) As I said, a minor example (my particular bug-bears are the 'traps' that councils build - cameras pointing at badly laid out 'bus-only' junctions and so on). But I think you're missing the point - to describe it as a subsidy on the basis of the value of something that doesn't exist seems odd, but lets assume they replace all the car-parks with offices which people can't then make use of since there's nowhere to park - how does that work? Aside from that the point I'm making which you don't seem to get is that you can keep on extracting money from people, but that's then money they can't spend elsewhere. So... you've just charged people on the basis of something that doesn't exist, thus removing money that would have been spent on goods bought from a shop - i.e. an existing business. Do you work for a council by any chance? No i don't work for a council. But I am a biased Londoner so don't see driving to work as a human right (in fact it appears like hell on earth to me). If you don't have a parking space you'll get to work some other way. Trains, buses, bikes etc. How about build blocks of flats on the car parks and walk to work?! Edited February 24, 2012 by gadget Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCountOfNowhere Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 (edited) Has Ryan-air takenover the running of the councils. The public sector must be in real trouble to start with this kind of nonsense. Milton Keynes council has been eeking out every penny in parking from motorists in the last couple of years. Has got so silly I just stopped shopping there. The public sector shouldbe there to benefir the public...not tax them into oblivion so they can have massive salaries and great pensions. The sooner the real cuts come to the Uk the better, we need a lean affordable transparent sane public sector. Edited February 24, 2012 by TheCountOfNowhere Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tbatst2000 Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Yes, it is true. Taxes on smoking for example, have discouraged people from smoking and extended the lives of many people. Likewise a tax on parking will encourage people to live closer to where they work, and to walk and cycle, making them fitter and healthier. On the other side of the equation, tax pays for things like schools and roads and hospitals, which we are all glad of. By that logic we should tax everyone at 100% of income then the world would be perfect, no-one would ever get sick, eat unhealthy food, drive a car or do anything very much since there would be no point in working. Oh, wait, I think I justed spotted the flaw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Car parking costs are the main reason town centres are not thriving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erat_forte Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 In general I would think that applying tax to something which is optional/avoidable, and which has a negative impact on wider society/the commons, is better than applying tax to things which are compulsory/unavoidable, and which have a net benefit to wider society. i.e. taxing car parking spaces, or speeding motorists, or pollution, or rubbish disposal, is I would say better than taxing income or expenditure. So if VAT and income tax were reduced and the difference made up by car parking tax, I would not complain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gadget Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Car parking costs are the main reason town centres are not thriving. I wouldn't disagree. But you could phrase it as "the main reason town centers are not thriving is the free parking in the out of town superstores" It's almost impossible to cover a tiny bit if green-belt to build, say, a train line... but concrete over vast swathes of it to build.... a vaste swathe of concrete and apparently that's fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WSG Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Cars are the main reason town centres are not thriving. fixed it for you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Knimbies who say No Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I wasn't talking about income or corporation tax. I was talking about council tax and business rates. Paid regardless of income. You can argue about taxes being too high or too low but as to whether x or y should be taxed i think driving is a better thing to be taxed than most. It has big external costs. Even to other drivers (congestion). Possibbly even more than smoking i'd say (where the costs are mostly born by the smoker) Now driving is already taxed pretty heavily so maybe this extra £1 a day tips it over the edge i dunno. But to say it's an outrage that parking is going to be taxed... I definitely did not say what you suggest I did. Why do you feel the need to misrepresent opposing points of view in this fashion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M'lud Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 In general I would think that applying tax to something which is optional/avoidable, and which has a negative impact on wider society/the commons, is better than applying tax to things which are compulsory/unavoidable, and which have a net benefit to wider society. i.e. taxing car parking spaces, or speeding motorists, or pollution, or rubbish disposal, is I would say better than taxing income or expenditure. So if VAT and income tax were reduced and the difference made up by car parking tax, I would not complain. Because getting to work you may live some distance from because you can't afford to live locally deserves to be taxed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WSG Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 (edited) Land Tax is the answer Edited February 24, 2012 by WSG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkman Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 At the end of the day, if you fancy making it more difficult for people to get to a job, don't be surprised when the jobs go elsewhere. Government ought to be making it as easy as possible for people to get to jobs instead of putting obstacles in the way. Well, exactly. But this is Britain. They'll squeeze every last penny out of you, and justify it with righteous environmental indignation. Let's call it REI for short. If anyone dares to complain about the shafting they're receiving, they get a good dose of REI. That dimwit Livingstone altered the traffic light sequences in London to create a false impression the congestion zone improved flow. He slowed them down, and then sped them up when it suited him. Had Boris not stepped in to reverse this travesty, we'd probably have never even known about it. Of course, anyone who questioned the congestion zone was met with a good blast of REI. It was dishonest and fraudulent. Thanks for your help Ken, oh & those bendy buses were great. They tended to catch fire and cause accidents, but other than that it was win win. I used to cycle to school. I did that because the buses were so unreliable, and you'd get regularly soaked waiting at the bus stop 6 months of the year. Though of course cycling means you'd get soaked anyway, as well as covered in a nice layer of sweat for the day ahead. It was a lose lose scenario. Hence in my later years the motor vehicle became the answer. Sheer logic made it so. And no amount of REI is going to change that. What this country actually needs is population control. Less people could solve a hell of a lot of problems. Maybe Ken Livingstone could volunteer to disappear first? And cyclists could go next? After all, the environment deserves it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gadget Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I definitely did not say what you suggest I did. Why do you feel the need to misrepresent opposing points of view in this fashion? P'ah. A bit of light paraphrasing (and actually i think of someone else rather than you) This is the interwebs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinker Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 More of a money grab from bodies that need to be smaller and less involved in our lives. If they can't manage with all the money they take already they need to be cleansed and get some more competent people in. We are taxed enough already, often for spurious reasons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendan110_0 Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Just park 'off' the company car park......the main street/road. Works unless the council want to paint double yellows everywhere! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev-all-in Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 Just park 'off' the company car park......the main street/road. Works unless the council want to paint double yellows everywhere! which they will! In my local town the council went on a massive line painting spree, removing spaces they considered too close to junctions (which had been used completely safely for decades) and then surprise surprise virtually all the previously free for 2 hours spaces that were left were fitted with parking meters. Which are now largely empty as the council stupidly set the prices higher than other more convenient proper car parks nearby. Brilliant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkman Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 Works unless the council want to paint double yellows everywhere! Was that a serious comment? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendan110_0 Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 Was that a serious comment? Most of the UK workforce work on industrial estates not city centres, I'd like to see the council paint lines there too! They have no bloody money left to do that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winkie Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 I wouldn't disagree. But you could phrase it as "the main reason town centers are not thriving is the free parking in the out of town superstores" It's almost impossible to cover a tiny bit if green-belt to build, say, a train line... but concrete over vast swathes of it to build.... a vaste swathe of concrete and apparently that's fine. ...ever been to a large supermarket/shopping centre where you do pay to park the car...I have and the cost is refunded on purchases in the shop....that tells you how much some shops value your custom and how much some local councils don't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkman Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 Most of the UK workforce work on industrial estates not city centres, I'd like to see the council paint lines there too! They have no bloody money left to do that! Why on earth would you support such a thing? I assume because it wouldn't affect you of course. it would affect others. Very gracious behaviour. I don't know your area, but in mine industrial estates certainly do have yellow lines "everywhere". And in most cases it's entirely unnecessary. A huge stretch of road that could accommodate a hundred cars for free is now off limits. Why? there is no reason other than monetary gain. And the only people stung by it are those visiting on legitimate business. That's ingenious right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Knimbies who say No Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 (edited) P'ah. A bit of light paraphrasing (and actually i think of someone else rather than you) This is the interwebs! You replied to my comment. Interwebs or not, if the best you can come up with is a caricature of opposing views, it says a lot about the strength of your argument. edit spelling Edited February 25, 2012 by cheeznbreed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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