Showing posts with label budget2014. Show all posts
Showing posts with label budget2014. Show all posts
So the Budget happened last week. I don't know how many of you were interested enough to tune in, but given that it's totally relevant to my job - I was glued to my screen, popcorn in hand. THE GLAMOROUS LIFE I LEAD.
My Twitter and Facebook feed was going absolutely mental once the main highlights were out though. Higher personal allowance, cool. 1p off a pint, okay. Bingo, Pensions, ISA's (more on ISAs next time)- lots of different stuff going on but somehow, it always boils down to tax.
I don't know whether it's just because the bingo, pensions stuff isn't fully relevant to my friends, but I saw a lot of comments along the lines of "rich people should be taxed more", "the wealthy shouldn't get the same amount of benefit that poor people do", "why do the wealthy always benefit the most from tax cuts?"
Sound familiar to you?
Having started my accounting career within Tax, I normally feel obliged to try and explain why this happens but, to be honest, most of the time I JUST CAN'T BE BOTHERED. Politics, and tax especially, can quickly become a heated debate and I'm never really up for having a Facebook one-on-one when I'd rather be watching Gossip Girl re-runs on Netflix..
And part of me is not that fussed about how much tax other people pay anyway. It doesn't really affect me if Mr Monopoly Man earns 10million or 100million - the bit I'm most interested in is about what I pay - not about what other people pay.
However, my views are definitely not shared by everyone. And like I said - I can't change the world's views via a Facebook status intervention, but I CAN share helpful information. That's the whole point of Money Monday!
The thing is, my friends who don't know much about tax and politics, only don't know because the information isn't easily accessible - it's not because they don't WANT to know.
I recently came across this delightful story (if you can call any story about Tax delightful...) It does a much better job than me when it comes to explaining how our progressive tax system works, and why people who pay the highest rate of tax (ie the wealthiest) are naturally those who get the most benefit from a tax reduction....
So here we go - take 5 minutes to read the story below and see if it changes your perspective at all.....
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MONEY MONDAY: A Story About Tax
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