Send your paycheck to the government

[Ockham]

The UK's tax collection agency is putting forth a proposal that all employers send employee paychecks to the government, after which the government would deduct what it deems as the appropriate tax and pay the employees by bank transfer.


Sharon Lorimer
The proposal by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) stresses the need for employers to provide real-time information to the government so that it can monitor all payments and make a better assessment of whether the correct tax is being paid.

Currently employers withhold tax and pay the government, providing information at the end of the year, a system know as Pay as You Earn (PAYE). There is no option for those employees to refuse withholding and individually file a tax return at the end of the year.

If the real-time information plan works, it further proposes that employers hand over employee salaries to the government first.

"The next step could be to use (real-time) information as the basis for centralizing the calculation and deduction of tax," HMRC said in a July discussion paper.

HMRC described the plan as "radical" as it would be a huge change from the current system that has been largely unchanged for 66 years.*

News Headlines


Summary:

The employers send employee checks to the government and the government decides how much the employee gets.

Concerns are security and recovery of employee money in case of a mistake. No apparent concern about handing over paychecks to the government.

Now take the poll.

 

[Aunt Spiker]

lex parsimoniae isn't the path to be taken, here.

We've hashed this out in another thread, already, though.

 

[Ockham]

lex parsimoniae isn't the path to be taken, here.

We've hashed this out in another thread, already, though.

Was there a poll? I'm fine with limited or no debate on this one.

 

[Aunt Spiker]

Oh good - you got the joke

"We've hashed this out in another thread" - merely stated as a reason for a truncated post.

 

[TacticalEvilDan]

This is an absolutely atrocious idea.

 

[peepnklown]

I am sure the politicians in America are watching this very closely.

 

[Camlon]

Actually, I don't think it's too bad of an idea. A lot of people have problems paying their taxes. This would eliminate some of those problems and maybe give some incentives to save up money. People would still know how high their taxes are, because employers will still give salaries before tax and they will probably get a monthly report.

I think in the same process we should place social security in the same category so that everyone can see how much they are really paying.

 

[Wiseone]

As a mandatory program, hell no. Although I can see how it may be more efficient than a normal tax system of people sending in the money with the tax forms and the government sorting that all out, its not like its going to elibeminate mistakes and I'm sure it'll make it hard as hell for people to track exactly how much they are paying, since they can't track it themselves, and hard as hell to get over charges back.

Maybe if it was optional, MAYBE, and only if the government had good enough reason to think enough people would use it to justify its existence, MAYBE.

 

[Barbbtx]

Actually, I don't think it's too bad of an idea. A lot of people have problems paying their taxes. This would eliminate some of those problems and maybe give some incentives to save up money. People would still know how high their taxes are, because employers will still give salaries before tax and they will probably get a monthly report.

I think in the same process we should place social security in the same category so that everyone can see how much they are really paying.

I thought if I looked at your lean, I'd see "very liberal". Instead I saw "conservative".
Can you explain how giving government even more control of our lives, is a conservative view?

 

[Camlon]

I thought if I looked at your lean, I'd see "very liberal". Instead I saw "conservative".
Can you explain how giving government even more control of our lives, is a conservative view?

First off, in America I probably would be moderate. But I don't live in America and I am originally from a very left wing country. There I was far right, here in New Zealand I am moderate right. Therefore, I put myself as a conservative.

However, I'm not against giving government extra power in all areas. For instance I support public health care, but I'm in favour of charter schools, privatizing many government functions to promote competition and break the unions. I don't like unions. They want everyone to be paid the same no matter their performance, they have a tendency to put their wage way above market level and taxpayers must pay. And if they get powerful, then they will force everyone to join, but only support left-wing politics. Also, we shouldn't forget about all of their ridiculous suggestions and their opposition to every single necessary change.

I am in favour of limited government, and I believe competition is the best way to reduce prices and give people the right incentives. Therefore I consider myself a conservative. But I'm still in favour of some government.

Back to topic, I don't think government can misuse that power very much. There are already taxes, that are given by the employer and is taken before salary. Like social security and I don't see anyone complaining about that. If employees are paid their net salary, then it is easier for people to plan their budgets, and I also think people will save more money. That will be positive for the economy, because people aren't saving enough money. The problem of checking for mistakes can be solved by giving out a monthly/quarterly report of how much taxes you are paying.

 

[samsmart]

I vote "Other."

The problem with the story is that there's two extremes.
1) The companies collecting the money and paying the government at the end of the year.
2) The government collecting the paychecks and paying a portion of it to the earners.

I think the best thing to do would be a compromise: the companies collecting the money should pay the government at the end of every month.

That way, the government would get a more timely analysis of tax revenues without having to be so authoritarian about people's income.

 

[TurtleDude]

I think there should be no withholding by employers. I pay much of my income taxes with quarterly payments meaning I write out a check. I would like everyone to write out checks-and have the tax date be the first tuesday in November

 

[Lord Tammerlain]

I truely dont see the need for this

As most people here in North America and I believe the UK have taxes deducted automatically meaning the government see what revenues are coming on a weekly or biweekly basis.

 

[Hoplite]

It's an interesting idea, but I would want to see very serious controls on this before it went into effect and even then I'd want to see it in place as a voluntary option with maybe a small tax credit as an incentive for using the option. If the results were good and there were no major abuses of the system, I'd like to see it on a larger scale and mandatory but that's only after I'm satisfied it's an effective and safe system.

Unfortunately, the body politic tends to recoil in horror at any sort of new idea so I dont really see this happening, even as a voluntary pilot program. Some idiot will start screaming about Communism and it'll fold.

 

[pbrauer]

I voted Supercalifragalisticexpealidocious because I like Mary Poppins.:mrgreen: