Nemo wrote:
Quote
Paying a plumber cash in hand is "morally wrong" because it denies the
revenue vital funds, a Treasury minister said as the government outlined
new ways of cutting down on £5bn in tax avoidance.

David Gauke, the exchequer secretary to the Treasury, risked shining a
spotlight on whether any of his government colleagues have ever made
cash in hand payments to plumbers when he described the practice as a
large part of Britain's "hidden economy".
Unquote

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2...dspending-hmrc

Trades poeple operate to current moral norms, as displayed by bankers,
politicians, journalists, entertainers, pro footballers etc. Is that news?

Its bloody silly.

We should not tax the things we want to happen, like working. We should
tax the things we need to reduce, like fuel, smoking, and importing
materials and finished goods.

I have long advocated a state pension age related (but not work related)
that replaces the complex system of the dole and benefits, and zero
income tax, with infinitely more taxes raised on the sale on non
subsistence goods. Then scrap the minimum wage, because its no longer
needed as people get the pension whether they work or not.

There are issues of policing BUT it has the following advantages

- people who live here pay the sales and import taxes on goods bought
here. And high earners will WANT to live here. The presence of slots of
stinkingly rich people here with miney to burn can only be goodm,, even
if luxury goods are expensive.

- the labour market is totally flexible. People can work when they like
for who they like - they lose no benefits by working - at anything at
all. From fruit picking to washing cars and polishing your boots.

- because the state pension is limited to those who are actually born
here, not those who arrive (tough, but fair) low income people will not
find it easy to immigrate. However high earners to whom the state
pension is almost an irrelevance, will.

- because taxation is not applied to subsistence goods - essentially
food clothing and other basics - lower paid workers will be massively
subsidised and be able to compete well with offshore workers without any
directives needing to be applied. If the state pension is say £3.50 and
hour you only need pay - say - £3 an hour on top of that to employ
someone at a living wage and with no tax or NI to pay its not a bad crack.

- Because imported goods and materials are now expensive, there is a
huge incentive to recycle refurbish and repair. Essentially it baises
the national economy towards re-use and away from consumer buy and trash.

- naturally this free market in labour with the government simply not
caring about who earns what - only what they spend and what they spend
it on - would require exit from the EU. Well, so what?

Its time we put Britain first, and British workers, yea even unto the
man who cuts your grass.

--
To people who know nothing, anything is possible.
To people who know too much, it is a sad fact
that they know how little is really possible -
and how hard it is to achieve it.