Mar 12 2009
Taxes going up
Yes, it’s official, taxes are set to rise. Government is irrelevant in this, it’s unavoidable. Why? Those things that are bad for you are to be taxed more highly to offset the cost of treatment and to encourage people to reduce consumption. This assertion is exemplified by the Scottish GP who is calling for a tax on chocolate to combat obesity. Will this have any effect? Probably, yes. But, there will be negative implications for all of us.
Firstly, many of us are not obese even though we do like our chocolate. We’ll still have to pay the higher tax. Secondly, if it does work, consumption will go down and that could affect manufacturing which in turn leads to labour shedding and further tax increases to pay benefits. When we dabble in complex things unexpected results can, and do, occur and there’s little more complex than our financial systems.
Taxes are going up on acohol partly due to reduced revenues which are blamed on the number of pubs closing which is partly due to the smoking ban. The credit crunch has played a part too as more people have to stick to a lower budget and it’s cheaper to stay in, especially when alcohol is so cheap in the supermarkets.
But wait, what about the missed opportunities? Chocolate is not the only thing responsible for obesity, what about kebabs, McDonalds and sitting on your arse in front of the TV? Can’t we tax them too? I don’t see why not. We get taxed when we park at the local shops so why not get taxed when we park at home? That’s a fairer system, everyone taxed equally whether they stay in or go out!
Oh, tax sports equipment too as all the injuries treated by the NHS are self-inflicted so sports players should make a greater contribution. So what can we do? Actually, nothing, taxes are going up. Period.
Taxes are already going up, local authorities charge for parking in city centres, that’s more tax. Where there’s free parking now it will cost tomorrow. More tax. Taxes are going up on things that are bad for you, more tax. And we’ll all live longer as a result. So we’ll draw our pension for longer and that means tax will have to go up to pay for it.
It doesn’t matter what you do, taxes are going up, it’s inevitable!
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