The old biddy locked up for not paying council tax
Discussion
My mate Jim has told me he has heard on the radio that Exeter council who got the old dear locked up for a week for withholding part of her council tax, has given an amnesty to 3,000 non-payers.
Apparently of the 3,000 people who regularly default on their tax, Exeter council have prosecuted 2. Yet they hounded the old dear, who has paid her way all her life, for witholding SOME of her tax for personal reasons, ie she hasn't defaulted on the whole lot, and got her jailed for a week.
Is this true? Anyone else heard this? 'Cos if this is true... - well, its time for all us regular people to emigrate and leave the country to the scroungers and the civil service. All scroungers in the same boat, IMO.
Apparently of the 3,000 people who regularly default on their tax, Exeter council have prosecuted 2. Yet they hounded the old dear, who has paid her way all her life, for witholding SOME of her tax for personal reasons, ie she hasn't defaulted on the whole lot, and got her jailed for a week.
Is this true? Anyone else heard this? 'Cos if this is true... - well, its time for all us regular people to emigrate and leave the country to the scroungers and the civil service. All scroungers in the same boat, IMO.
heebeegeetee said:
My mate Jim has told me he has heard on the radio that Exeter council who got the old dear locked up for a week for withholding part of her council tax, has given an amnesty to 3,000 non-payers.
Apparently of the 3,000 people who regularly default on their tax, Exeter council have prosecuted 2. Yet they hounded the old dear, who has paid her way all her life, for witholding SOME of her tax for personal reasons, ie she hasn't defaulted on the whole lot, and got her jailed for a week.
Is this true? Anyone else heard this? 'Cos if this is true... - well, its time for all us regular people to emigrate and leave the country to the scroungers and the civil service. All scroungers in the same boat, IMO.
Where were you thinking of, Thailand or Vienam?
The council finance officer was interviewed on TalkSport on Tuesday morning.
The story was tweaked by the Express. The comparison was between council tax and housing benefits.
Express was trying to say look, they jailed a little old lady for not paying £50 council tax, but a benefit fraudster only got a suspended sentence.
As the council lady said, the penalty is up to the Magistrates.
The old lass was jailed for ignoring an ealier Magistrates' order to pay, not for her failure to pay.
Tabloid spin at its worst.
The story was tweaked by the Express. The comparison was between council tax and housing benefits.
Express was trying to say look, they jailed a little old lady for not paying £50 council tax, but a benefit fraudster only got a suspended sentence.
As the council lady said, the penalty is up to the Magistrates.
The old lass was jailed for ignoring an ealier Magistrates' order to pay, not for her failure to pay.
Tabloid spin at its worst.
mybrainhurts said:
As the council lady said, the penalty is up to the Magistrates.
The old lass was jailed for ignoring an ealier Magistrates' order to pay, not for her failure to pay.
Tabloid spin at its worst.
I think it was clear she wanted to take them on.
On the other hand the council would not have had to wash it's hands of any responsibility and point at the magistrates had it persued the situation differently in the first place.
Chap I used to know in South Wales in a high benefits paying area told me that half his relatives were on benefits (he wasn't, quite the opposite) and that every time they failed to pay a bill the council people offered them another benefit to help them out. Council employees got bad reports if they did not ensure that the people they saw were getting every possible benefit they might be able to claim.
My Mum was late paying hers by 10 days (all up to date before that) and they slapped her with a £40 charge. She paid it and payment crossed and they wrote and said they wanted it all in one go.
She sent them a reply by post and went and paid it all until the end of the year. She then got another letter telling her she was being taken to court.
She phoned and said she had no outstanding balance as she'd paid it all and the woman on the phone said she was adding another £40 on for non-payment because the timeline was in 3 days time but she would add it straight away regardless.
My mum told the silly cow she couldn't do that because the 14 days hadn't been breached and furthermore, she'd paid the bill in full.
I said to her don't bother arguing with the idiots, let it go to court and make them look stupid!
She sent them a reply by post and went and paid it all until the end of the year. She then got another letter telling her she was being taken to court.
She phoned and said she had no outstanding balance as she'd paid it all and the woman on the phone said she was adding another £40 on for non-payment because the timeline was in 3 days time but she would add it straight away regardless.
My mum told the silly cow she couldn't do that because the 14 days hadn't been breached and furthermore, she'd paid the bill in full.
I said to her don't bother arguing with the idiots, let it go to court and make them look stupid!
One day the government will wake up to a country populated with incompetent public workers (not the hard working nurses but the pen pushers who sit all day trying to justify the existence of their job) and people on the dole.
All the people who earn their money will have left.
I think as the situation stands it is all too easy to be slapped with fines and 'charges' and very time consuming to argue their validity. In this climate it almost makes most public bodies seem 'desperate' for cash. I think that's a sign of bad times to come, cash is running low and the only way to get more is to push for fines any which way they can get it.
Its deeply unfair and at the moment most people are just about tolerating it. If the situation worsens there will be a mass exodus of hard working, law abiding people who've had enough. Those people are unlikely to come back.
I am working in Switzerland at the moment and I think its an amazing place in terms of quality of life. Yes, there are taxes and there are penalties for speeding. However, on the whole things seem fair and in balance.
I was in Dubai not so long ago and I think that too is an amazing place for quality of life. Sure, the financially poor don't fare so well BUT, there's opportunity for those who strive for it. There's no such thing as taxes but then there's no public health service either. But that's ok in my book, I'd rather pay a reasonable amount of money for health insurance and know what I'm getting for my money than to pay:-
- Income tax
- National Insurance
- Corporation tax
- The cost of Inland Revenue investigations being self employed (IR35 etc)
- Speeding fines (assume maybe I might get 1-2 every 3 years)
- Parking fines (whether correct or not, I might get 1-2 every year). Expensive if they're correct and more expensive if they're not and I have to write and complain.
- Council tax
- Costs in pursuing utility companies for either not sending bills, not sending bills correctly, not recording money that's been received, etc. Sure they make errors, but their errors cost me dearly because I don't have much time and they're quick to threaten civil prosecution or debt collection agencies.
- Taxes on my petrol
- Road tax
- Capital gains tax if I make a profit on most things
- Tax on my car insurance
- Home insurance 'cos let's face it crime really aint going down and it aint gonna go down anytime soon
- Inheritance tax (when I die of course, assuming I've bothered to amass an estate worth something)
It used to be worth it, decent country to live in, friendly ppl, passable NHS, passable education, police officers which care etc. But how much of that is being eroded away? What'll be left in 5 or 10 years?
All the people who earn their money will have left.
I think as the situation stands it is all too easy to be slapped with fines and 'charges' and very time consuming to argue their validity. In this climate it almost makes most public bodies seem 'desperate' for cash. I think that's a sign of bad times to come, cash is running low and the only way to get more is to push for fines any which way they can get it.
Its deeply unfair and at the moment most people are just about tolerating it. If the situation worsens there will be a mass exodus of hard working, law abiding people who've had enough. Those people are unlikely to come back.
I am working in Switzerland at the moment and I think its an amazing place in terms of quality of life. Yes, there are taxes and there are penalties for speeding. However, on the whole things seem fair and in balance.
I was in Dubai not so long ago and I think that too is an amazing place for quality of life. Sure, the financially poor don't fare so well BUT, there's opportunity for those who strive for it. There's no such thing as taxes but then there's no public health service either. But that's ok in my book, I'd rather pay a reasonable amount of money for health insurance and know what I'm getting for my money than to pay:-
- Income tax
- National Insurance
- Corporation tax
- The cost of Inland Revenue investigations being self employed (IR35 etc)
- Speeding fines (assume maybe I might get 1-2 every 3 years)
- Parking fines (whether correct or not, I might get 1-2 every year). Expensive if they're correct and more expensive if they're not and I have to write and complain.
- Council tax
- Costs in pursuing utility companies for either not sending bills, not sending bills correctly, not recording money that's been received, etc. Sure they make errors, but their errors cost me dearly because I don't have much time and they're quick to threaten civil prosecution or debt collection agencies.
- Taxes on my petrol
- Road tax
- Capital gains tax if I make a profit on most things
- Tax on my car insurance
- Home insurance 'cos let's face it crime really aint going down and it aint gonna go down anytime soon
- Inheritance tax (when I die of course, assuming I've bothered to amass an estate worth something)
It used to be worth it, decent country to live in, friendly ppl, passable NHS, passable education, police officers which care etc. But how much of that is being eroded away? What'll be left in 5 or 10 years?
mybrainhurts said:
The council finance officer was interviewed on TalkSport on Tuesday morning.
The story was tweaked by the Express. The comparison was between council tax and housing benefits.
Express was trying to say look, they jailed a little old lady for not paying £50 council tax, but a benefit fraudster only got a suspended sentence.
As the council lady said, the penalty is up to the Magistrates.
The old lass was jailed for ignoring an ealier Magistrates' order to pay, not for her failure to pay.
Tabloid spin at its worst.
So, has the same council who got the woman sent to jail only prosecuted 2 who blatantly won't pay? Have they washed their hands off approx 3,000 who won't pay?
Labour-controlled Exeter City Council is currently advertising for a £17,000-a-year "process redesign officer", whose job will be to devise new ways in which council staff deal with members of the public.Devon, which is controlled by the Liberal Democrats and has a £500million budget, has also notched up £24,000 for an advice centre for elderly Muslims.
The only problem is that just ten people have used it so far. That works out at £2,400 per person.
Then there is the £4,680 shelled out to provide lavatories and a skip at an illegal travellers' camp, and another £13,500 for a spare mayoral chauffeur.
It has also spent £70,000 on a 50-yard bus lane near Miss Hardy's house which residents have branded "useless".
The only problem is that just ten people have used it so far. That works out at £2,400 per person.
Then there is the £4,680 shelled out to provide lavatories and a skip at an illegal travellers' camp, and another £13,500 for a spare mayoral chauffeur.
It has also spent £70,000 on a 50-yard bus lane near Miss Hardy's house which residents have branded "useless".
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