14 replies to this topic

[Trail of Dead]

We just got a letter in the mail for a "Summons for Non-Payment of Council Tax". My wife & I have never even heard of this tax before.......what makes a person liable to be charged this tax and why should we have to pay it? Sorry for being a noob on this but for those that don't know we are US Citizens stationed here in the UK.....this is the first we'd heard of it! It says we owe 3454.31GBP! What the hell is this tax?! Can anyone shed some light on this for me?

(If anyone is getting money like that it is going to be my Mini!)

[GreaseMonkey]

http://www.direct.go...iltax/index.htm

[mini-geek]

how long have you not being paying that for?

dose the us not pay any tax?

[wolfie]

welcome to the UK

Expect to pay more under Tories where the rich will get richer!

If you are stationed on base you as far as i am aware dont pay council tax due to the land being the Base's Nationality, if you live off base you are subject to all normal Tax's

[Ipod]

Check ball point P....in the link might help?


Exempt linky

[skaterava]

Local councils are Nazis. End of.

[Trail of Dead]

how long have you not being paying that for?

dose the us not pay any tax?

We have only been here for two years, and lived in two different houses. We haven't paid any "Council Tax" the entire time we have been here.....never even heard of it!

We don't have this tax in the US.......and according to my wife (she just told me) we are exempt from paying it. Phew! You guys have a lot of taxes! Lol!



Quick question.....what's a "Torie"?

Edited by Trail of Dead, 10 May 2010 - 05:51 PM.

[skaterava]

Quick question.....what's a "Torie"?

A Member of the Conservative Party. A Conservative voter can also be labelled a Tory.

[mini-geek]

didn't think you would have to pay to me that sounds like someone else's debt they havn't payed

so in the US how do you pay tax? is it out of your wages and on everything you buy if so how much?

[wolfie]

Local councils are Nazis. End of.

Total rubbish

Most councils are totally underfunded by central Government and with resources cut to the bone to keep costs down they are hard pressed to keep up demands of residents without putting Tax's up its a no win situation for most councils, it will only get worse for councils when the planned cuts in jobs come this year as well

Edited by wolfie, 10 May 2010 - 05:55 PM.

[Trail of Dead]

didn't think you would have to pay to me that sounds like someone else's debt they havn't payed

so in the US how do you pay tax? is it out of your wages and on everything you buy if so how much?

Well it varies by state. I am from Pennsylvania so we pay 6.5% sales tax on everything we buy (with exception to food and other items that are required to survive). We also pay property tax and school tax. Out of your paycheck you would also pay Social Security, health, and other taxes. We don't have nearly as many taxes as you guys do and some states (such as Montana) don't have property tax at ALL. It is expensive to live over here, which is why we spend most of our money on base rather than on the economy (and it is even more expensive on base here in the UK than it was on base on Georgia!). We don't have TV tax or Road Tax and in many southern states they don't even have vehicle inspections (like your MOT) so that saves lots of money. Contrary to popular belief the southern states don't have "rattletrap deathboxes" on the roads just because they don't have vehicle inspections. In reality the majority of cars on the roads in the south are CLEAN and rust free, kept in tip top shape. Quite the opposite of the cars in Pennsylvania (my home state has one of the nations hardest vehicle inspections).....they are rotboxes.

[wolfie]

didn't think you would have to pay to me that sounds like someone else's debt they havn't payed

so in the US how do you pay tax? is it out of your wages and on everything you buy if so how much?

Well it varies by state. I am from Pennsylvania so we pay 6.5% sales tax on everything we buy (with exception to food and other items that are required to survive). We also pay property tax and school tax. Out of your paycheck you would also pay Social Security, health, and other taxes. We don't have nearly as many taxes as you guys do and some states (such as Montana) don't have property tax at ALL. It is expensive to live over here, which is why we spend most of our money on base rather than on the economy (and it is even more expensive on base here in the UK than it was on base on Georgia!). We don't have TV tax or Road Tax and in many southern states they don't even have vehicle inspections (like your MOT) so that saves lots of money. Contrary to popular belief the southern states don't have "rattletrap deathboxes" on the roads just because they don't have vehicle inspections. In reality the majority of cars on the roads in the south are CLEAN and rust free, kept in tip top shape. Quite the opposite of the cars in Pennsylvania (my home state has one of the nations hardest vehicle inspections).....they are rotboxes.

Thats a bit of an eye opener but then the states has a huge population so i would expect tax's to be less

[benb12]

Property tax sounds like the American equivalent to council tax. Our houses are categorised by the size of the house (it's actually the total floor area excluding kitchen, bathroom and anywhere with a particularly low ceiling IIRC). Ours is in the lowest band (class A) since we live in a flat with very low ceilings.

[Timtom]

But don't only various people pay council tax? in the house? and if you're in education you don't pay either..

the short of it is i don't pay council tax! (because i'm not the most eligible)

[Trail of Dead]

Property tax sounds like the American equivalent to council tax. Our houses are categorised by the size of the house (it's actually the total floor area excluding kitchen, bathroom and anywhere with a particularly low ceiling IIRC). Ours is in the lowest band (class A) since we live in a flat with very low ceilings.

Property Tax in the states varies by which county you live in. An example would be my Dad....he lived in Warren county and lived on a half acre of land. He had a fairly big garage and didn't live on a dirt road. We lived in the Warren county school district. All in all his yearly property tax was around $1500 (give or take), which is the equivalent to roughly 1000GBP. He used to pay less but it went up over the years as he had built the big garage and school taxes went up as well. He still had to pay the school taxes even after I had graduated and the school bus didn't even go past the house anymore. So, he walked away from the house entirely......including everything in it. Can't say I blame him.

Edited by Trail of Dead, 10 May 2010 - 08:44 PM.