Why is the Council Tax in England roughly 50% less on average for a similar dwellng  in Scotland ?
366049
It's all a rip off anyway..?
1088200
Half the bloody Government is Scottish. The bloody Scots have England in their mean grasp.
315354
it's like reverse welfare.  people who are responsible pay more tax.  people who have all these horrible children pay less.
751909
One of the best alternatives to all types of tax is the expenditure tax. Do away with council, income and corporate taxes and have a flat 30% expenditure tax. True, prices will increase in the short term but so will the income and hence we will have a balance. Also, this will mean that immigrants & assylum seekers will also pay the full tax and hence will not run away with using the services without pay anything.
937599
I believe the latest statistical method is to take the median UK wage of 330 UKP per week (just over 17,100 UKP per annum), and if your weekly income is around 60 percent of that figure (maybe a little above), then you are classed as living in Poverty. But if your weekly income is only 40 percent of the median amount of 330 UKP/wk, you are classed as living in Deep Poverty.   It can therefore be seen that  UK Senior Citizens, if not in posession of a company pension, are all living at or around the Deep Poverty level  - hence the X million of your question.   What an indictment of the 4th richest country in the World that it can not pay a decent pension to its older citizens; (have a look at the current  retirement pensions paid in places  like Sweden and Germany to understand that comment).  Still, our MPs continue to vote themselves huge pay rises and magificent pension increases - so that's all right then....
567084
Well never having been to America, your system, whilst different to ours in England does have the same thread running through it so to speak.  Here in Britain it is the councils who create the ghetto's They tend to take a place that has or is starting to get a bit of a bad name and they start putting petty criminals, nuisance neighbours, rowdy types into that area.  The decent people living there do their very best then to get out but nobody wants to exchange houses with them, the council will not allow a transfer unless there is a serious reason such as a medical one, and if they have been unfortunate enough to have bought their council house, nobody wants to buy it from them. They are then well & truly stuck whilst the council continue to put the dross onto the estate. I believe it is for the purpose of facilitating the council's own interests and that of the police. I know this sounds awful but that is what I believe. I am so sorry for you if you are stuck in a situation like that & I hope that you find some peace somewhere
291714
Scotland is, 400 years after "unification" still solidly independent.  Federalizing the British state strengthens it by making it a voluntary union, rather than a remnant of empire (my ancestors were organizers of the '45 rebellion.  *I* haven't forgotten how the UK was formed, which means that others haven't also).
234222
New stamp duty rates:\n\nProperty price:\n£125,000 - 0% \n£125,001 - £250,000 1% \n£250,001 - £500,000 3% \n£500,001 or more 4% \n\nNot sure about inheritance tax
775422
We pay for it through our council tax.
596180
Scotland was for a long time an independent country, but after the disaster of the Darien Expedition it was virtually bankrupted and joined the United Kingdom in 1707. After the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745 was defeated the Scottish people were subjected to harsh reprisals such as the Highland Clearances and treated as a colony to be subjugated, rather than an equal partner in the UK. \nEver since then Scotland has largely been treated as an economic tributary of the UK, with much of the profit from its industrial and mineral output being funnelled to London. \nMore recently many Scots feel they have been unfairly treated by the UK in two main fields. Firstly, the revenues from North Sea Oil, produced in Scottish territorial waters, was used to subsidise the spending of the UK government rather than being used for the development of Scottish industry and civic society. Government papers recently released proved that the governments of the early 1970s deliberately blocked Scottish moves towards devolution or independence as the UK would have been in severe difficulties without the oil revenues (see for example http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4661584.stm). Secondly, the Conservative governments of Margaret Thatcher (PM 1979-1991) were perceived as being very biased in favour of the core Conservative vote in England, at the expense of Scotland and Wales. This has created a strong nationalist backlash in Scotland, hence the increasing support for independence. Saying that England provides a nice lifestyle is, to put it kindly, not easy to reconcile with the facts.
164170
I say the consumer's tax is $.50 because they are paying $.50 more than usual.  By the same token the supplier's tax is $1.50, they are receiving that much less than usual.  Which makes the total tax $2.00, which is OUTRAGEOUS :)
854399
That is a difficult question, I have never seen such information on line. I would guess that the rate vary considerably, as you probably have.\nI wonder if a call to the BBC would yield a lead?\nAlso, those professors at various unis, economists, political science, entertainment departments may offer ideas. \nThe above is the best I can do. Please keep us all posted what you find.
1144260
It's paid to the Government, normally by the House Buyer's Solicitor.\n\nIt's just another example of Taxation in the UK whereby virtually every time money changes hands, the Government takes a slice out of it.\n\nBe it Income Tax, VAT, Corporation Tax, Import Duty, Inheritance Tax,  Stamp Duty, or even Insurance Premium Tax, no matter what the money is paying for the government takes a cut from it. It's a bit of a scam really!
1126701
Your basic state pension should be below your personal tax allowance and so you shouldn't pay any tax. You should also get a £200 heating allowance that is tax free and doesn't effect benefits like housing benefits and council tax benefits. Maybe, you have a private pension that has took you over the threshold. Income from investments can do the same. If it's investments - you can change them and go for investments that will give you growth as opposed to income. Investments that grow are subject to capital gains tax and you also have a personal allowance for capital gains tax of £8,800 a year. Maybe you could contact age concern and see if they can give you advice - make sure you are getting all your benefits and tax credits and investing in a tax efficient way. the system is unfair - that's why Gordon Brown has very little time to change economic policy to make it better the the old, disabled and chronically sick - or his chances of becoming the next Prime Minister - is no chance. He doesn't look after you and me - we don't vote for him and his corrupt cronies at the General Election. let them enjoy their jags, mansions, mistresses and the gravy train - it will come to a sudden end.
377644
No not really.  A few years ago they raised the stamp duty threshold from £30,000 to £60,000 claiming it was to help first time buyers but where can you get a house under £60,000?\n\nI've not heard of them releasing £12 million but with a million first time buyers entering the market each year that's really going to go a long way!  It could provide 2 or 3 bottles of wine for each buyer for them to drown their sorrows when they realise there's no way they can afford a house.\n\nWhat the government are planning on doing is spending billions of pounds of tax-payers money to build houses in areas that don't really need them at the expense of areas that do need them.  For example, where I am in Leeds the city is rapidly expanding due to an economic boom (apparently) with over a 50% population increase between the last two censuses.  At this rate Leeds will be the UK's 2nd city by the time of the next census.  As far as I'm aware there hasn't been a single government incentive anywhere near Leeds but they're insisting on pumping billions into London and the surrounding area which has a declining population.  From my point of view it's been very good as I bought the house I'm now in back in 1997 since when it's increased in value by 600% and my monthly mortgage repayment is equal to two days pay.\n\nRaising interest rates by any significant amount will have a disasteous effect as many people have stretched themselves to the limit in order to buy a house.  A lot of lenders have acted very irresponsibly by knowlingly lending to people that can't really afford the repayments.  A 1% rise in interest rates will add more than £100 a month onto the average mortgage payment.  Many people wouldn't be able to afford this and we'd see huge numbers of repossessions and people forced into nagative equity situations just like we did in the early 90's.\n\nWhat the government is proposing to do is to provide low cost housing for key workers such as teachers, nurses and police officers.  This doesn't do much to help people in other professions and amounts to little more than a bribe to draw people into professions where government policies have created a working environment that's so bad there's a chronic shortage of people to fill vacancies.  We're already having to recruit large numbers of teaching and medical staff from overseas and when you look at the state of schools and the health service is it any wonder?  I dare say it won't be long before we're draining the resources of other countries in order to staff the police force.\n\nUltimately house prices are determined by demand and in many ways a false demand is being created by the government's refusal to renovate the one million or so delapidated and derelict poperties.  These could be renovated at far less cost then building new homes and would provide affordable accommodation in many areas of the country where there is a shortage of decent housing.\n\nAnother problem lies with the banks and financial institutions themsleves.  Their primary concern is to look after their share-holders interests which means making as much money as possible and so they're keen to maintain high house prices and to lend the maximum possible amounts.  As you're undoubtedly aware these institutions have a powerful role in government policies.\n\nAt the end of the day house prices and interest rates are determined by market forces and more than anything, market forces are determined by big business.
494960
This big difference is only one face of a completely different fiscal and welfare system. Taxation is heavier in Europe because it serves also to pay many public services which are freely granted (such as high-quality health care and education). America can tax citizens less than Europe because they prefer to pay directly when accessing services ("why should I pay hospitals when I don't use them?").\nWhatever is our opinion on the two systems, they are too different for being comparable and it's not easy deciding which is better.
819214
Seems like you have sussed this out correctly - What this Government is really good at is creating new taxes. And with regard to the air that we breath, yes we can expect higher Council Tax charges in areas with better air quality.