I will pick an example at random, but I can assure you that this nonsense happens in every news source, from the Guardian (hardly surprising, I admit) to Private Eye. This happened to be in the Daily Express:
BRITAIN is in line for a £5.5billion tax boom and thousands of new jobs as investors flock to tap new oil fields in the North Sea.
And:
This revival in drilling for oil in British waters will bring billions of pounds into the beleaguered economy as operators will have to pay tax to the Treasury.
So my first question is: at which point did the Treasury become the economy? What this article should actually say is that the the government is getting an unexpected £5.5 billion to throw away at our expense! Wouldn’t it be better if that £5.5 billion found its way into our pockets, rather than those of profligate wastrels bent on wars, corporate cronies and vanity projects?
And my second question is: why are journalists so appallingly bad at the most rudimentary aspects of economics? Why do they think that paying more tax is a benefit to the taxpayer?
I saw an article in Private Eye in which they proudly proclaimed that they’d managed to close down a tax loophole whereby if CDs and DVDs were shipped through Jersey, they didn’t attract VAT. That’s how Play.com managed to drive down the price of CDs and DVDs to consumers. But thanks to Private Eye, that loophole has now been closed and we’re all paying more for our CDs.
Thanks very much, you idiots.
But the best part was their smug pride that they’d made taxpayers better off to the tune of £100 million a year. No, you bloody idiots, you’ve made us worse off by £100 million.
Why do these morons think that giving money to the government is a boon? Are they all stupid?
TJW is an itinerant blogger who lives in East Angular. He grew up as a fascist, mellowed into a Tory and was converted to anarchism in his middle age by the Devil's Kitchen.
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Yes
Concur. ΠΞ
But consider the Global-Warming savings.
Shipping CDs & DVDs all the way to Jersey and then back again in individual jiffy bags to avoid VAT is respecting the environment, surely??
@Joe Public – How do these discs get TO Jersey (Possibly in bulk from somewhere in the Far East?)
If instead they were sent by the makers direct to UK, individually packaged using the same materials, and distributed to customers in UK and elsewhere – would that ‘save the Planet’?
He who issues the press release calls the tune. My bet is that the treasury put one out and our ‘churnalists’ just did a quick copy and paste exercise, no thought required.
“Are they all stupid?”
Gildas, it was a trick question. Follow the link to the internet home of stupidity.
That’s me the sub editor being a bit naughty putting in the link.
Bad Sad!
Anna – OT I know – but could you (someone) please point out to whoever is operating that irritating [Fantastic-not a joke] advert that their ‘counter’ has been stuck on one million for several days
I shall see what I can do. It’s Message Space who serve up the adverts.
Bugger! You mean I’m not that unique 1,000,000th visitor?
For the avoidance of doubt /sarc.
Yup, I agree, it’s bloody annoying.
Adverts, I can tolerate & ignore. Lying adverts demean this Blog’s integrity.
So switch them off. I and many other Firefox users have no idea what you’re talking about.
Pack your bags Thaddeus, its re-education camp for you.
How dare you insinuate that taxation is not the entirety of the economy, have you not been paying attention to your paystub?, or thinking that productive jobs can be achieved without government?
I hope you noticed, how oil at $100/barrel was a very good thing and will somehow magically decrease domestic fuel costs in the future, presumably $200/barrel oil will be the answer to Osborne’s prayer. All bought to you by her majesty’s disloyal government.
Now go visit the debt clock at Tom Paines place and see how these heroic efforts to produce GBP5,500,000,000 taxes is but a piss in the ocean.
Here are your papers, report to Re-education camp (East Angular), University of East Angular, Climate Research Unit, Norwich.
I see your point. Situation a) same amount of oil, b) £6bn extra oil. Situation b is a much better situation. Realistically it’s probably fairer to say that around £500m of fuel has been found that will not need to be bought from the Russians or Middle East. Saving “Britain” £500m and boosting the local engineering economy by extracting it here.
My understanding is that the Treasury decided a while back to try and bleed the UK offshore oil business white – and quite a few majors voted with their feet… the rest turned around and essentially said – f*ck you – we are shelving development plans until you gits learn to count past your fingers and learn addition and subtraction.
I think this is pure spin in the real sense of the term. The Treasury tried to ratchet up contributions from operators past the point where it was economically sane to continue and were told as much and the operators sat on their hands. The grasping idiots in Whitehall relented and adjusted their demands and now are crowing about a victory.
It wasn’t just Labour chimps and bankers that messed up the economy – they were ably abetted by the fools at HM Treasury. I wish somebody had managed a “before and after” of HM Treasury’s website for the 2008 crash. I don’t remember a more revolting and extensive volte-face = worthless self regarding incompetent gits.
How about a Royal Yacht? Another winner from Gove….
Are they all stupid?
Yes.
Ah, that’s why Anna went to Jersey, to stock up on tax free CD’s and DVD’s.
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