Billionaire Britain: Just how little the rich contribute would shock most people

[marmar]

Linda McQuaig
Friday 26 April 2013

Billionaire Britain: Just how little the rich contribute would shock most people
We are living in an economy increasingly geared to catering to the wealthy


(Independent UK) The case for imposing austerity on ordinary Britons – already as flimsy as Lululemon’s latest yoga pant - got a whole lot flimsier last weekend with the publication of the Sunday Times Rich List.

The annual release of the list presumably allows ordinary Britons a moment’s diversion from their struggling lives to celebrate the richest living among them – a throng of mostly foreign billionaires whose only obvious attachment to Britain is the exceptionally low tax rates the UK offers wealthy foreigners.

Most Britons would probably be surprised to learn that the Rich List actually downplays the size of the fortunes of Britain’s 200 richest people, who have a combined wealth of £318 billion this year.

Since the Rich List is based on publicly available data – and therefore doesn’t count most of the assets hidden in tax havens (estimated to be some £32 trillion worldwide) – it vastly understates the fortunes of Britain’s wealthiest. ......................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/billionaire-britain-just-how-little-the-rich-contribute-would-shock-most-people-8587803.html

[xchrom]

1. Du rec. Nt

[tanyev]

2. Yep. We're all caterers now.

[LisaLynne]

3. That's basically Feudalism, isn't it?

Modern Feudalism.

[ctsnowman]

5. Yup.

[MisterP]

21. sans the two-way interaction and bounds on accumulation of money extracted from labor!

[reformist2]

4. Tax wealth, not just income. And if the rich don't declare their overseas money, it's not theirs!

[Fla Dem]

6. Thank you Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. n/t

[lastlib]

12. (Fuckers.................)

. . . . .

[Initech]

13. Fuck 'em both!!!!

[timdog44]

7. I have said for a long time

that at least for the USA, that the government just goes into those money havens and forces them, at gunpoint if needed, and have them show who has how much. Then tax them accordingly. And to hell with what they think. Maybe not the real American way, but to hell with them. They got rich from the backs of the ordinary man and should contribute. If not voluntarily like we do then involuntarily. I am tired of their monopoly games. I am tired of them pitting well of people in this country against the not so well off. What I hear from people I know who are in the top 5-10% earners is "why should I pay for them" meaning the poor. Well, if the very wealthy were made to pay their fair share there would not be that dichotomy in the 99%. That is where the left and right wing thinking happens. Is from the people in the country who have been fortunate enough to get well paying jobs, and then have people like the Koch brothers telling them that the poor are sucking money from the ones who have well paying jobs. A divide and conquer situation.
Of course this is a dream, as the government is owned by the 1%. But, if I were king -------.

[LeftishBrit]

8. Thatcher lives.

[mountain grammy]

9. Amazingly true, but a big percentage of American voters have bought into

the myth of "redistribution of wealth." I know people who don't earn enough to pay income tax who are still griping about "their money"going to support some illegal's health care or pay someone to not work.
A man I know told me just the other day how the reason we can't get health care is because of the illegals. I asked how's that? He just said, "you know, they don't pay for anything."
How do you argue? I try, but it falls on deaf ears. He says I'm a low information voter and I better do my research.

[juajen]

16. The problem I see in our world today, is that everyone believes

they're an expert and a genius, when in truth they are ill-informed and rather slow. God help us!

[mountain grammy]

17. American exceptionalism in action.. somehow April always brings it out.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

18. The Republicans used to tell poor white folks in the South they were poor because of blacks...

But now they claim it's from the "Mexicans" too.

They tell you that your boss is poor too and it's all the fault of Liberals and all their "caring about others" crap designed to keep lazy people on the dole so they will become dependent on the government and continue to vote for the party of welfare and yada yada yada....

It's a campaign designed to distract them from the fact that those poor white folks haven't had a pay raise since the 70's.

To top it off, they keep telling these people they can be rich too if they just THINK a certain way. Money will just fall out of the sky if they sound like Limbaugh.

[nxylas]

10. £32 trillion worldwide

Anyone got a figure for the UK's deficit; you know, the one we're all having to tighten our belts in order to pay off?

[hfojvt]

11. the end of the piece makes it sound like they contribute quite a bit

So maybe they don't pay some taxes, but if Mr. Richy-rich moves from Russia to London, first of all and buys a place in London, that purchase is bringing some money to London (assuming the previous owner is a resident who then spends that new money in the UK which must be true for at least some sellers). Then they need to pay utilities on that place, which again puts money circulating in the UK. Money that would not be there if the richy-rich instead chose to live in New York City or Amsterdam or Rome or Vienna.

Second, as the article ends, it mentions the various personal servants a richy-rich is likely to hire - a driver, a chef, a gardener, a few bodyguards, and so on. If each of those 200 hires 5 people, then that is 1,000 total jobs, which then adds a payroll of $15,000,000 to the UK economy even if they are minimum wage jobs. Then those workers, who otherwise would not have jobs, go and buy stuff and pay taxes and so on. So the $15,000,000+ is multiplied.

Again, send those rich people to Amsterdam and the UK loses that boost to their economy.

Then the rich people are probably buying some stuff. I mean, why not? I certainly would (and do) if I was rich. Maybe they buy a couple new computers every year and maybe a new car too. Well the car dealerships are certainly happy to sell another 200 cars a year, and the electronic retailers sell 400 new computers. Maybe they goto restaurants and plays and concerts, and take some friends too.

I don't see how they are not adding, or contributing, quite a bit to the UK economy, even if they don't pay taxes.

I tend to prefer taxes on incomes, not wealth. That is, if those rich people are making money in the UK, then they should pay taxes in the UK. The inheritance tax, IMO, is also just another form of income tax, because the heirs just got a big pile of INCOME.

But surely those richy-riches are making money from their wealth, and perhaps paying taxes on that too.

And the article mixes two different things. The list in the paper is of the 200 WEALTHIEST, and the statistics that the IRS keeps is of the 400 highest INCOMES. Not necessarily the same people as the Forbes 400.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

19. Oh sure,...let's be grateful the King tossed us a bone.

[Wednesdays]

14. K & R

[Spitfire of ATJ]

15. What's sad is how many countries are judged by how well it can kiss their asses....

The measure is how opulent the five star hotels are with their native servants designed to make them feel superior to mere mortals.

[snagglepuss]

20. .