pqr Posted December 31, 2010 Share Posted December 31, 2010 (edited) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12093638 unbelievable...especially when added to the taxes paid in the UK. It can mean that one simply is working in order to pay taxes and buy the fare to get to and from work. Be ready if you take a vacation to the UK, the fares are high. Edited December 31, 2010 by pqr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted December 31, 2010 Share Posted December 31, 2010 I agree that the fares are high - privatisation was botched and the system as it stands does not work well. Another way to look at it, however: most of those commuters will not need cars, as they live in parts of the country where the public transport is usable. Running a car (including depreciation, insurance, repairs, petrol, etc.) costs me many thousands of pounds each year. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted December 31, 2010 Share Posted December 31, 2010 (edited) We're planning a trip to UK in the fall, and it's a concern. We have friends with parents in the UK and we were just talking about the 180% car registration tax. The VAT is at 25%. ETA: I misheard. The VAT is 25% in Denmark, going to 20 in UK. Ty, Laura! Trying to make ends meet is not unique to N.America. Edited December 31, 2010 by LibraryLover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted December 31, 2010 Share Posted December 31, 2010 (edited) I agree that the fares are high - privatisation was botched and the system as it stands does not work well. Another way to look at it, however: most of those commuters will not need cars, as they live in parts of the country where the public transport is usable. Running a car (including depreciation, insurance, repairs, petrol, etc.) costs me many thousands of pounds each year. Laura Car ownership is a huge investment there, isn't it? Sadly, it's not much easier in the UK to get around on public transportation from the suburbs than it is in the US. (Although it's much cheaper in the US). My sister's best friend lives in a suburb/farm area with her dh's parents (the familiy owns a small farm). They do not own a car, and it's about $50 r/t to get to London. If you live within the city or a close suburb, you're ok. My sister's friend is feeling very trapped. Edited December 31, 2010 by LibraryLover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted December 31, 2010 Share Posted December 31, 2010 We're planning a trip to UK in the fall, and it's a concern. We have friends with parents in the UK and we were just talking about the 180% car registration tax. The VAT is at 25%. Trying to make ends meet is not unique to N.America. It's about to go up to 20%. What do you mean by 180% car registration tax? 180% of what? I can't quite work it out. Regards Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted December 31, 2010 Share Posted December 31, 2010 Car ownership is a huge investment there, isn't it? Sadly, it's not much easier in the UK to get around on public transportation from the suburbs than it is in the US. (Although it's much cheaper in the US). My sister's best friend lives in a suburb/farm area with her dh's parents (the familiy owns a small farm). They do not own a car, and it's about $50 r/t to get to London. If you live within the city or a close suburb, you're ok. My sister's friend is feeling very trapped. We are also in a farming area. But most of the people who pay to commute daily by public transport will be closer in and will have no, or only one, car. When we lived in London we didn't have one - the public transport saved us from the costs of car ownership and parking. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted December 31, 2010 Share Posted December 31, 2010 (edited) It's about to go up to 20%. What do you mean by 180% car registration tax? 180% of what? I can't quite work it out. Regards Laura I am pretty sure they said 25%, which I thought was frightening for the average person trying to pay their bills. Maybe they skipped to talking about another Euro country and I missed it. Is Denmark at 25%? Because we were also talking about Denmark. As for the 180%. I was trying to keep up with the converstion, and I thought they were saying that was the percentage of the tax they had to pay just to register the car. ETA: I just talked with dh and he said they said UK is going up to 20%, and it was Denmark at 25%. I just checked online, and that VAT is correct for Denmark. He said he could not figure out the 180. So, we will defer to you on that. :) Now dh is saying that maybe they were talking about the cost to bring in a car from outside the UK. We had the conversation at party, so lots of banter about all sorts of things going on at the same time. Edited December 31, 2010 by LibraryLover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pqr Posted December 31, 2010 Author Share Posted December 31, 2010 The article on VAT http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12099996 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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