Wherein I Posit A New Marchant Law

Don't write tendentious, parochial, nay racist drivel.

We have received this vile bilge from Cyngor Sir Ynys Mon/Isle of Anglesey County Council. Let me preface it by confirmimg that, yes, the Groupie and I are those most evil of specimens, owners of a second home. It was paid for out of taxed income; we do not jump through any evasive hoops to avoid local taxes; we have work on the property done by local labour; we have never availed ourselves of the educational facilities on the island (though I do have a library ticket); we shop locally for provender rather than carting groceries across the border; we do not trouble the bin men, instead taking our rubbish back home to Brum; we spend liberally when we are there; we do not make any letting income; if we ever sell Plas Piggy, we will have to pay Capital Gains Tax on the proceeds. And yet we are to be further punished because we apparently do not make enough of a contribution to the local community. 

I note from our records that you are a taxpayer identified as being subject to the premium at the current rate of 35% on a property in Anglesey that is substantially furnished but is not deemed as your sole or main residence (second home).

Following a public consultation on the council's intention to increase the premium the, the Executive have recommended to increase the premium to 50% from the 1 April.

The consultation was carried out between 14 June 2021 and 6 August 2021 to which 1,434 replies were received. The consultation involved the community and town councils, on the council's website, Twitter and Facebook accounts, and also available at the council's main office in Llangefni. Consideration was given to contacting each owner of holiday homes but due to the direct impact the premium would affect them, it was deemed such an exercise would create a biased consultation. To obtain an unbiased result, it would have been necessary to consult with the whole of the island's residents and owners of affected properties who reside outside of the island. Time and resources did not allow this.

The Executive have further recommended that the premium on properties that are substantially furnished but which are not deemed as the taxpayer's sole or main residence (second homes) be increased to 75% from April 2023 and 100% from April 2024.

A final decision will be made by the full Council in March 2022, however, this letter letter is intended to notify you of the Executive's recommendation.

Llinos M Roberts

I'm sorry but this is mealy-mouthed garbage. I love the island and its people (as often referenced on this site) but this is an ill-thought-out and vindictive policy. Perhaps I should stay hunkered down here at Casa Piggy or even better should have bought a bigger sole residence and enjoyed its CGT-free status. Shame on you, the Executive, whoever you may be. Perhaps I should campaign for the right to an extra vote where I am doubly-taxed.

 

 

       

Looking Forward

We gave Dad the send-off he deserved. The church was packed and the wake at Moor Hall was a joyous celebration of his life. Rugby, cricket and his various schools and universities were represented and we could forget for a while the degradations that dementia had visited upon him in the last years.

I had kept my grief under wraps until after the funeral but then unleashed myself on a self-destructive binge. On the agenda for this year is the tackling of my troubled relationship with alcohol. You will forgive me if I tackle that one in private. It's not big and it's not clever.

But what else looking forward? Well we are now out of the EU and so far as one can tell calamity has thus far been avoided. The Jeremiahs tell us that the catastrophe will come as we struggle to negotiate the terms to succeed those of the transitional period. We'll see. Anyway the remaining Union does not have its troubles to seek - even the economic behemoth that is Germany is experiencing some nationalistic political ructions. Meanwhile little Ireland has now cast its majority vote in favour of revolutionary socialists with a recent attachment to terrorists. Ireland is free to do as it pleases (or rather it will be allowed so far as its European paymasters permit) but please don't lecture us on the running of a sovereign state. We will make our own mistakes thank you.

Talking of mistakes, the political rumour-mill would have us believe that the Tories are considering a 'mansion tax' to help raise money for the infrastructure projects it intends. This is a tax on assets paid for out of already taxed resources. It was a favourite policy of St Vince of Twickenham - that should tell you all you need to know.

Joy of joys, the Six Nations tournament is upon us. I did not share my predictions with you this year but I can confirm that I had a small bet on France to win the title before the odds got too skinny. Some shrewdies were on at very nice prices. France has deep playing resources and they now have a sane head coach, not to mention a defence coach who may not be entirely sane but is very, very good.

What of England? Well, for a start I'm already pissed off with the Eddie Jones show. The pre-match psycho-babble is pathetic and I take it as a persoanl insult when a coach departs from the orthodoxy that No 8 is a specialist skill position. Tom Curry is a superb player but is not a No 8. England got away with it against Scotland but the Irish lie in wait and will be encouraged by the prospect of indecision at the base of English scrums. Jones' talk of a new philosophy for the position is merely bollocks.

It's good to be back.   

Twelve Films At Christmas: 12

So that's that for another year. Number twelve was Stakeout, a light but entertaining action comedy showcasing the considerable comedic skills of Richrad Dreyfuss. We had seen this at the cinema the thick end of three decades ago. Getting old is a pain but what are you going to do? 6/10.

Not exactly rock and roll but we heralded the new year by doing our tax returns this afternoon. I'm due a refund - which is nice. That task out of the way, we quaffed Pol Roger. Which is very nice.

Terrestrial television coverage of British racing today switched to ITV. Sad to relate they seem to judge that the public service remit is met by giving a platform to that noisy pillock, Matt Chapman. Which is not nice.

What A Tangled Web We Weave

Cameron and the Panama Papers continue to garner headlines - Cameron Owns Up To Completely Legal Investments

What a lot of complete tosh from all angles. As I so sagely pointed out the other day Cameron has rather made himself a target in all of this by his pathetic 'ordinary bloke' stance. He's not ordinary. Villa fan my arse. I would rather hope my Prime Minister wasn't ordinary - I'm a fan of the extraordinarily gifted.

So now he's suffering as the result of an entirely legal and puny investment with a company his dad helped set up and run. Had he fronted up on Day 1, we could by now have got back to the serious issues we face. Instead he got all pedantic with us and proved pretty crap at that as well. If you want to see the quality (or more precisely lack of it) of argument that is raging in the blogosphere take a look at the tail of comments at Jerry Hayes' blog: Jerry Hayes 6 April .

Paedofinder Pursuivant, Tom Watson MP

And now here he comes riding over the horizon on his charger of moral high dudgeon, yes it's that fearless king of the unactionable slander, Tom Watson MP, Deputy Leader of what's left of the Labour Party. Just watch this space - the Boy Cameron will have been fingered (bad choice of verb I know but shit man I'm on a roll) as a paedo before you know it.

Here's the OG's FAQ's for you:

1. Has the OG ever had any foreign registered investments? Actually yes and all utterly lawful and all tax paid thank you.
2. Can OG thereby sleep at night? Too bloody right he can. I've paid a shitload (sorry, it's a technical term) of tax over the years and I'll be buggered if I'm going to pay more than the shitbags who govern us are actually legally entitled to have and waste.
3. Does the OG think any less of the Boy Cameron as a result of the Panama Papers? No. He was already dead to me after the EU deception.
4. What is OG's favourite Beatles track? I Am the Walrus.

The First Day Of A New Year

6 April, the first day of the fiscal year. Back to zero and working (if you sully yourself with such things - I rather tend not to these days) for the government of the day. And hasn't the news been kind to us - matters fiscal are to the fore, most particularly the information that certain people have been taking advantage of overseas tax planning, sometimes, oh Heaven forfend, with the aid of those most heinous of beasts, foreign bloody lawyers - the Panama Papers  .What vile scumbaggery. Most deliciously for our slavering know-nothing press, the name of Dave 'Boy' Cameron's late father is implicated. Mind you, it's a frigging miracle to me (being from the ghetto and all - well Erdington anyway) how anyone can afford to send offspring to Eton without fiddling their bloody taxes.

But my task is made even more urgent by the serendipity of yesterday's allocated New Testament reading in my free-to-Kindle 'the Bible for the Weak and Lazy' (all right it's not really called that but you get the drift). Yesterday was Day 22 of that little project (I have actually read it before - for a bet with my father when I received a Gideons Bible at school) and up popped (inter alia obviously or I'd be at it forever) Matthew 22:21. Here it is in its full King James glory:

They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's

Which, I invite you to agree, is as close as scripture gives us to a Tax Collector's Charter. But, and here's the rub, your obligation is to render to Caesar only what is properly his. All else is God's. Which is a bit of a problem for that piece of political detritus, Jeremy Corbyn, who doesn't believe in God or anything smacking of a supra-legal morality. The state is all. Now Jezza the problem with your pathetic indignation at this latest concatenation of public affairs is that the genus of state you so worship has, pretty much everywhere, turned out to be a vile and inadequate vehicle for governance. So we should dispose of Corbyn's views on this subject as readily as we do most of his others. However, the Boy Cameron is not home and hosed I'm afraid, and if you sit patiently, I'll explain why.

You've brought this on yourself PM. The Mirror is being no more disingenuous than you. The editor went to Malvern College by the way. No wonder he's a cad.

Cameron and his mate Gideon have been at the forefront (well just behind the ludicrous Margaret Hodge) in the lazy and unhelpful elision of two perfectly understood and distinct concepts: Tax Evasion (unlawful) and Tax Avoidance (lawful). Corbyn also gets these things muddled up but one is inclined to be generous and to put this down to his being thick. Instead of the legal clarity that bathed these two terms we now get our old friend 'morality' casting a shadow. Morality is best not left to politicians. And that elision, Dave me old mate, makes you totally fair game in the outing of your dad as a perfectly innocent tax avoider. Ladbroke's offer a teasing 3/1 that you won't be PM by the end of 2016 - Cameron Bets. * I can see a perfect shitstorm of Europe and tax making this a diverting little wager.

*In the two days since I posted this I note that the odds have plummeted to 7/4. This can only have been due to my loyal followers placing serious money on the Boy Cameron biting the dust this year. Please note that at about 12.15 on 9 April I will be announcing the winner of this year's Grand National five hours ahead of the race.