Family pile, innit?
The aristocracy generally has no money, what with inheritance tax and what have you, so they live off the fact that they own an estate.

Unless they were smart like the Longleat family, and did something to earn a living from their home.

You know what my dream house is? Two staircases (or even more), scullery / pantry, and a swimming pool. *keeps fingers crossed for a lottery win*
( b3th Not shit. Not mod., Sun 15 Jul 2012, 19:13, 2 replies, latest was 13 years ago)

Two staircases (or even more), scullery / pantry, and a swimming pool. *keeps fingers crossed for a lottery win*

THE PIER!
( JeffTheDogFucker Can you dig it?, Sun 15 Jul 2012, 19:15, Reply)

Wahey!
You home again, then?
( b3th Not shit. Not mod., Sun 15 Jul 2012, 19:17, Reply)

Yeah.

( JeffTheDogFucker Can you dig it?, Sun 15 Jul 2012, 19:18, Reply)

Worth it?

( b3th Not shit. Not mod., Sun 15 Jul 2012, 19:23, Reply)

It wasn't the best ever weekend away, but I caught up with some people I hadn't seen in ages.
So that was nice.

What have you done this weekend?
( JeffTheDogFucker Can you dig it?, Sun 15 Jul 2012, 19:25, Reply)

Lots of illustrator work
which is going to help with my skillset.
Looked for jobs.
Cried.
Bought chocolate.
( b3th Not shit. Not mod., Sun 15 Jul 2012, 19:27, Reply)

Are you not finding much around jobwise?

( JeffTheDogFucker Can you dig it?, Sun 15 Jul 2012, 19:28, Reply)

Not in Weston.
I'm going to have to bite the bullet and get my arse to Bristol.

It's closer than Mars, I suppose.
( b3th Not shit. Not mod., Sun 15 Jul 2012, 19:34, Reply)

Exactly. I've been telling you that for ages.

( JeffTheDogFucker Can you dig it?, Sun 15 Jul 2012, 19:38, Reply)

www.jobsite.co.uk/job/field-based-supervisor-943248674?src=search
( JeffTheDogFucker Can you dig it?, Sun 15 Jul 2012, 19:40, Reply)

I tend to shy away from anything involving care.
but there are some interesting jobs in bristol at the moment. I just have to resign myself to never seeing my boys.
( b3th Not shit. Not mod., Sun 15 Jul 2012, 19:44, Reply)

Everyone else has to commute to work.
You might even enjoy it.
( JeffTheDogFucker Can you dig it?, Sun 15 Jul 2012, 19:45, Reply)

You dont want to take your home to work with you =P
How long does it take you to get into bristol?
( G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Sun 15 Jul 2012, 20:06, Reply)

I swear straight down, I've always defined 'success' as having two sets of stairs going to the same floor(s) inside a property*
Inheritance tax is fucking awful, and the only people who seem to pay it are those who aren't quite rich enough to get away with it.

* eg, it has to be in the same property, can't be like outside your flat but in the same building, if you know what I mean.
( G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Sun 15 Jul 2012, 19:17, Reply)

Why is Inheritance Tax awful? The threshold is £325,000 so most people aren't affected.
Plus with financial planning it's not too difficult to mitigate against it.
(dozers, do fuck off ur a nob m8, Sun 15 Jul 2012, 19:20, Reply)

£325 is fuck all when it comes to inheritance in london *.
Mitigating against it, as easy or hard as it is, is exactly whats wrong with it. The fact that people feel the need to circumvent it, and can do so, shows that its unfair. In the same way nobody should go poor because they're sick; no family should go poor due to death. Poor is relative here. People who work hard all their lives, do the right thing and save, end up giving a big load of it into the goverment when they've already been paying taxes all their lives anyway.


* www.londonpropertywatch.co.uk/avg_prices.html
( G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Sun 15 Jul 2012, 19:28, Reply)

But Gonz
People should pay taxes, but within the rules. The rules are that trusts etc can take money out of the estate, and if you have an estate worth over £325000 then you can afford the £500 to go and see an IFA.
(dozers, do fuck off ur a nob m8, Sun 15 Jul 2012, 19:31, Reply)

It just seems like a kick in the teeth at a particulary bad time.
Totally agree, I doubt you'd find anyone with those sorts of assets who _doesn't_ see an IFA; they'd be stupid, like not getting insurance. But my point is, well, there are two. The first one is that it feels like the goverment are proftering on greif... I see it as, if you're in that position, you've paid tax all your life, you've done 'your bit' - and more soo. It's like the goverment values the more affluent as a financial gain if dead - the oppersite to the principles on which the NHS was founded.

And my second point is, and this goes ditto for the banking and tax evaision; the rule should be clear, equal and concise for everyone - no matter what your knowledge of the law is.
( G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Sun 15 Jul 2012, 19:40, Reply)

Wealthy people should pay more tax than poorer people.
Both in cash terms and in percentage of income terms. IHT is a part of this, it was originally only levied on the largest estates but the rate hasn't risen at the same pace as house price inflation so it affects more people now.

Taxing the dead on their estate isn't tasteless or in opposition to social principles at all- it's a way of gathering tax receipts when large amounts of cash are released.

It's everyone's responsibility to pay tax, but nobody should have to pay any more than they legally have to. David Cameron criticising anyone for tax evasion is rich- the Government make laws, including tax laws, so if they wanted to, they could hire the country's best tax lawyers and accountants and make the income tax laws watertight, or vastly increase the PAYE requirement but choose not to.
(dozers, do fuck off ur a nob m8, Sun 15 Jul 2012, 19:45, Reply)

I donno man
It just seems there is a spot somewhere, where it's worth pissing it up the wall rather than passing it down.

I'm only half (ok, 2/3) saying inheritance tax, as a principle is wrong, it's more that my feelings about how they go about doing it is. I think my opinion (and it is that; just an opinion, purly based on self interest without research) would change if there was an even ground for everyone, and not based on the knowledge of a consultant.

Totally agree that Camron is pretty rich (pun unintentional) in berating people for finding loop holes whilst doing nothing to adjust them. Although I suppose, given the demographic of parliment, it isn't in their self interests to close them.
( G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Sun 15 Jul 2012, 20:00, Reply)

There is even ground for everyone though.
For couples, put the house in joint names and take out a life insurance policy which will cover the IHT liability. If you're reasonably sure that there will be a 50 grand tax bill, then pay the £30 or so a month premium for a 50K life policy. That way, at death there will be the money to pay the tax bill and not have to sell the house. Plus, there's no way that the insurance premiums will have amounted to anything approaching the 50K payout.

It's not difficult and not that expensive.
(dozers, do fuck off ur a nob m8, Sun 15 Jul 2012, 20:06, Reply)

But then there is the argument
That paying tax on income that has already been tax isn't cricket.
( JeffTheDogFucker Can you dig it?, Sun 15 Jul 2012, 20:21, Reply)

IHT is a tax on wealth, not income.
And your income gets taxed three times anyway.
(dozers, do fuck off ur a nob m8, Sun 15 Jul 2012, 20:24, Reply)

YMT is a tax on Your Mum.

( JeffTheDogFucker Can you dig it?, Sun 15 Jul 2012, 20:36, Reply)

I think for me, it was watching all those american sitcoms
where they had a staircase in the living room and another one in the kitchen. Also, having grown up in army houses, which are very identikit square boxes, I love houses with corners and split levels and odd shaped rooms.

My brother in law lives in a house like that. I love it.
( b3th Not shit. Not mod., Sun 15 Jul 2012, 19:21, Reply)

Totally, googling "mezzanine floor house" doesn't show up one ugly house.

( G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Sun 15 Jul 2012, 19:30, Reply)

I'd also love to live in a converted church.
That would be cool.
( b3th Not shit. Not mod., Sun 15 Jul 2012, 19:38, Reply)

Deffo, or old factory.

( G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Sun 15 Jul 2012, 19:42, Reply)

I know if I had £25m big ass house in the middle of no-where, with double that of antiques and stuff inside it....
I'd sale the fucking lot of it, buy a nice proper luxoury house in hampstead, and let the rest of the investments lead me into a lifestyle of pure luxoury for myself and my future generations to come.
( G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Sun 15 Jul 2012, 19:22, Reply)

If it's a home that's been in your family for six hundred years
there might be an obligation to keep it on. Of course, inheritance tax means each subsequent generation has 50% less money for the upkeep of the estate, to the extent that the current lot of toffs can barely afford to heat one wing.
( b3th Not shit. Not mod., Sun 15 Jul 2012, 19:24, Reply)

50% less money?
IHT is 40% on the value of the estate over £325,000. And it's easy to use trusts to avoid it. Most wealthy people pay IFAs to arrange things so that they avoid IHT.
(dozers, do fuck off ur a nob m8, Sun 15 Jul 2012, 19:27, Reply)

I bow to your superior knowledge.

( b3th Not shit. Not mod., Sun 15 Jul 2012, 19:28, Reply)

+ but not your superior height.

( JeffTheDogFucker Can you dig it?, Sun 15 Jul 2012, 19:29, Reply)

^this

( b3th Not shit. Not mod., Sun 15 Jul 2012, 19:36, Reply)