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A bit off topic, but can someone investigate how much legalized gambling costs the UK per year? Every town has at least two or three bookmakers in it, filled wi

A bit off topic, but can someone investigate how much legalized gambling costs the UK per year? Every town has at least two or three bookmakers in it, filled with the poorest residents gambling away their already paltry wages. And what about council tax? What kind of government charges extra taxes to the renting population? As an American in the UK, I see regressive taxes like this, and then just shake my head when the MPs start asking why nobody is buying houses anymore.

detaro 9y ago
> And what about council tax? What kind of government charges extra taxes to the renting population? I'm not familiar with the details, isn't "council tax" just a property tax like it exists in the US and many other countries as well?
- chatmasta 9y ago
  It's a tax paid by the tenant, not the landlord. The tax is based on the value of the property (separated into eight bands). That is, the tax is not tied to the income or assets of the person who actually pays it. I'm not aware of any equivalent in the US, except maybe city taxes in major metropolitan areas, but I believe those are generally based on income. If developmental policy has a goal of increasing home ownership, it seems really strange to tax tenants for renting, when they could be saving that money for a down payment instead.
DanBC 9y ago
The regulator of gambling might have numbers: https://twitter.com/GamRegGB https://twitter.com/GamRegGB Here's their website about statistics: http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/news-action-and-statistics/News-action-and-statistics.aspx http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/news-action-and-statist... http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/news-action-and-statistics/Statistics-and-research/Statistics-and-research.aspx http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/news-action-and-statist... I think it's a huge problem. I'm especially worried about gambling (and alchol) adverts that are shown to children. > And what about council tax? What kind of government charges extra taxes to the renting population? Council tax goes to local councils and is used to fund (alongside money from central government): https://www.lovemoney.com/news/50941/where-does-council-tax-money-go https://www.lovemoney.com/news/50941/where-does-council-tax-... Road maintenance, repairs and street lighting Local transport services like buses Children’s social care Support for elderly and vulnerable Supporting children’s education Preventing homelessness through social housing Libraries, arts, museums, leisure and recreation services Maintaining parks and open spaces Waste collection, recycling and disposal Street cleaning and flood defences Administration of licences, permits and housing benefit Planning and building control Other services like coroners, courts, registrars, elections and tax collection Long term investment Before council tax (a rate based on the value of the property) we briefly had a poll tax (a rate per person). Poll tax caused literal riots. So, while there are problems with council tax it's less hated than poll tax.
- chatmasta 9y ago
  Thanks for the insightful comment. I'm little more than a tourist, you've been dealing with this far longer than me. :P From the statistics page: > 48% of people have gambled in the past four weeks That is mind blowing. Yet only 0.5% of people 16+ England identify as "problem gamblers." That means that roughly 1% of all gamblers identify as "problem gamblers." Of course, it's gotta be pretty bad before you admit to yourself you have a problem. A more telling statistic would be the amount of money lost per gambler per month as a percent of their income. But no gambler knows how much they lost this month; indeed, that's probably part of the problem. Perhaps the law should require bookies to track each person's winnings/losings and show them a big red number for how much they've lost at that bookie.

detaro 9y ago

> And what about council tax? What kind of government charges extra taxes to the renting population? I'm not familiar with the details, isn't "council tax" just a property tax like it exists in the US and many other countries as well?

chatmasta 9y ago
It's a tax paid by the tenant, not the landlord. The tax is based on the value of the property (separated into eight bands). That is, the tax is not tied to the income or assets of the person who actually pays it. I'm not aware of any equivalent in the US, except maybe city taxes in major metropolitan areas, but I believe those are generally based on income. If developmental policy has a goal of increasing home ownership, it seems really strange to tax tenants for renting, when they could be saving that money for a down payment instead.

DanBC 9y ago

The regulator of gambling might have numbers: https://twitter.com/GamRegGB https://twitter.com/GamRegGB Here's their website about statistics: http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/news-action-and-statistics/News-action-and-statistics.aspx http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/news-action-and-statist... http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/news-action-and-statistics/Statistics-and-research/Statistics-and-research.aspx http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/news-action-and-statist... I think it's a huge problem. I'm especially worried about gambling (and alchol) adverts that are shown to children. > And what about council tax? What kind of government charges extra taxes to the renting population? Council tax goes to local councils and is used to fund (alongside money from central government): https://www.lovemoney.com/news/50941/where-does-council-tax-money-go https://www.lovemoney.com/news/50941/where-does-council-tax-... Road maintenance, repairs and street lighting Local transport services like buses Children’s social care Support for elderly and vulnerable Supporting children’s education Preventing homelessness through social housing Libraries, arts, museums, leisure and recreation services Maintaining parks and open spaces Waste collection, recycling and disposal Street cleaning and flood defences Administration of licences, permits and housing benefit Planning and building control Other services like coroners, courts, registrars, elections and tax collection Long term investment Before council tax (a rate based on the value of the property) we briefly had a poll tax (a rate per person). Poll tax caused literal riots. So, while there are problems with council tax it's less hated than poll tax.

chatmasta 9y ago
Thanks for the insightful comment. I'm little more than a tourist, you've been dealing with this far longer than me. :P From the statistics page: > 48% of people have gambled in the past four weeks That is mind blowing. Yet only 0.5% of people 16+ England identify as "problem gamblers." That means that roughly 1% of all gamblers identify as "problem gamblers." Of course, it's gotta be pretty bad before you admit to yourself you have a problem. A more telling statistic would be the amount of money lost per gambler per month as a percent of their income. But no gambler knows how much they lost this month; indeed, that's probably part of the problem. Perhaps the law should require bookies to track each person's winnings/losings and show them a big red number for how much they've lost at that bookie.