Welcome to the unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum - for discussing everything CH/Old Blue related. All pupils, parents, families, staff, Old Blues and anyone else related to CH are welcome to browse the boards, register and contribute.
sejintenej wrote: Given that the Uni was owned by the Republic, under EU laws he was not liable for tax on his salary etc. in either the UK or the Republic. (Past tense because he has just retired).
The EU has NO laws* on where tax is collected in such cases. This is a matter for bilateral agreements. Your professor was almost certainly liable for tax in both countries. The double-taxation agreements normally state that the taxpayer is liable in the country of residence, but any tax paid abroad (e.g. through PAYE) is offset against the tax liability at home.
For example, any rental income I have in UK is taxed in UK, but I have to declare it in Germany. The German revenue will then deduct tax paid in the UK from my total tax liability (in Germany). It may still end up with me paying more tax, because the income will be added to my total income in Germany, which may well put me into a higher tax band than I was taxed on in the UK (or vice versa).
*Quite generally, the EU has far fewer laws than is generally imagined.
rockfreak wrote:Another letter from Freaky in today's Guardian (6 May). "This housing crisis needs solutions that stand up". In it I argue that Old Blues (particularly Banker Brown) are occupying far too much space. Actually I didn't mention Old Blues but I make a point about the need to rejig the council tax bands which haven't been properly touched since the poll tax riots of 1990. This goes for the crumbling mansions in The Bishops Avenue, Hampstead, the three-bedroom semis with one occupier, and indeed the commodious environs of the English public schools.
One could take a leaf out of Germany's book. There:
1) it is illegal to deliberately allow a property that is zoned as 'residential' to remain empty (e.g. by not advertising it to let, or by setting an unrealistic rent)
2) there is a 'second-home' tax additional to any other taxes on the property; it is set by the local authority, but mostly amounts to 10% of the rent that could be obtained if it were let.
That would not go down well in Spain, where most of the middle class have a flat in town and a holiday home, either near the beach or in the mountains, for use at weekends and during the summer.
Just about all the Spanish I know in our village of 350 people, have either a house on land they have on the other side of the ridge (cooler in summer), and/or a flat near the beach.
Most of the houses on their land they build themselves and exceed the legally permitted limit for buildings in an agricultural area.
Mind you, most of them have lots of inherited land scattered around, growing non profitable oranges, but no income, since the building industry is still in recession.
sejintenej wrote: Given that the Uni was owned by the Republic, under EU laws he was not liable for tax on his salary etc. in either the UK or the Republic. (Past tense because he has just retired).
The EU has NO laws* on where tax is collected in such cases. This is a matter for bilateral agreements. Your professor was almost certainly liable for tax in both countries. The double-taxation agreements normally state that the taxpayer is liable in the country of residence, but any tax paid abroad (e.g. through PAYE) is offset against the tax liability at home.
I suspect that I misled you. Are you employed by a body controlled by the German Government (or another EU Government) who required that you move from your home country to take up the employment? That is the condition required.
For example, any rental income I have in UK is taxed in UK, but I have to declare it in Germany. The German revenue will then deduct tax paid in the UK from my total tax liability (in Germany). It may still end up with me paying more tax, because the income will be added to my total income in Germany, which may well put me into a higher tax band than I was taxed on in the UK (or vice versa).
What you describe is absolutely normal and has no connection with employment by an EU government or one of its autarchies. The professor also has a business in Ulster in respect of which he is taxed by the UK in the normal manner - it is only his Eire Uni salary which is exempt.
I SUSPECT that the condition was set up to persuade non-Belgians to move to Brussels to staff the EU HQ but loosely drafted.
What happens if a politician drowns in a river? That is pollution.
What happens if all of them drown? That is solution!!!
rockfreak wrote:Another letter from Freaky in today's Guardian (6 May). "This housing crisis needs solutions that stand up". In it I argue that Old Blues (particularly Banker Brown) are occupying far too much space. Actually I didn't mention Old Blues but I make a point about the need to rejig the council tax bands which haven't been properly touched since the poll tax riots of 1990. This goes for the crumbling mansions in The Bishops Avenue, Hampstead, the three-bedroom semis with one occupier, and indeed the commodious environs of the English public schools.
One could take a leaf out of Germany's book. There:
1) it is illegal to deliberately allow a property that is zoned as 'residential' to remain empty (e.g. by not advertising it to let, or by setting an unrealistic rent)
2) there is a 'second-home' tax additional to any other taxes on the property; it is set by the local authority, but mostly amounts to 10% of the rent that could be obtained if it were let.
The UK must be the easiest country in the developed world for rich people to park their money in property, thus squeezing out the working people of our cities for space and affordability and it's hardly an issue politically - although it certainly features in protests up and down the country which only get to show up on social media. London is just one city so affected. I believe that Oxford, Cambridge, Reading and Edinburgh also attract the attention of oligarchs (Russian, Bulgarian or homegrown).
rockfreak wrote:
The UK must be the easiest country in the developed world for rich people to park their money in property, thus squeezing out the working people of our cities for space and affordability and it's hardly an issue politically - although it certainly features in protests up and down the country which only get to show up on social media. London is just one city so affected. I believe that Oxford, Cambridge, Reading and Edinburgh also attract the attention of oligarchs (Russian, Bulgarian or homegrown).
As what you call an oligarch may I point out that you forgot Monaco, Spain, France, Greece, the West Country (except St Ives) . No doubt there are many other places - there is one I know of which, if you bring in one million US dollars, gives all sorts of benefits including a diplomatic passport.. I know two Brits who bought places in the USA - one still has his, the other made a 100% profit in weeks!
What happens if a politician drowns in a river? That is pollution.
What happens if all of them drown? That is solution!!!
It's finally happened. Thatcherism is officially declared a failure. I think many of us had sussed this out already but it's nice to have it from the horse's mouth. In this case the horse is no less than that well-known Trotskyite organisation the International Monetary Fund. Both austerity and unrestricted capital flows of money across national borders come in for criticism. This is the nearest that an organisation like the IMF can come to saying: "It's been a right old balls-up ever since Reagan and Thatcher and don't we know it!" After the crash of 2007/2008, Christine Lagarde was caught on the TV news snapping: "Laissez-faire is dead!" But no-one did anything about it, least of all the IMF; so they continued with austerity, globalised footloose capital, dodgy bankers, particular austerity for countries like Greece (imposed largely by an EU country whose own historical memories of reparations should have given them pause for thought), cuts in public services while the bankers continued to get rich (including Banker Brown). And now finally the big organisations are waking up to the fact that inequality is actually increasing rather than there having been the proverbial "trickledown effect". In Britain it's apparently nearly back to Edwardian levels.
Soon, the government will have to start stinging the rich for more tax, since the working people can't afford any more, what with their uncontrolled rents and socking great mortgages. Where is the low-hanging fruit for the exchequer? Ah! how about the tax breaks that the "independent" schools get for being so-called charitable institutions? How about Banker Brown's estates and vineyards? How about rich, sozzled Old Blues, now in their dotage and still sitting there singing 'Praise the Lord for our Libation' after a few glasses of vintage Roussillon? Plenty to get hold of George in your next budget.
rockfreak wrote:It's finally happened. Thatcherism is officially declared a failure. I think many of us had sussed this out already but it's nice to have it from the horse's mouth. In this case the horse is no less than that well-known Trotskyite organisation the International Monetary Fund. Both austerity and unrestricted capital flows of money across national borders come in for criticism. This is the nearest that an organisation like the IMF can come to saying: "It's been a right old balls-up ever since Reagan and Thatcher and don't we know it!" After the crash of 2007/2008, Christine Lagarde was caught on the TV news snapping: "Laissez-faire is dead!" But no-one did anything about it, least of all the IMF; so they continued with austerity, globalised footloose capital, dodgy bankers, particular austerity for countries like Greece (imposed largely by an EU country whose own historical memories of reparations should have given them pause for thought), cuts in public services while the bankers continued to get rich (including Banker Brown). And now finally the big organisations are waking up to the fact that inequality is actually increasing rather than there having been the proverbial "trickledown effect". In Britain it's apparently nearly back to Edwardian levels. Soon, the government will have to start stinging the rich for more tax, since the working people can't afford any more, what with their uncontrolled rents and socking great mortgages. Where is the low-hanging fruit for the exchequer? Ah! how about the tax breaks that the "independent" schools get for being so-called charitable institutions? How about Banker Brown's estates and vineyards? How about rich, sozzled Old Blues, now in their dotage and still sitting there singing 'Praise the Lord for our Libation' after a few glasses of vintage Roussillon? Plenty to get hold of George in your next budget.
Is that really likely with a Eton type Tory Govermment, Freaky ??
In the new edition of Private Eye, the school lampoon features a familiar CH figure. The Message from the Headmaster at The Cameron Free School condemns the lowering of standards at the school and in the staff room, particularly by Mr Johnson who has been running down the corridors shouting "Hitler!" at everyone he dislikes. But the beak saves his final bit of bile thus: "Sad news of the headmaster's former 'guru' Mr Hilton, who you will remember for his eccentric dress sense and his blue-sky thinking. Unfortunately, what we took for originality and unorthodoxy was, in fact, a full-scale mental breakdown, culminating in that unmistakeable symptom of madness: disagreeing with the Headmaster. You should get help, Steve. Perhaps you should swap the t-shirt and shorts for something more formal - like a straitjacket!"
Oh dear! Are we going to regret this Brexit vote? I've just wanged off one of my missives to the Guardian having a go at their bien-pensant grandee opinion writers for their patronising dismissal of those who were concerned about immigration. This all looks like a very big and messy genie that has been let out of a bottle, and the response of EU leaders on tonight's TV news was not encouraging. We're not discussing anything, they're saying; if you're going then go. How will this affect Banker Brown's ability to commute between Blighty and his French vineyards - or indeed the price of his vin ordinaire? And what about the price of Dr Scuffil's bottles of Croft Orginal? Assuming it's produced in Britain in the first place, of course!
The reason I posted nothing yesterday was that I didn't have time. I spent hours on the phone with quite unrelated people who were in floods of tears, something that has never happened before in my life. In one case, the person concerned saw her whole life threatening to be wrecked, another said she was simply too ashamed to keep her British passport and has overcome at a stroke her objections to taking German citizenship. (I already have an Irish passport, and I'll just let my British one run out -- after all, it has become virtually worthless, giving me a right to live almost nowhere.)
However, even as we spoke, Brexit was already beginning to unravel. Daniel Hannan (one of the few Brexiteers for whom I have any respect) went public and said: 'We never said that immigration would be reduced' and even the Brexiteers' liar-in-chief, Nigel Farage, denied that he ever said spending on the NHS could be increased as a result. Those were the two main leave-motives, of course. In other words, the people who voted 'leave' will soon find they've been duped. But 'twas ever thus: revolutions are brought about by one establishment clique promising the earth to 'the people' if they help them get rid of the other establishment clique. Once that's been done, the promises are denied or forgotten. Boris has sacrificed the country's future on the altar of his own erratic ego.
Unravelling the treaties will cost millions (far more than our contribution); the almost certain unravelling of the United Kingdom will cost more millions. In the meantime, no one will invest, and many will hurry off to Amsterdam or Frankfurt or (if language is a deal-breaker), Dublin. It will take years, and by that time, all the oldies who wanted to get back to the good old days will be dead, and a new generation in England/Wales will start the application process all over again, and rejoin on much more stringent terms (Schengen, certainly, euro maybe).
It was under Harry Spurrier that we learnt about the War of Jenkins' Ear, when Sir Robert Walpole was forced by public opinion into a war with Spain he knew would be disastrous. There was jubilation in the streets. 'Today they are ringing their bells,' he said, 'soon they will be wringing their hands.' That bon mot has stuck with me since those days in Harry's classroom with the ticking clock and strange desks.
It's not done, and we can't live with it. It's as simple as that. Hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, of lives have been thrown into turmoil, and no one has gained anything at all -- except possibly Boris Johnson. Although he too is hoist on his own petard. He obviously didn't want this result (he wanted a narrow defeat, so at the leadership election already envisaged for 2020 he could say 'I did my best'). Now he may be forced to clean up the mess, and as his only response is to say 'Britain is at the heart of Europe' (last said by T. Blair), Brexiteers may be wondering what they voted for. Well, you probably voted for the Norwegian option: same contribution (no Thatcher rebate), free movement of goods and people, but no receipts out of the regional fund (hear that, Cornwall, Wales?). Maybe even Schengen. And of course no input to the rule-making. It's called 'regaining control'.
I'm not so sure Boris will become next PM. Far more likely to be Theresa May.
Having said that, I don't think there is one politician of any political persuasion that would please the public of GB to lead.
Too much sleaze and back-biting in most of the senior ones. All they want to do is try and score points off their opposition, and 'Joe Public' is totally sick of it.
You've only got to watch BBC's 'Question Time' to see our country's leaders having play-ground arguments and tantrums.
Totally agree with Dr Scuffil's summary. The Brexiteers clearly had no Plan B (or indeed a Plan A or a Plan C). Already the pound has slumped, shares have slumped, and as a result presumably all the pension values of those pathetic old buffers who thought they could vote Tory, vote Brexit and pull up the drawbridge with impunity - some of them Old (senile old) Blues perhaps. Already Moodys is talking about downgrading our credit rating. It now appears that many of the Leavers voted just to give a malign establishment a kick up the arse. Well, be careful what you wish for, as the saying goes. I should just hit the Croft Original and try and forget it Michael. I'm glad you mentioned the War of Jenkins' Ear. I vaguely remember it from my history lessons but had completely forgotten the gist of it and its lesson for posterity.
