Where is Robin Hood when we need him?

What we need after all the turmoil and drama of last week is a nice, safe tax post. Yep, it's come to that. Rich reckons that readers will leave in droves (after last week, I guess that's not such a bad thing.) So here's one of my humungously boring articles that was originally published elsewhere. American readers might want to sit this one out. British readers too, probably.

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CGI Amy

“Withholding payment of taxes is one of the quickest methods of overthrowing a government.”

Mahatma Gandhi


One of the most unpopular U.K. taxes is the Council Tax. This tax isn’t anything to do with regular income tax. It is a tax on dwellings and must be paid by practically every household in the country. However, because each house is revalued every few years and placed within one of eight council tax bands, it is at the mercy of the general property market and housing boom. So if you spend on property improvements, such as an extension, then you pay more tax. If the value of your house rises significantly (as have most houses in the UK in the recent years of the property boom) then you pay more tax. This tax rises more than inflation every year, and most folks struggle to pay it. I can guarantee that the vast majority of British people resent this significant chunk of their income disappearing each month, largely because although the tax bills keep going up, the quality of council services declines in about equal proportion.

At both the local and governmental level we now have a political system where low, middle and even upper middle income level citizens receive far less in services than they pay in. Unless you count your quality service in terms of CCTV cameras of course; there sure are plenty of those. But besides funding Big Brother (as I’m sure every dutiful citizen recognizes is absolutely necessary for the safety of our fair nation) how can it possibly be fair that we get less back than we pay? I don’t know about you folks reading this, but in our own household, we are seriously strapped for cash. How can it be right that my council tax has risen nearly six percent last year and yet my rubbish collections will shortly be decreased to fortnightly? Why is it that the road outside my house now has so many potholes that when I drive down our lane I have to swerve desperately to avoid them, thus (wrongly) indicating to our local B.B. CCTV camera that I’ve been boozing rather than merely preserving my shock absorbers? (When phoning our council for the umpteenth time this week, I was informed that the potholes would stay because they had no money for road repairs.)

Why do we pay this tax? The obvious answer is “because they make us.”

The issue here is not “should we pay taxes?” but where is our money going, how is it being spent, and how are the spending decisions are made? Alas, the answers are that most of the money is going to either central government or the local bureaucrats, and precious little is given to those that need it. Robin Hood might have lived 700 years ago, but even now, it’s still the same old story.

But what would happen if we just stopped paying?

The precursor to the Council Tax was the Community Charge or Poll Tax. In 1990 what started as a peaceful protest against this unpopular and unfair tax resulted in the worst riots seen in London for a century. Forty-five police officers were among the 113 people injured. The fallout was so bad that the Government took action, and “modified” the tax. The fact that it mostly changed the name rather than the substance is a subject of much bitterness amongst the British population. The tax is now equally as unjust as it ever was.

Alas most folks are now too despondent to start a revolution. We are tired, worn out, we have simply become used to living this way. Can this ever change? Well, slowly and surely a few brave souls are simply refusing to pay. In increasing numbers, people are starting to say “no.” Of course the end result is jail, but they are making an important political and moral statement. These brave “tax resistors” are attempting to shame our Government into rethinking their position. As most of these courageous resisters are penniless old people, the Government is then forced into paying attention. It doesn’t look good for Gordon’s image when little old ladies are locked up in prison for their principles. No, not good at all.

It’s time we joined the little old ladies. It’s important to re-examine why we work and how we want our money spent. It’s right that we should have a say in how our Sheriff of Nottingham spends his billions and it’s up to us to complain and protest enough so that we make sure the gold goes to the people who need it. Sure there are risks in not paying your tax, and no-one should undertake such resistance lightly, but there’s also risks involved in passively co-operating with a Government who is fleecing us, who is spending on the bureaucrats rather than its own people.

What changes unjust laws? Publicity, and the power of the media and the people.

Robin Hood fought for change to the unfair taxes which the Sheriff of Nottingham demanded from the common people. He was the ultimate tax resister. He saw the corruption within his government and when diplomacy didn’t work, his conscience forced him to take the law into his own hands.

What we need nowadays is our very own version of a modern day Robin Hood.

Any offers?

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The Real Amy