Troops to receive Council Tax rebate

[leave your hat on maam]

Lets hope gordon ****** brown calls for that election nothing says more than a mass ballot box action against them lets see whos screwed who over.

 

[Vagabond]

Lets hope gordon ****** brown calls for that election nothing says more than a mass ballot box action against them lets see whos screwed who over.

I think the knob Jockey will get in.

 

[Roobsta]

Lets look at the facts here........

All these figures are courtesy of BBC, Wikpedia and the MOD DASA.


"The measure will be worth £140 to every soldier who pays the tax on a UK property and is serving a six-month tour of duty.

About 13,000 soldiers will benefit from the tax rebate, which amounts to 25% of the average Band D council tax bill."

So the average D Band tax is £1268 25% of this is £253.

So there we have it, thanks a bunch !

That's £253 for 12 months so you then halve it for the 6 months and you get £126.50. Like I said, f you can argue with your local council then you can get your discount for a 4 month DWR

 

[PingDit]

Just announced on ITV local news at 18:39. Maximum rate over 6 months will be £140, calculated on a daily rate. If you already receive ANY sort of discount for being out of the country from your local council, you will receive NOTHING.
The Gordon & Des Browne circus must think we're all idiots. The sooner the public realise the full implications of this scam, the better!

 

[Robby]

Sad state of Affairs

Sad state of Affairs

As has been mentioned before it is a small amount when compared to the average council tax bills but I am concerned at some of the responses from the wider public- on 5 Live this morning e-mails & texts were coming in saying 'we were volunteers and knew what to expect etc etc', even my own family have needed 'advice' to shatter a few well believed myths including:

We do pay for Service accommodation both FQ's and barrack accommodation
We can't call in an emergency plumber when the floor is 6" under water we have to wait for the "nominated contractor"
Are houses are inspected and billed for any damages/marks/etc when we move out of a house - how many other tenants do
We do pay for our food
MQ's do pay Gas/Water/Electric Bills - and all too often Oil bills
We do pay council tax (I guess today will blow that myth out of the water)
We do pay income tax and National Insurance.
We do buy some of our Uniforms (Mess Dress, Field Equipment, Boots etc)
We do work 24 hr shifts- in the UK and at war!
The RAF do deploy - for 'soldier' read ROYAL NAVY/ARMY/RAF
We are not the RAC/ATC/Ambulance Service!

But a few of the comments heard from local friends and some from the family- perhaps the RAF at Home events did some good in the old days- even Fighter Pilot helped but that’s all a long time ago - it is really sad state of affairs.

Off Topic I Can't see many RAF Units marching through local towns on return from deployment, we normally deploy as Non- formed Units or a % of a Sqn, only the Regiment seem to go as a FULLY formed Unit.
If we do march through the local town you can expect to be spat at and abused (1993 Stafford!), letters in the local paper complaining about Road Closures and all this 67 years since the Battle of Britain hard to believe really!

 

[Chaka]

Shameful, shameful,shameful.

This isn't about keeping troops happy, we already know what they think of the British Forces. This is about polictical spin to fool the average civvy into thinking the government is helping out the boys and girls in sandy places.

As the average civvy is as thick as pigsh1te when it comes th the military, they will think this is a good deal. Not that most of them give to hoots to be honest.

Most of the people on this website are still serving and nearly everyone else has served. We know a fair deal for the military. This isnt one.

Do you expect anything else though?

Vagabond you have hit the nail on the head.

The average Civvy does not care jacksh1t for the Military, Iraq, the Stan, NI, the Falklands. All they think is you live in free housing, don't pay Council Tax and get free Lecky and Gas- I hear it down the local pub all the time, really gets my goat ('scuse pun)DT_Xtremez_21:

It's all spin, spin spin from Gay Gordon and his Commie Labour chums. No doubt the RAF guys will get zip as they do 4 months dets and I doubt the married guys will get anything as the wifie/kiddies are still in FMQ.::/:

Vote Gay Gordon/Vote Traitor!DT_Xtremez_25:

 

[Captain Gatso]

What a load of bllocks. £140, for council tax. What kind of incentive is that. I pay nearly a grand for my council tax per year. So for me going to the desert for six months. I will roughly be getting 10% of my council tax back in a rebate. Seems someone had there finger on the pulse when dreaming that one up. Well since there are roughly 70,000 civil servents in the MOD. There must be a think tank that has only one purpose, and that is to think up the most useless and stupid schemes going. Come on MOD, start having some common sense and give us incentives that are truly what we need.::/:

 

[Bluntend]

As has been mentioned before it is a small amount when compared to the average council tax bills but I am concerned at some of the responses from the wider public- on 5 Live this morning e-mails & texts were coming in saying 'we were volunteers and knew what to expect etc etc', even my own family have needed 'advice' to shatter a few well believed myths including...

Just out of curiosity, but did anybody on 5 Live set the record straight or put forward the serviceman's side of the arguement?

 

[busby1971]

Is this rebate just for those in Iraq and stan, what about those in deed MPA or other places where they are away from their home.

Mr Brown likes to state the headlines (9% pay rise - NERP doesnt mention the 2.5 for the rest) (Operational Allowance for troops deployed - doesn't clarify that only those in Iraq Stan and Bosnia [wtf bosnia] not anybody else).

The people hear this and think we are starting to get a good deal, if it wasn't for the current operational tempo I bet we'd be getting the staged pay rises that are now being forced everywhere else for those in Public Service, although noticeably not on MPs.

 

[Robby]

5-Live Breakfast

5-Live Breakfast

Just out of curiosity, but did anybody on 5 Live set the record straight or put forward the serviceman's side of the arguement?

To be fair to Nicky Campbell he did defend 'us' and offer both sides of the argument with a tilt in our favour

 

[muttywhitedog]

What a load of bllocks. £140, for council tax. What kind of incentive is that. I pay nearly a grand for my council tax per year. So for me going to the desert for six months. I will roughly be getting 10% of my council tax back in a rebate. Seems someone had there finger on the pulse when dreaming that one up. Well since there are roughly 70,000 civil servents in the MOD. There must be a think tank that has only one purpose, and that is to think up the most useless and stupid schemes going. Come on MOD, start having some common sense and give us incentives that are truly what we need.::/:

How do you get 10%???

If you go for 6 months, you would get £140 back. Your council tax for said 6 months would equate to approx £500.

140/500 = 28% of your Council Tax rebated.

 

[Captain Gatso]

I was impling, that for six months out in the desert. I am only going to get roughly 10% of my yearly council tax back. I would find it a bit more just, that If you go out for six months you should get all of your council tax back, for the time you were away. No matter if you are living in or out. What incentive to me is a £140 rebate on my council tax when I am out on ops for six months. I really think that the goverment should have gone to all the county councils on this one instead of getting the money to pay for this from the MOD purse.

 

[Studley dangerfcuk]

Why dont they do what the Americans do. Let us stop paying income tax, stop LSA and no council tax rebate.

That would mean that nothing comes out the defense budget. And out of the 190,000 in the Armed Forces, exactly how many are out OOA at any one time.
Certainly not all of us at the one time. The Chancellor wont miss all that much tax over the year.

The way I work it out is:

Council Tax: £140
LSA: £150 per month
Total: £740

Income Tax: (between) £1200 - £1700 (depending on rank)

I know what I would rather have.

Studley ::/:

 

[Get Tae]

Well done GB, this is really going to make me stay past my 22 point now.

I am not going to go off-shore anymore as this is a huge pay increase and I cant wait.

Too little too late...............................

 

[MrMasher]

Well done GB, this is really going to make me stay past my 22 point now.

I am not going to go off-shore anymore as this is a huge pay increase and I cant wait.

Too little too late...............................

Spot on Get Tae. These little smatterings of political spin are the tacks being nailed into the coffin lid.
It's becoming increasingly hard to convince people to stay in, let alone sign on past the 22 year smash and grab point.

 

[The Bishop]

Having read all the replies on this subject, noboby has picked up on the following:

When we return home on R&R, our LSA is stopped. In my case, i had £136.08 deducted from my pay for the 14 days i spent home on R&R from a six month TOD in Aghanistan.

All the £140 is doing for me is giving my bloody money back that was taken in the first place. The money "coming from the MOD" purse is minimal.

It's another great piece of "spin" to pull the wool over the eyes of the British public and make them think that we are being looked after.

 

[The Bishop]

And this is from an ex matlot:

Armed forces personnel are already paid well above standard UK wages - why offer them more.
Contrary to popular belief, they are poorly qualified academically entering and leaving service, even the officers, so quite why they should be already paid well over standard is beyond me. Poor academic qualifications in civilian life does not get you paid above standard, generally. So no, I do not think theyshould be paid anymore than they already are. I had 14 years in the Royal Navy - what a skive!

What this "matelot" ignoramus fails to mention is when he did his 14 years service. I suspect it was pre-1982 which i would imagine for the Navy was a bloody "skive"

 

[sheddweller]

As Roobsta says, there's nothing new there, we've always been able to claim back council tax after being away for an extended period. I've done it on several occasions.

It depends which area you live in - its up to individual councils to decided what you get back - as I live in Doncaster we're not entitled to any rebate for detatchments. Ironically as a civilian I was entitled to a 50% rebate when I owned a house that I didn't live in but once I joined - and made the mistake of being honest - and tried to claim my 25% discount for single occupation during my other half's detatchment, I was refused!

And if other councils catch on to this MOD payout you too might end up in the same boat as us if they all start operating by the same rules.

Its just the same as that laughable tax return they give you if you OOA for over 6 months - civilians are getting a better deal than the armed services (A civilian gets ALL their tax back if they go overseas for over 6 months, and have done for decades) so its just more of the same - only difference is is that the MOD are funding it themselves this time so we're just going to lose out elsewhere - I'd rather they gave us £140 of equipment before we go OOA so we get more chance of getting back than this empty gesture aferwards.

25% of 6 months of my council tax is over £200...::/:

 

[muttywhitedog]

Why dont they do what the Americans do. Let us stop paying income tax, stop LSA and no council tax rebate.

That would mean that nothing comes out the defense budget. And out of the 190,000 in the Armed Forces, exactly how many are out OOA at any one time.
Certainly not all of us at the one time. The Chancellor wont miss all that much tax over the year.

The way I work it out is:

Council Tax: £140
LSA: £150 per month
Total: £740

Income Tax: (between) £1200 - £1700 (depending on rank)

I know what I would rather have.

Studley ::/:

What about the £12.75 per day Op Allowance? Include that into your 4 month calculation and you can add an extra £1500 to the top figure. Also, you have quoted the lowest rate of LSA which increases quite a bit after Level 1.

A lot of the guys on my Sqn are on L3 or 4 LSA and pick up an extra £25 per day for being in Kandahar.

 

[sheddweller]

I think you'll find that the rebate talked about is for those personnel who live in MQs. Having a quick look at my payslip tells me that my Council Tax deduction for Sep was just over £90. Therefore 25% of that will be just shy of £23, which broadly equates to the £140 talked about in the headline.


Re-reading that BBC News 24 article it looks like those living in MQs wont get the rebate at all:

"The payments will be given only to personnel who pay tax on a UK property - excluding those who live in army accommodation. "

I'm guessing when they say Army accomodation they mean service accomodation anyway. Does that mean MQ dwellers get a different amount or do they get nothing at all?