A full receipt

Receipt found courtesy of Wat Tyler...

Via Old Holborn, I see that a hairdresser is running a campaign to give customers full information...

In a move to expose just how much money ends up in the government’s coffers, London hairdresser Michael Van Clarke has started issuing all customers with a full tax receipt – and he’s urging other retailers and businesses to follow suit.

Van Clarke reckons it’s time to give his clients a true insight into their salon bills—and their extortionate further tax contributions. Of an average bill of £100, more than £13 makes up VAT, over £26 goes towards staff national insurance and income taxes, and almost £9 to over a dozen other business taxes including; rates, insurance tax, climate levy tax and even landfill tax, adding up to £48 of tax—almost half the bill.

“Most people are totally unaware of their true tax charges,” comments Van Clarke. “Even after the government has taxed our salaries, a massive 41 per cent and rising, plus council taxes, vehicle and TV licence taxes etc, as consumers we’re still subject to further rip-off taxes, almost half of our spendable earnings.

“Effectively, for every £4 we work hard to earn, we’re rewarded with £1 spending power. The rest goes to our shamed government. It’s a scandalous situation, and we hope our full tax receipts will go some way to highlighting the state of affairs!”

This may be a publicity stunt, but I still think that it is a very good idea. After all, many people have been calling for us to adopt US-style annual tax returns: this would mean that everyone is fully aware of how much tax they pay annually.*

What we don't get—and what Van Clarke is highlighting—is how much tax costs us when we spend what money the bloody government lets us keep.

* A P60 should, of course, give you this information anyway.