Singer, Adele Complains About UK Tax, Calls State Schools/Transport Sh**

[letmein]

Thoughts?

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Adele has revealed that she's been handing over millions to the UK taxman.

The 'Rolling in the Deep' singer said that she is "mortified" that she has had to pay so much money when she doesn't think it goes to good use.

She told Q: "I use the NHS, I can't use public transport anymore, doing what I do. I went to state school, I'm mortified to have to pay 50%.

"Trains are always late, most state schools are s**t and I've gotta give you, like, four million quid? Are you having a laugh?"

The star explained that she got a shock when she received her tax bill after her first album 19.

She added: "When I got my tax bill in from 19 I was ready to go and buy a gun and randomly open fire."

http://www.digitalspy.com/celebrity/news/a321419/adele-ive-been-taxed-millions.html

[MTVN]

She should count herself lucky it's only 50%, would have been more like 70 or 80 a few decades ago.

She cant have it both ways either, dont complain you get taxed too much and then moan about the quality of state run insitutions, that's pretty hypocritical

[Z]

She should count herself lucky it's only 50%, would have been more like 70 or 80 a few decades ago.

She cant have it both ways either, dont complain you get taxed too much and then moan about the quality of state run insitutions, that's pretty hypocritical

I think her point is more that she's being taxed all that money and in spite of that, state institutions are still terrible. This is a common complaint about our tax system; we don't tend to SEE the results of all that taxation.

[Doogle]

She'd probably much rather spend that money on McDonalds. (sorry :joker: )

But I agree with her.

[MTVN]

I think her point is more that she's being taxed all that money and in spite of that, state institutions are still terrible. This is a common complaint about our tax system; we don't tend to SEE the results of all that taxation.

I suppose so but it's actually quite a small amount of government spending that goes on transport & education, it's welfare that costs the government more than anything else and so it's not always obvious that money is being spent with good results. But public transport & state run schools (which I dont think are as bad as she makes out) are never going to get better without investment, or become more effecient, unless you privatise them I suppose but not many would want that.

She comes across as pretty arrogant to me tbh, she's earning millions doing something she loves, she shouldnt complain about the 50% figure. Lots of people have to pay that, a lot of whom probably work harder than her and earn nowhere near as much, and what's this about with her saying "I cant use public transport", that doesnt mean she shouldnt play a part in funding it.

[InOne]

She needs to chill out :bored: She should just enjoy what she's got.

[joeysteele]

She has valid points but I think she'd be screaming even more if she was at the lower end of the earnings in the UK too. She'd see how difficult things are already and how much worse is to come.

Most,in fact the vast majority of UK citizens would love to be in her position financially.

[billy123]

Poor thing will have to scrape by its a hard life only getting paid £4 million pounds after tax.

[james130]

I.Love.Her
I agree with everything she says

[Zippy]

Given that she's paying £4mill I think she has a damn right to have a little moan! Its not like she does it constantly. Just making a point that her millions are not going to good use.

For that amount of money she should be able to shoot a politician of her choice

Just coz she's rich and famous it doesn't mean she can't still have an opinion about politics and how her millions in taxes are spent.

[MTVN]

Given that she's paying £4mill I think she has a damn right to have a little moan! Its not like she does it constantly. Just making a point that her millions are not going to good use.

For that amount of money she should be able to shoot a politician of her choice

Just coz she's rich and famous it doesn't mean she can't still have an opinion about politics and how her millions in taxes are spent.

Why is her money not put too good use? Trains are not always late & our state schools are of very high quality for the most part. She's speaking out her ass, and while it's very nice for her that she doesnt use public transport and can afford to have a nice private car, plenty of people do actually have to use it.

I like Adele's music but this has really put me off her, she just comes across as arrogant and greedy if you ask me

[Scarlett.]

The money is put to good use....

NHS

[Zippy]

Why is her money not put too good use? Trains are not always late & our state schools are of very high quality for the most part. She's speaking out her ass, and while it's very nice for her that she doesnt use public transport and can afford to have a nice private car, plenty of people do actually have to use it.

Adele is a straight talker. Just like any working class person would moan about getting a huge bill she has a moan too. And her bill is millions!

what you're actually saying is she doesn't have a right to voice an opinion about her taxes or how its spent. Well she does!

Huge earners like her could easily take their millions elsewhere and keep 90% of it through various clever investments. But instead she stays here and gives millions to the UK system. And you want to begrudge her one little moan about it? Yeah thats really fair.

and she doesn't need fickle fans either.

[MTVN]

Adele is a straight talker. Just like any working class person would moan about getting a huge bill she has a moan too. And her bill is millions!

what you're actually saying is she doesn't have a right to voice an opinion about her taxes or how its spent. Well she does!

Huge earners like her could easily take their millions elsewhere and keep 90% of it through various clever investments. But instead she stays here and gives millions to the UK system. And you want to begrudge her one little moan about it? Yeah thats really fair.

and she doesn't need fickle fans either.

Of course working class people might also moan.. but they dont get left with £4,000,000 after they've paid tax do they? But poor old Adele has to pay 50% tax while someone earning £20,000 a year only has to pay a tiny 20%, how I feel for her. If she thinks she's taxed a lot than she should have seen it back in the 60s when the Beatles were taxed 95% on their earnings, bet 50% would have looked pretty damn good to them.

I dont have a problem with her giving her opinion, my problem is that she expressed in an obnoxious manner & that her opinion is basically bollocks, because our schools are not sh*t and the trains are not always late. And even if they were sh*t, I suppose her not being taxed as much would help would it?

And LOL I'm hardly fickle, but it annoys me when people who are excessively rich start moaning about high taxes, like they're being unfairly targeted or something.

[Zippy]

And LOL I'm hardly fickle, but it annoys me when people who are excessively rich start moaning about high taxes, like they're being unfairly targeted or something.

well duh, obviously theyre targeted. And going on about how much she coulda been taxed 50 years ago is irrelevant.

Bottom line is she had a moan about taxes just like everybody else does. Get over it. And youre dangerously close to sounding like some socialist hater of the rich. Heavily taxing rich people just scares them away and then our economy and public services lose out on millions. Just because somebody can afford to pay over 50% tax it doesn't mean its always fair to take that much. Theyre putting in far more than they get back out. Nobody could blame them for saving themselves millions by investing overseas. Most would, including those who get high n mighty about rich people paying heavy taxes.

[MTVN]

well duh, obviously theyre targeted. And going on about how much she coulda been taxed 50 years ago is irrelevant.

Bottom line is she had a moan about taxes just like everybody else does. Get over it. And youre dangerously close to sounding like some socialist hater of the rich. Heavily taxing rich people just scares them away and then our economy and public services lose out on millions. Just because somebody can afford to pay over 50% tax it doesn't mean its always fair to take that much. Theyre putting in far more than they get back out. Nobody could blame them for saving themselves millions by investing overseas. Most would, including those who get high n mighty about rich people paying heavy taxes.

Err I said "unfairly targeted", there's nothing unfair about it, and it isnt irrelevant, it puts her moaning into perspective

I dont hate the rich, I hate it when they moan about a progressive tax system though. I'm not even sure I support the 50% tax rate, I do in principle but yes it creates a powerful disincentive and if it's not beneficial there's no point in it. In theory though, I dont think it's unreasonable to have a 50% rate, especially not when she is earning £8,000,000, most would kill to be in her position right now.

[Beastie]

I think she has a point that we are still in a kind of a poor state and the tax she is paying is not going to good use but that's the same for all our taxes.

You earn more.. you should pay more. She still has at least a few million quid which is tax free in the bank....

[Zippy]

You earn more.. you should pay more. She still has at least a few million quid which is tax free in the bank....

well obviously. But a much higher percentage rate is more on top of more. If she paid 20% tax it would still be a damn sight more than 98% of people.

[Z]

Why is her money not put too good use? Trains are not always late & our state schools are of very high quality for the most part. She's speaking out her ass, and while it's very nice for her that she doesnt use public transport and can afford to have a nice private car, plenty of people do actually have to use it.

I like Adele's music but this has really put me off her, she just comes across as arrogant and greedy if you ask me

Depends where you go. In my experience, schools can be really rough and in need of desperate repairs; transport can be dilapidated and unreliable - on the other hand both can be in really good working order, just depends where you are. I don't see the problem with her moaning about it; she works just like everybody else and it's pretty savage that she has to give half her earnings away in tax - I am aware that money goes into welfare, I study this at uni :tongue: I was just raising the point that a lot of people do not appreciate having to pay huge levels of tax when they do not see a physical return on their investment in the state. She also says that she doesn't use public transport due to being widely recognised, there's no mention of a nice private car though I'd assume that to be the case - I think you're being a little bit presumptuous about her as a person based on your views on taxation and it's fickle to say you've been put off her music because of these throwaway remarks. It's a fact of life that you have to pay tax, it's just annoying for those who earn lots that they only get to keep half of it, people will complain and nothing will change, it's as simple as that.

[Zippy]

Depends where you go. In my experience, schools can be really rough and in need of desperate repairs; transport can be dilapidated and unreliable - on the other hand both can be in really good working order, just depends where you are. I don't see the problem with her moaning about it; she works just like everybody else and it's pretty savage that she has to give half her earnings away in tax - I am aware that money goes into welfare, I study this at uni :tongue: I was just raising the point that a lot of people do not appreciate having to pay huge levels of tax when they do not see a physical return on their investment in the state. She also says that she doesn't use public transport due to being widely recognised, there's no mention of a nice private car though I'd assume that to be the case - I think you're being a little bit presumptuous about her as a person based on your views on taxation and it's fickle to say you've been put off her music because of these throwaway remarks. It's a fact of life that you have to pay tax, it's just annoying for those who earn lots that they only get to keep half of it, people will complain and nothing will change, it's as simple as that.

here here

she pays a damn sight more than most and is entitled to moan about how taxpayers money is spent just like the rest of us.

[Livia]

Adele is a great singer. It's a bit rich to take a swipe at the country because she has to pay tax, though. Once her accountants have worked her bill over she probably pays less, as a percentage, than most people on 25k a year.

If she was a little older and a little wiser, she'd understand that the best way to change the things she's moaning about is investment. That means taxing people. It's simple, really.

I disagree with the people whio think she has a right to moan because she is a taxpayer. She only has a right to moan if she's a voter and didn't use her vote.

[MTVN]

Depends where you go. In my experience, schools can be really rough and in need of desperate repairs; transport can be dilapidated and unreliable - on the other hand both can be in really good working order, just depends where you are. I don't see the problem with her moaning about it; she works just like everybody else and it's pretty savage that she has to give half her earnings away in tax - I am aware that money goes into welfare, I study this at uni :tongue: I was just raising the point that a lot of people do not appreciate having to pay huge levels of tax when they do not see a physical return on their investment in the state. She also says that she doesn't use public transport due to being widely recognised, there's no mention of a nice private car though I'd assume that to be the case - I think you're being a little bit presumptuous about her as a person based on your views on taxation and it's fickle to say you've been put off her music because of these throwaway remarks. It's a fact of life that you have to pay tax, it's just annoying for those who earn lots that they only get to keep half of it, people will complain and nothing will change, it's as simple as that.

I'm sure some schools are sh*t but the vast majority are not, and the general standard of education provided is a lot higher than in a lot of countries. But it's not even like she was making any constructive criticism, she was just making a baseless generalisation, the same with what she did with the trains. You cant really measure how late the trains are of course but it's really not true that they're always late, although sometimes it is inevitable, not that she would know or care given that she apparently cant use public transport. Just because she doesnt use public transport doesnt mean she shouldnt have to pay any tax towards it. And I have to come back to, does she really think these services will improve without tax revenue?

If this was a banker complaining, or a politician would anyone care? Of course not, they'd condemn them for their greed, it's just because Adele is a successful music artist with a good voice that people defend her. I realise that 50% is a lot to tax but she still keeps £4,000,000 of her earnings, lets have a bit of perspective here, any one whos taxed less would swap positions with her in a heartbeat. And I never said I've been put off her music, I said I've been put off her; she could at least back up her criticism, or worded it in a constructive way but she didnt, she's just come off as arrogant & greedy, looks like she's facing a backlash over it now and rightly so.

[Tom4784]

She's got a valid point, I hope the people bashing her are always happy to pay taxes and think that the money does go to perfect use because she's only saying what I hear everyone else moaning about otherwise you're a hypocrite. The fact she's rich shouldn't really come into the argument as she still pays the same taxes as everyone else just on a larger scale. People have a right to an opinion, just because you are envious of their paypacket doesn't make it less so.

[BB_Eye]

Moaning bitch. She's lucky she gets paid at all for her mediocre shite that passes for 'music'. Still, there is a grain of truth in what she said for two reasons.

For one, billions of taxpayers money is going to be wasted on handing the NHS over to private enterprise, money is wasted on City Academies and yet more billions are wasted EVERY year subsidising our godawful privatised railways. Corporation tax is scandalously low compared to income tax so there is an element of unfairness in the sense that her record company will be paying a small fraction of the tax that she is. That is to say if they're not tax dodgers.

[MTVN]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2011/may/25/adele-tax-grievances - Good article on the subject

Tax needn't be taxing, the advert simpers, and while that might be true, coughing up your hard-earned will never be anything less than grievously unpleasant. Yet hearing Adele complain about being taxed on the great tidal wave of cash generated by her multi-million selling albums, it's hard to feel much sympathy.

Speaking to Q magazine, the Rolling in the Deep singer said, "I'm mortified to have to pay 50%! [While] I use the NHS, I can't use public transport any more. Trains are always late, most state schools are ****, and I've gotta give you, like, four million quid – are you having a laugh? When I got my tax bill in from [the album] 19, I was ready to go and buy a gun and randomly open fire."

Now, I love Adele. But that doesn't exactly endear you to her, does it? Let's look at it again.

"I'm mortified to have to pay 50%!" The Beatles had to pay 95% - as did all the highest earners under two successive governments (Wilson and Heath) in the mid-60s. George Harrison wrote a song about it, can't remember what it's called, sorry.

"I use the NHS." Keep paying your taxes then or it'll be gone.

"I can't use public transport any more." The rest of us plebs still have to. Adele, however, will never be short of the sponds for a private car to Shoreditch House from now until the end of time.

"Trains are always late." What does that matter when you don't use them? And they're not anyway.

"Most state schools are ****." Actually, according to the most recent Ofsted report for the UK, "Just over two thirds of schools at their most recent inspection were providing a good or better education for their pupils. Pupils' behaviour was good or outstanding in 86% of schools." Of course, if rich people stop paying their taxes then they will become ****.

"When I got my tax bill in, I was ready to go and buy a gun and randomly open fire." Now, you have to assume this was a joke rather than the first bitter taste of a full-blown psychotic episode, but it's still upsetting to hear this musician I admire seems as greedy as the most moat-friendly, port-stained Tory grandee

[MTVN]

Moaning bitch. She's lucky she gets paid at all for her mediocre shite that passes for 'music'. Still, there is a grain of truth in what she said for two reasons.

For one, billions of taxpayers money is going to be wasted on handing the NHS over to private enterprise, money is wasted on City Academies and yet more billions are wasted EVERY year subsidising our godawful privatised railways. Corporation tax is scandalously low compared to income tax so there is an element of unfairness in the sense that her record company will be paying a small fraction of the tax that she is. That is to say if they're not tax dodgers.

I wouldnt have minded if she'd put it like that, it's the way she just says "state schools are sh*t and I dont use public transport", that's what's annoys me