Taxi Driver Online

Personally not convinced about that.

https://www.taxi-point.co.uk/post/avera ... ls-experts

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IDFIMH

the ones that i talk to round here say incomes are down not up

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Meant to have another look at this after the other day, but can't be bothered now - tried to find the source figures via the link in the TaxiPoint piece, but it quickly became a rabbit hole that made looking for the likes of something obscure in council minutes look like a walk in the park

But the article says it's based on 'average salary data from the ONS'. Eh?

Taxi drivers don't earn a 'salary'. Or if they do, they're not the typical tax driver - a salary is a fixed annual sum which is taxed under PAYE. (And also tends to refer to a fixed sum paid to more senior people who wouldn't be paid overtime, for example.)

Maybe I'm being over-pedantic, but if it's data compiled by tax experts then you'd expect the terminology to be a bit more accurate.

And even if it's about tax paid under self-assessment, if it's about the figures paid last year then personally the return I submitted last year (ie the one before the return that was required to be lodged 10 days ago) would still have been distorted by lockdown and grant income etc.

In fact, the figures I just submitted a few days ago in my 2023 tax return contained the Scottish Government's Omicron grant for the third mini-lockdown we had up here, and also covered that lockdown period around Christmas 2021 and the subsequent New Year

(The year end of the financial period used for my 2023 tax return was the one to 30 November 2022, thus included December 2021 when Omicron hit.

Which is obviously all a bit daft from a taxation perspective but, as I'm sure many will be aware, for self assessment the figures will now need to coincide with the tax year. So the accounts I submit with my 2024 tax return will have to cover a 16-month period to the end of the tax year rather than the year ending 30 November 2023... )

The office for national statistics collects data from the inland revenue on what people earn so their figures will be based on an average across the UK and will consequently be skewed by areas such as london where taxi earnings have always been much higher than the rest of the UK.

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

but cant explain the extra 50% annual mileages and holidays in the maldives?

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

don't think any of them have holiday plans other than the usual two months in kashmir

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Forgot about this

The figures are about a %age rise in earnings, so can't see the relevance of whether or not London earnings are a lot higher than the rest. Unless, of course, you can say that the 20% rise figure is skewed by certain areas being a lot higher than others, say, but to make that point you'd need to provide actual evidence.

Anyway, I wonder how the ONS categorises these numbers from the tax data? Most obviously, do they really know if the earnings are from HCDs or PHDs? I suspect they're just categorised as a generic 'taxi'.

I mean, if local authorities are all over the place as regards the terminology used, I somehow doubt if HMRC and ONS use the correct categorisations. Or, even assuming they do try to categorise HCDs and PHDs separately, I suspect there's a lot of miscategorisation.

I mean, it's a bit like Edders using the term Inland Revenue when it was actually abolished years ago, and merged with HM Customs and Excise, and the joint organisation is now called Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs - HMRC

the relevance is that there will be an uneven increase or decrease around the country so some areas might experience a 30% plus rise whilst others a 0% rise which means that not all drivers have seen a 20% increase

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Yes, well done Edders, you're absolutely bang on

But which demonstrates that your original point - dismissing the figures because London HC drivers earn more than the average - was irrelevant

And another reason that the figures don't necessarily tell us very much is because it's about a 20% increase in tax rather than earnings.

For example, say the personal allowance was £10k and the driver's profit was £12k and the tax rate is 20%.

So he'd be paying £400 in tax - £2k taxable income @ 20%

But suppose his profit increased to £15k.

Then it's £5k taxable income @ 20% = £1,000

So his earnings have increased 25% (£12k to £15k).

Yet his tax payment has gone up 150% (£400 to £1,000)

probably thought you were a HMRC grass

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

nah they all know me well enough and most have quite a respect for me and give me discount or even the occassional free taxi when I need their services

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

taking car to garage
hospital visits
family days out
holiday trips

it all adds up

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most