Come on, bring on more taxes

THE EDITOR: Rest and reflect on this. The roads are almost undrivable in many areas. Suspension parts and maintenance are crazy. Making the decision to purchase a 4x4 which is diesel-powered is now going to raise my fuel costs. Bank fees are now going to be higher due to the rise in their taxes. Tyres are going to cost more. It’s too dangerous to walk the street or ride a bicycle. Maxi and taxi fares are going up.

What options are there? If the fuel cost is raised in the budget, the cost of living is going to do the same with its domino effect. What value do I get from my tax dollars? I pay 25 per cent of my salary to the Government every year.

Every item I purchase I pay value added tax of 12.5 per cent. That equates to 37-1/2 per cent already going back to the State.

I pay for my electricity and water (which are also to be raised).

I pay for my fuel which by the way has increased four times over the last two and a half years. That alone has driven the cost of goods and services up. Everything revolves around transportation. When fuel prices increase, so will everything else.

I shop locally and pay three and four times the value of items I purchase. This is a time of information technology. At a touch of a button I can see what the value of any item is worth.

I opt to buy online because there I find better value for money.

The State sees me doing it which of course affects local businesses. It decides to apply a seven per cent online tax to force me to buy locally. To force me to pay $4 for a $1 item. It says it is to conserve foreign exchange. Really? When I buy from the local stores do they not use the same foreign exchange the State says it wants to conserve to bring in those items?

Rather than insist that the Consumer Affairs Division steps in and forces the local price gougers to reduce their prices, the State tries to strong-arm me into buying local.

I am forced to pay for every service at the banks. I am charged 12 per cent and 15 per cent on a loan while the banks offer me half per cent interest on my account which is eaten up by the service charges I pay to maintain said account. Yet their is no legislation to protect me.

I sacrifice to save, to purchase a piece of land upon which I build a house. Paying tax on every piece of material I use. I pay bridging finance to the bank before getting my completion certificate. I then have to pay a mortgage which adds up to twice the value of the money borrowed to build.

Then on top of that I am now asked to pay a property tax based upon a rental value. Rental value? Therein lies my problem. My tax dollars do absolutely nothing for me.

I don’t access any grants from the State. I don’t access public healthcare. I don’t drive on good roads. I don’t feel secure to travel around the country or sleep in my bed. If I call for an ambulance, more than likely I will be dead by the time it arrives. If I call for the police, they will arrive just in time to draw a line around my body.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. So go ahead, bring on more taxation. I don’t usually vent but I’m totally fed up of paying taxes and not being able to feel any sense of security in this country. No development whatsoever in my community. We are represented by Members of Parliament whose faces are only seen on their flyers and posters around election time.

GORDON LAUGHLIN, Westmoorings