"dementia Tax"

[Khandro]

As much as I abhor the thought it, ethically it has to be right doesn't it?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/10/11/pensioners-told-homes-not-assets-pass-offspring-minister-revives/

[Islay]

So does that mean if you don't pay into it because you live abroad for some years you should get less care?
Womb to Tomb is a crass remark Nom sorry I think you could have worded that slightly better.

[ToraToraTora]

"So does that mean if you don't pay into it because you live abroad for some years you should get less care? " - yes, eff off to a foriegn country and come back when you need medical care etc because we are one of the few civilised places when it comes to health care and expect full treatment? Cobras, see if you can get it in Spain or wherever, you won't because like most of the world they are uncivilised, that's why Ronnie Biggs came home.

[bednobs]

people who need to be in a care home do not need a house too, so they sell their house and use the money to pay rent for their living needs. If you are getting care at home, i understand the house will be sold after you die, when again, you do not need a house anymore

[ladybirder]

I think it would be a good gesture to allow a home owner to keep a reasonable percentage of the value of their home to do with what they wish when they go into a care home. Either a percentage or a mandatory lump sum. I did like TM's idea of £100k to leave to my nearest and dearest rather than the £23k??? allowed now. A gesture if you will to those who have provided for themselves.

[Old_Geezer]

Not enough taxpayers ? The bills still have to be paid, either by the individual or society as a whole. The cost doesn't just disappear. If the public purse isn't collecting enough tax to meet it's obligations to society then it needs to work out what it is doing wrong. Where is it spending where it ought not be spending ?

[dannyk13]

Latest news is that Jackiie Doyle Price has been slapped down by Mrs May who repeated that " where people have worked hard all their lives to build up their assets, they should be able to pass that on to their children"

[andres]

The incentive to buy would go. People would no longer borrow money for mortgages. They would rent instead of buying. Housing benefit payments would increase. The onus for repairs and upkeep of property would fall on the landlords and Councils. The elderly would still need care . Who would pay for it then ?

[Kromovaracun]

//People would no longer borrow money for mortgages. They would rent instead of buying.//

Already starting to happen.

[woofgang]

Why would the incentive to buy go? I don't know anybody who bought a house to pass it to their children.

[ummmm]

No, Woof, they tend to buy them to errrrr live in!

[SPARKPLUGZ]

I would think most people buy houses as an investment. You can quite happily live in a rented house all your life but will have nothing for a rainy day or to sell for extra cash for yourself when you get to retirement age. My solution would be a specific deduction from wages from an early age solely for senior care for yourself. If you take the voluntary deductions then your home will not be sold to pay for your care even if your 'care pot' does not cover ongoing costs.

[andres]

I didn't say that people buy with the wish to just leave the money to their children. Not everyone has to go into care. Your house would then be an investment and provide you with money for life's little luxuries or essentials that you might need in your old age. What income could you expect if you had been renting for all of your life?

[Old_Geezer]

I believe we are already doing as part of the health service taxes except it isn't hypothecated, nor actually being used to cover the cost when needed. We pay into the public kitty, we expect health and support needs to be covered.

[woofgang]

indeed ummmmm :)

[woofgang]

OG again.....this has nothing to do with the NHS which is free to all at point of care.

[Old_Geezer]

Then it should be, washing one's hands of it is wrong. It is caused by a health issue, and it is also a care issue. As a health issue it is in the health service domain.

[woofgang]

No its not a health issue OG. Where medical care or treatment is needed...ie stuff that needs to be provided by a health care professional or health care support staff, that is still free at point of access. That's not a shoulder shrug teflon it off attitude...just pointing out that as things stand, responsibility for social care lies with Councils and not with the NHS so there is no point ranting about what the NHS should do or where within the NHS, the money goes, or saying that its "not fair" that people should be paying for healthcare when the NHS should be free to all. At least by leaving the responsibility outside of the NHS, the money that is available isn't subsumed into funding other services.

[zebo]

To hark back to Gordon Brown maybe it can more accurately be referred to as a Prudence Tax. we are all aware of friends, colleagues etc who choose to live their lives differently, they have not bothered to save, have lived each month from one over-draft to the next yet they are the winners in this. There are also of course those too who have never done anything but take from the system. We find ourselves taking the rap for all these people.

[woofgang]

They aren't necessarily the winners. I would NOT like to spend my final years in a social services funded res care, eating only the food they provide and living the life that I would have to live there with only a small part of my state pension for pocket money.