I can't help feeling he's either pretty naive on this one or he is doing it purely for the publicity.
tinyurl.com/25yvh2 {Shortened link to an article on www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk to restore page width back to normal - DD}
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So he is challenging business rate liability for car parks? Good luck to him, he will actually end up taking on HM Gov not the Council.
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Good luck to him. Rateable parking spaces?- that's an iniquitous tax if ever I've heard one.
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They seem to be charging for access across the pavement to spaces owned by businesses.
Daylight robbery.
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"They seem to be charging for access across the pavement to spaces owned by businesses."
They aren't.
They are charging business rates on a commercial property. The parking spaces have a value so business rates are chargeable.
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Oh.
Just daylight robbery then :o)
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According to the news report he is already paying rates on the property and this is an additional charge.
"I already pay rates on the building I own in Oxford Court and now I'm being asked to pay £6,400 for four car parking spaces."
Do building rates not take into consideration the land they stand on ?
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Any part of commercial property which has a value is rated seperately. If you do a Valuation Agency search for car parking spaces on Oxford Court there are pages of them.
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I used to work on Oxford Court when the land next door, now occupied by the Bridgewater Hall was a £2 a day bomb site car park which didn't charge at weekends. There was always an enterprising tramp in a scruffy hi-vis jacket who would stand outside the clearly closed and shuttered kiosk at the entrance and take £2 off the out of town shoppers who paid up without a murmur.
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The answer is obvious
Lay some turf over the parking spaces and park in the shoppers car park.
Then as he is self employed would not the cost of parking be offset against tax and he would be no worse off and the council a few bob out of pocket!
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ijws15 = The New Mr Loophole! Good call!
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ijws15 = The New Mr Loophole! Good call! '
'Mr Loophole' is more catchy though......can't see 'Mr ijws15' catching on.....:-)
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He could rent the spaces to someone else and make them responsible for rates, then park his car somewhere else.
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Good try but it wouldn't work. Even the self employed don't get tax relief for parking at their normal work place.
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The solicitor has accused Manchester council of `greed'
I was going to say "that's rich!" coming from him, but he is right. I can't believe they tax you for that, and for that amount too, crazy.
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There have been recent instances where I live of shoppers visiting local convenience stores who drive across double yellow lines to park on the pavement outside the store (individual shops' customers parking) being handed parking fines...:-)
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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It turns out that this man has got himself a PR company, so now we can probably conclude that his motivation more to do with publicity-seeking than anything else.
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HJ - any chance of you or one of your colleagues on the DT writing about the Manchester C-charge?
The Council's own survey came out yesterday showing that business was against it but the public was slightly in favour. No doubt they will use this to show that they have passed their own self-imposed test of popular support (despite clear opposition from employers) and they will ignore all the surveys which show widespread opposition.
Councils are saying they will say yes to the charge and then use the consultation period to improve the scheme but new central legislation in the forthcoming Transport Bill will enable those views to be over-ruled. You could live in a Borough that had voted against the charge and still have it imposed by the unelected quango, the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities.
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>> The solicitor has accused Manchester council of `greed'
Firstly it's nothing to do with the Council - they only collect the charge which is calculated by HM Gov. If he wants to appeal rates there is a way of doing so. If he wants to challenge the Finance Act his in depth knowledge of the Road Traffic Act won't get him far.
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