Following from our previous blog we thought this might be interesting...
Judges asked to review Westminster parking fees | News
Thursday 3 November 2011
Concessions on Parking Tickets for Tradespeople
Imagine you have finished a hard day at work, covered in dust and sweat, when you walk to your vehicle, only to realise you would have been better off staying at home watching the kids. This is the soul destroying situation thousands of hard working tradespeople find themselves in every day after they have gone over by 5 minutes on their allotted parking time.
I, Oscar Sangster, Finance Director at Affleck Property Services have put together a petition which will be at builders’ merchants in SW London to take to the Government over the unjust 'tax' I feel basic rate paying tradespeople with no alternatives have to dish out every year on parking tickets.
Please follow this blog for further updates on the petition, and the response from our local councillor.
c/o Oscar Sangster Director
Most tradespeople, plumbers, electricians, builders, roofers will fall within the basic tax band of 20% and earn less than £37,400 per year. With average parking tickets, congestion fines and traffic violations it is common to hear of tradespeople in London incurring fines over £1000 in a year. Taking average earnings of £30k, this represents a tax of over 3%.
With tradespeople having no alternatives but to drive and arrange parking surely this is too harsh a penalty for anyone without alternatives. Imagine the uproar if the banking industry had to pay out an additional 3% in tax, you can guarantee it would make front page news.
This penalty is not only bore to the individual, businesses also feel the burden. Penalty notices come through the door every day, and they need to be answered. At Affleck we will soon need to dedicate this responsibility full time to an office administrator. More cost, more bureaucracy, more stress and more soul destruction to suffocate the driving force of British Industry.
With people power behind us we hope to get a reduction or concession in the penalties for tradespeople and businesses. We need a more compassionate penalty system for businesses and individuals alike, quite simply it is unjust given the fact tradespeople have no option but to drive in and run the gauntlet of the cameras and the parking attendants. I think most tradespeople appreciate it is a luxury to drive a car in a busy congested city, but to penalise those with no alternatives when they are just trying to earn a living, is clearly not fair.
Affleck Property Services
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