The Great Tax Scam - How Your Hard-Earned Cash is Being Stolen by the State

16 Mar 2026 · 17 min · 5 chapters

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Disruptors Podcast Episode Notes

Episode Title

The Great Tax Scam - How Your Hard-Earned Cash is Being Stolen by the State

Episode Overview In this episode, host Rob Moore discusses the UK's tax system, which he describes as a "one huge scam" and a form of theft. He argues that the state is continuously siphoning off wealth through various forms of taxation, ultimately punishing productivity and entrepreneurship. This episode serves as a rallying cry for the productive class, revealing where taxpayers' money is going and proposing a radical flat tax solution to address what he sees as an impending economic collapse.

Key Themes and Discussions

The Nature of Taxation in the UK

  • Rob posits that the current tax system is excessive and convoluted:
  • Double Taxation: Citizens face multiple layers of taxation on earnings, spending, saving, investing, owning property, and even after death.
  • Rob cites five areas of double taxation, suggesting it results in a total effective tax burden exceeding 70% of earnings when considering various taxes.

Breakdown of Taxes

  • Daily Life Taxation:
  • TV License Fee: Nearly £200 annually for the privilege of watching state broadcasts.
  • VAT: Tax on purchases, including food and household items, can reach 20%.
  • Housing Costs: Stamp duty, council taxes, and property taxes are cited, with some areas having rates upwards of 15%.
  • Work-Related Taxes:
  • Income taxation can reach up to 45%, plus national insurance contributions.
  • Business owners face corporate taxes, employee taxes, and additional levies on profits.
  • Consumption Taxes:
  • High taxes on fuel, alcohol, and even basic goods are prevalent, with rates as high as 85% on tobacco products.
  • Inheritance Tax:
  • Rob highlights a 40% inheritance tax, which he deems punitive, particularly for those wishing to pass assets to their heirs.

Critique of Government Spending

  • Misallocation of Funds:
  • Rob questions where taxpayers' money is being spent, arguing that healthcare and education systems are underfunded despite significant tax contributions.
  • He points out the government's spending on extraneous matters such as wars and bureaucratic expenses, leading to a lack of service for citizens.

The Exodus of Wealthy Individuals

  • Many wealthy individuals, including billionaires, are reportedly leaving the UK due to the high tax burden and punitive policies. Rob indicates that this trend could exacerbate economic decline.

Proposed Solutions

  • A Flat Tax System:
  • Rob advocates for a simplified tax structure, suggesting a flat tax rate of around 20% on earnings, which could streamline the system and promote entrepreneurship.
  • Encouraging Entrepreneurship:
  • He argues that the government should support business creation through tax breaks, subsidies, and fewer regulatory burdens. This approach could stimulate job creation and enhance economic productivity.

Key Quotes

  • "The current tax system in the UK now feels like theft. It feels like one huge scam."
  • "This is not just one double taxation, this is five double taxations."
  • "No one should be paying more than a third of what they earn and spend in tax."

Conclusion Rob Moore implores listeners to recognize the overwhelming burden of taxation and advocates for systemic change to protect the productive class in the UK. He emphasizes the need for collective action to demand reforms that favor entrepreneurship and economic growth.

Additional Resources

  • For more exclusive content and entrepreneurial resources, visit [Money.School](https://money.school).
  • Join the Money Maker Summit Event for networking opportunities with entrepreneurs ([Event Link](https://robmoore.live/mms)).
  • Connect with Rob on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/robmooreprogressive/?locale=en_GB), [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/robmooreprogressive/), and [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/robmoore1979?originalSubdomain=uk).

Final Thoughts This episode serves as a critical examination of the UK tax regime, highlighting the need for reform and encouraging listeners to engage in discussions about the future of taxation and economic prosperity in the country. Remember, "If you don’t risk anything, you risk everything."

Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.

Chapters

Tap a time to open that second in VO

A Day in the Life: Taxation Everywhere

0:46 to 4:30

Understand the multiple layers of taxation faced daily by individuals.

“Why is it you pay tax on what you save and tax again on what you invest?”

The Impact of High Taxes on Businesses

4:31 to 9:00

Discover how heavy taxation affects businesses and entrepreneurship.

“Would you know if you earn£100 more and go from£99 ,900 to£100 ,000 for the next£48 ,000, you don't earn any more.”

Government Spending and Tax Mismanagement

9:01 to 12:20

Examine how tax money is spent and the perceived mismanagement by the government.

“Oh, and all the train drivers in the public sector will go on strike and will get a massive pay rise.”

Proposals for a Fairer Tax System

12:21 to 14:00

Learn about proposed reforms aimed at creating a more equitable tax system.

“Nine of the 12 top billionaires in the UK all left.”

Taxation Debate: Fairness and Theft

14:00 to 15:12

Explore the argument against high taxation and the call for a flat tax system.

“So actually the government would end up winning.”
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Transcript

Automatic transcript. May contain errors.

0:00The current tax system in the UK now feels like theft. It feels like one huge scam. And virtually no one has any idea, one, just how much tax you're actually paying. And I'm going to reveal what I believe to be the figure and what a billionaire friend of mine believes to be the figure. It's much more than you'd expect. I'm going to expose it all. all. This here now is where all your money is going. I will end on some solutions and suggestions. I will suggest that you share this with as many people as you can, because unless we all stand together and do something about it, nothing will change. Because let me ask you, why is it you pay tax on what you earn and again you pay tax on what you spend?

0:49Why is it you pay tax on what you save and tax again on what you invest? Why is it you pay tax on what you own and again you pay tax on what you sell? Why is it you pay tax to the nation and pay tax again to the state? Why do you pay tax while you're alive and then again when you're dead? This is not just one double taxation. This is five double taxations and maybe one of the biggest scams that no one is talking about, maybe except me. So let's take you through your average day. You wake up, you turn on the TV. The TV license is a tax. You're paying now nearly£200 a year. For what? For BBC Verify?

1:34I don't know. Oh, by the way, you know that box or now that flat screen that you're watching, that propaganda machine that you're paying a license to have? You pay 20 % VAT on that to buy it. And the average household now spends£444 a year on subscriptions through that propaganda machine. So you sit down and you have some breakfast with your family and you pay tax on all the food that you've bought of up to 20%. Then you leave your house to go to work and your house that you're living in is taxed heavily and twice. So stamp duty has now gone up to 15 % at the highest bracket. You can pay 150 grand in tax for every million and in many areas a million doesn't get you much anymore.

2:18In London, right, you walk in, take a piss, wash your hands, walk out, that's a million quid. What? Oh and by the way, so you've paid the state, the nation, for the privilege of living in a house which surely is all of our right. and then you have to pay the local council in council tax. So you pay, what, five plus grand a year now in many areas to have your bins changed once or twice a month. And in some areas like Birmingham, are they changing bins anywhere at all? I don't even think they are. Oh, and you pay your council tax and there's still fucking potholes everywhere. Fucking potholes! What are we paying our car tax and what are we paying our council tax for?

3:07there's fucking potholes everywhere. You've got to go to work. You get in your car. Road tax, well over five grand a year, just like council tax. You want to buy the car, it's 20 % VAT to purchase the car. That's four grand in every 20 grand of tax. Let's say you want to buy in a limited company, maybe get some tax relief, no chance of tax relief. Company car tax is so penal now. You could pay 10 grand a year of car tax, benefit and kind tax, just to own the car would be a luxury one. Then there's fuel. Fuel duty is 59%. VAT is 20%. So for every 70 pounds of fuel you put in, 41 pounds and 46 of that is tax.

3:51Let's say you want to drive to London, you're going to be paying through the nose in tax. Eulet's tax, parking tax, speeding fines over 20 miles an hour, congestion charges, toll charges, new emission taxes and now EV car taxes just to get to fucking work in the morning. So you get to work, you're a bit tired. Oh, don't worry, because we'll charge you up to 45 % income tax. We'll charge you 8 % national insurance. Your student loan repayments will be£1 ,100 a month. That's half. You're working until Wednesday afternoon of your five day week for the government. It's exhausting. So let's say, look, you're going to give it a go.

4:32You're going to stay in the country. You're going to work hard. You're going to earn more money. Would you know if you earn£100 more and go from£99 ,900 to£100 ,000 for the next£48 ,000, you don't earn any more. You lose your childhood allowance. You lose your personal allowances. so from 100 to 148 grand it's basically 60 % tax and you basically earn no more money until you get to about 150 grand so why would you bother well maybe you want to start a business because apparently you get good tax reliefs in a business you're going to work hard you're going to take some risk you're going to hustle isn't the government supposed to support that well there's 20 % VAT added on to anything you sell there's 25 % corporation tax taken off your profit there's up to 45 % income tax or 39.1 % dividend tax.

5:25There's 15 % national insurance on every staff member. There's 3 % pension contributions on every staff member. Small businesses are now getting hammered on business rates. You could have one or two staff and have over 100 grand a year in business rates. Minimum wage has gone up and you're getting hammered and that's going up again. So we've just had to put a load of salaries up from, well, we've had about£900 per staff member raise in national insurance. And we're probably having some of our staff members seven grand increase, but we're not getting seven grand in better talent. Oh, by the way, the bank will charge you 3 % on top of all the money that you take.

6:04What the fuck are you left with? You'll be down KFC licking people's fingers for food before. Oh, by the way, if you import an export in a business. There's freight tax, customs tax, duty and VAT. Now there's a shitload of stealth taxes that you don't even know you're getting death by a thousand cuts. Landfill tax, climate change, levy tax, music license tax, aggregates tax, airport improvement tax, airport maintenance tax, airport passenger tax, airport departure tax, building permit tax, goods and services tax, environmental tax, gross receipts tax, health tax, luxury tax. In some places you have a marriage license tax.

6:48Let's say you've had enough of this, you just need to go out and relax. Escape from it all. You want a beer? That's 55 % tax. You want some wine? That's 70 % tax. You want some spirits? Neck a shot? That's 75 % tax. You want to smoke it away. That's 85 % tax. Gambling 15 to 40 % tax. Oh, and 20 % a litre of tax on sugar. Like you cannot escape it anywhere. Maybe you can on a holiday. Well, your holiday pay is taxed at the same rate as your work pay. Then there's air passenger duty, which can be up to 180 quid a flight. There's tourist taxes in many countries. Hotel rooms now can be 30 % plus in tax.

7:36So maybe you're feeling like, oh man, I've got to sell some of my stuff here. That's fine. I'll recoup some of it. Well, now you're paid 28 % capital gains tax on anything you sell. And do you remember when you used to be able to go on eBay and sell some of your stuff? Well, now you can't even do that. That's all completely tracked by e-com sites and the government. And by the way, if this is stressing you to the point where you're thinking of having a heart attack, don't even try and die. Because that's 40 % inheritance tax. You have to sell your farm just to pay the tax. But people say to me, oh, Rob, it's all right, though, because, you know, it's good to pay tax.

8:14You know, because it goes into health care, goes into education. In fact, 20.2 % of all the taxes you pay is in healthcare and you can't even fucking get in and you can't even get an appointment and you can't even see anyone. What is going on? Many schools in the UK are so bad now that you'll have to pay for your kids to go to private school. And private schools have just been charged VAT, a fucking tax on education, which to me is the biggest scam ever. And many of these private schools have had to close. And so now that's flooding and making even worse the state education system, which is broken.

8:48So these black holes costing hundreds of billions in health, NHS, education. Where's the rest of the money going? Well, COVID, that was hundreds of billions. Wars, hundreds of billions. Vaccines, Brexit. Politicians are doing well. They've had a nice pay rise. Track and trace app cost billions. Politicians' expenses are nice. Second homes for all politicians. Oh, and all the train drivers in the public sector will go on strike and will get a massive pay rise. 80 odd grand for doing that on a train. But what about you, the small business owner? What about you, the employed person? 21.6 % of all your tax goes on welfare paying for someone else's welfare and not yours.

9:31And probably a lot of people that didn't originate from this country. 21.6%. 20.2 % on health you can't use. 11.4 % on state pensions you'll never get. 11 % on national debt interest. Do you know you're paying over£4 ,000, you, to pay off the government debt, but it doesn't pay it down, it just pays the interest on the debt. Money you didn't even borrow for a war you don't want to be involved in. Oh, and by the way, the governments, past and present, have imposed multiple tax threshold freezes, which essentially is a tax raise by stealth. Huge inflation since lockdown. That's stolen and eaten up a load of your spending power.

10:11And now you have the lowest relative quality of life since World War Two. Massive government quantitative easing and money printing pushed up inflation further, eroding their value of their own debt and increasing prices and costs and reducing quality of living on you. And by the way, the rich are getting richer because the rich invest in assets and inflation pushes asset up as well as debt down. So there's a tip. If you can't beat them, join them. Now, by the way, of all these taxes I mentioned, virtually none of them existed 100 years ago. No income tax, no national insurance, no capital gains tax.

10:46Our grand nation, the British Empire, was the most prosperous of nations across the world. With none of these taxes and zero national debt, we had a massive middle class and a vast global manufacturing base across the world. And now what do we have? and these taxes have got worse and worse and worse and they're so unfair and they're far too high and when you add them all in have a guess how much do you think of what you earn and what you spend in total is tax have a guess let me know what you think have a minute because some people say oh yeah but Rob it's you know in the higher bracket is 45 no no that's just income tax okay maybe it feels like 50 percent it's not it is not I believe it's over 70 percent of what you earn and what you spend is tax and I think I've proven it now my friend and founder of BrewDog James Watt he launched the UK's version of Doge you know the one in America that Elon Musk launched to get rid of massive government wastage and spending.

11:54And he reckons it's up to 92 % of what you spend and what you earn is tax. I mean, it's ridiculous. And look, I don't know what else to do other than plead to the government. Labour, if you're listening, you need to find another way to generate revenue because tax on tax on tax and more tax, it just reduces productivity. It also just sends all the productive people away. how many millionaires have left? 16 ,800 last year. Nine of the 12 top billionaires in the UK all left. Six of the top 10 highest taxpayers in the UK last year all left. But there is another way, Labour, if you're listening, here's what you need to do.

12:38You need to encourage people to start a business, to employ people. We need to encourage growth. So we need to increase trade. And entrepreneurship is the way. Now, entrepreneurship is so penal, it's almost not worth it anymore. And entrepreneurs can't trade insolvently, but the government can. The government can be in three trillion of national debt, knowing that they're in national debt and still trade. An entrepreneur, if they know that they're trading negatively or insolvently, that's illegal. We need to make it easier to start a business, easier to scale a business. We need to help entrepreneurs create jobs.

13:20AI is going to wipe everything out unless we encourage entrepreneurs to create jobs. So starting businesses, I believe, need subsidies, tax breaks and supports. We should get rid of business rates. That's just a ridiculous tax. The first year should be tax free. We should definitely get rid of national insurance so that we're encouraged in the UK to hire people and attract great talent. Otherwise, AI will just get rid of it all and no one will have a job. And this is great for the government, by the way, because this will actually generate more revenue, because obviously every employee pays their own employees tax and national insurance.

13:56So that actually will increase revenue for the government. And then more sales will be done in the UK and that will have VAT for the government. So actually the government would end up winning. But, you know, I'm told by people in politics, very powerful people in politics, I'm told that Labour just have a disdain for entrepreneurs. And it looks like it because they're exiling them all. No one, I believe, whether you're employed or you're an entrepreneur, no one should be paying more than a third of what they earn and spend in tax. To me, a third is fair. Two thirds or more. That's not just unfair.

14:30That's fucking theft. So how about this? I'll give you one more plea, Labour. What about one simple flat tax system? What about 20 % up to a third? Maybe you could have a little ratchet. And let's put the great back into Great Britain and the united back into the United Kingdom. What about that? Now, look, if you're watching or listening, please share this. I did a previous episode on disruptors talking about all the things that have gone wrong in the UK. Thousands of comments and engagements. A bit of a different style for me on my show. but I think it's really important that we speak out about this.

15:12Thanks for tuning in. Remember to invest for freedom, choice and profit and if you don't risk anything, you risk everything.

15:49this episode was brought to you by disruptive media helping bold entrepreneurs stand out through podcasting video and social content visit disruptivemedia.co.uk to learn more

16:12Thank you.

From the publisher

Rob strips back the curtain on the UK's crushing tax regime, branding it a one huge scam and nothing short of theft!

From the moment you wake up to the moment you die, the state is siphoning off your wealth through a labyrinth of double taxation, stealth levies, and penalising policies that punish success and stifle entrepreneurship. 

This episode is a war cry for the productive class. Discover where your money is actually going, why the millionaires are fleeing in droves, and the radical one flat tax solution that could be the only way to save Great Britain from total economic collapse.

BEST MOMENTS

"The current tax system in the UK now feels like theft. It feels like one huge scam”…

“This is not just one double taxation, this is five double taxations and maybe one of the biggest scams that no one is talking about."

"Labour, if you're listening, you need to find another way to generate revenue, because tax on tax on tax and more tax just reduces productivity and sends all the productive people away."

Exclusive community & resources:  

For more EXCLUSIVE & unfiltered content to make, manage & multiply more money, join our private online education platform: Money.School →⁠ ⁠⁠https://money.school⁠  

And if you’d like to meet 7 & 8 figure entrepreneurs, & scale to 6, 7 or 8 figures in your business or personal income, join us at our in-person Money Maker Summit Event (including EXCLUSIVE millionaire guests/masterminds sessions)  →⁠ ⁠⁠https://robmoore.live/mms⁠ 

🔗 CONNECT WITH ROB 

📸 Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/robmooreprogressive/?locale=en_GB⁠ 

📸 Instagram:⁠  ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/robmooreprogressive/⁠ 

👨‍💻 Linkedin:⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/robmoore1979?originalSubdomain=uk⁠ 

🌍 Website: ⁠https://robmoore.com/⁠ 

🎙 A NOTE FOR THE #DISRUPTORS:     

The world is on the edge of a revolution. Wealth, power & information are being disrupted. 

Mainstream media is dying. Your freedom is being challenged. Your money is being debased. #Disruptors & Rob Moore asks the questions others dare not to ask. Disruptive & diverse guests speak out on topical world issues & their areas of success & influence. As the world has changed, Disruptors has evolved to diverse global movers, shakers & change makers who stand out & speak up. 

Want to start your own podcast? Get in touch -  Disruptive Media. ⁠⁠https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/⁠

If you don’t risk anything, you risk everything.

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