Tài liệu Paying_less_tax_20062007_for_dummies_by_tony_levene_

www.ebook3000.com Paying Less Tax 2006/2007 FOR DUMmIES ‰ by Tony Levene www.ebook3000.com Paying Less Tax 2006/2007 For Dummies® Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd The Atrium Southern Gate Chichester West Sussex PO19 8SQ England E-mail (for orders and customer service enquiries): [email protected] Visit our Home Page on www.wileyeurope.com Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, West Sussex, England Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, West Sussex All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except under the terms of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under the terms of a licence issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP, UK, without the permission in writing of the Publisher. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, England, or emailed to [email protected], or faxed to (44) 1243 770620. Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. 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THE FACT THAT AN ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION AND/OR A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF FURTHER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ENDORSES THE INFORMATION THE ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE MAY PROVIDE OR RECOMMENDATIONS IT MAY MAKE. FURTHER, READERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET WEBSITES LISTED IN THIS WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAPPEARED BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN AND WHEN IT IS READ. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data: A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN-13: 978-0-470-02860-5 (PB) ISBN-10: 0-470-02860-2 (PB) Printed and bound in Great Britain by TJ International, Padstow, Cornwall 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 www.ebook3000.com About the Author Tony Levene is a member of The Guardian Jobs & Money team, writing on issues including investment and consumer rights as well as on taxation. He has been a financial journalist for nearly thirty years after a brief foray into teaching French to school children. Over his journalistic career, Tony has worked for newspapers including The Sunday Times, Sunday Express, The Sun, Daily Star, Sunday Mirror, and Daily Express. He has written eight previous books on money matters including Investing For Dummies. Tony lives in London with his wife Claudia, ‘virtually grown up’ children Zoe and Oliver, and cats Plato, Pandora, and Pascal. www.ebook3000.com www.ebook3000.com Dedication This book is dedicated to Claudia, who has shouldered many of the household tasks I should have done during the writing of this book – her unfailing good humour was 101 per cent necessary; to Zoe for her invaluable help in suggesting ideas; and to Oliver for making sure I kept to my deadlines. I’d also like to thank my brother Stuart for keeping my computer working and for letting me use the peace and quiet of his home, where no one knew the phone number, for writing some of the chapters. Author’s Acknowledgements I would like to thank everyone at Wiley for their help and patience. In particular, Jason Dunne, who had the idea for this book and faith in me to ask me to write it; to Alison Yates, who guided me during the early stages; and to Daniel Mersey, my main editor, who has unfailingly responded to my blacker moments with light. And an especial thank you to Kathleen, whose behind the scenes labouring turned my manuscript from a book about taxation into Paying Less Tax For Dummies. I would also like to thank my colleagues at The Guardian for their patience and forebearance every time I mentioned ‘the tax book’. Most of all, however, I would like to thank all those who have helped me over the years in understanding the complications and convolutions of our tax system. They have to remain anonymous but besides accountants, they also include those in the Inland Revenue that I have encountered both as a journalist and as a tax-payer. www.ebook3000.com Publisher’s Acknowledgements We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Dummies online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/. Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following: Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development Project Editor: Daniel Mersey Commissioning Editor: Alison Yates Executive Editor: Jason Dunne Executive Project Editor: Martin Tribe Cover Photo: © Image Source Cartoons: Ed McLachlan Composition Services Project Coordinator: Jennifer Theriot Layout and Graphics: Lynsey Osborn, Julie Trippetti Proofreader: Susan Moritz Indexer: Infodex Indexing Services Inc. Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director, Consumer Dummies Kristin A. Cocks, Product Development Director, Consumer Dummies Michael Spring, Vice President and Publisher, Travel Kelly Regan, Editorial Director, Travel Publishing for Technology Dummies Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher, Dummies Technology/ General User Composition Services Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services www.ebook3000.com Contents at a Glance Introduction.......................................................1 Part I: Tax Basics...............................................7 Chapter 1: Understanding the Process and Your Role in It ..................9 Chapter 2: Looking at the Players and the Process .............................19 Chapter 3: Organising Your Records......................................................33 Part II: Tax, You, and Your Family.....................45 Chapter 4: Tying the Knot – Or Not........................................................47 Chapter 5: Taxing from the Cradle to College.......................................57 Chapter 6: Taxing Issues in Your Golden Years ....................................73 Chapter 7: Preparing for the Inevitable: Death and Taxes ..................81 Part III: You Work Therefore You’re Taxed ..........97 Chapter 8: Working for Someone Else ...................................................99 Chapter 9: Paying on the Perks ............................................................113 Chapter 10: Sharing in Your Firm’s Fortunes ......................................129 Chapter 11: Working for Yourself Can Be Less Taxing.......................141 Chapter 12: Considering Your Company’s Status...............................161 Part IV: Save on Your Savings and Investments.............................................177 Chapter 13: Minimising Tax on Your Savings......................................179 Chapter 14: Taxing Investments ...........................................................195 Chapter 15: Saving Tax with Bricks and Mortar .................................211 Chapter 16: Understanding Life Insurance and Tax...........................227 Chapter 17: Depending on Pensions for Your Retirement ...............243 Part V: Self Assessment and Getting Help ........257 Chapter 18: Filling In and Filing Your Self Assessment Form............259 Chapter 19: Paying for Outside Help with Your Tax Affairs ..............275 Chapter 20: Dealing with an Investigation ..........................................285 Part VI: The Part of Tens.................................297 Chapter 21: Ten Top Tax-Saving Tips...................................................299 Chapter 22: Ten Top Tips for Dealing with the Tax Inspector ..........305 Appendix: HMRC Helplines .............................311 Index.............................................................315 www.ebook3000.com www.ebook3000.com Table of Contents Introduction .......................................................1 About This Book ........................................................................2 Conventions Used in This Book ...............................................3 Foolish Assumptions .................................................................3 How This Book Is Organised .....................................................4 Part I: Tax Basics ..............................................................4 Part II: Tax, You, and Your Family...................................4 Part III: You Work Therefore You’re Taxed ....................4 Part IV: Save on Your Savings and Investments ...........5 Part V: Self Assessment and Getting Help .....................5 Part VI: The Part of Tens .................................................5 Icons Used in This Book ............................................................6 Where to Go from Here .............................................................6 Part I: Tax Basics ...............................................7 Chapter 1: Understanding the Process and Your Role in It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Filing Facts .................................................................................10 Distinguishing between avoidance and evasion.........11 Putting the brakes on avoidance schemes..................12 Moving to One-Stop Tax and Benefits Shopping...................12 Laying Out the Basics of the Tax System ...............................13 Considering Tax and Your Family ...........................................14 Looking at How You Pay...........................................................16 Saving Smartly ..........................................................................16 Investing for tax savings ...............................................17 Treating your home as your tax castle ........................17 Chapter 2: Looking at the Players and the Process . . . 19 Understanding the Inland Revenue’s Role.............................20 Administering and collecting .......................................20 Imposing penalties .........................................................21 Coping as a Ratepayer..............................................................23 Getting help from the Inland Revenue ........................23 Tracking down your tax inspector ..............................25 x Paying Less Tax 2006/2007 For Dummies Playing Your Part .....................................................................26 Filing forms......................................................................27 Exercising your rights ....................................................28 Running through the Tax Year ................................................28 Chapter 3: Organising Your Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Looking at How the System Works .........................................33 Keeping Good Personal Records ............................................34 Identifying who needs to keep records........................35 Sorting out what to keep ..............................................36 Deciding how long to keep tax records ......................38 Retaining Business Records ....................................................40 Asking for receipts..........................................................40 Keeping business records for a long, long time..........41 Ensuring a part-time business follows the rules ........42 Managing Your Record-Keeping ..............................................43 Part II: Tax, You, and Your Family .....................45 Chapter 4: Tying the Knot – Or Not . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Getting Married .........................................................................47 Becoming engaged..........................................................48 Anticipating changes to your tax life ...........................48 Looking at what’s left of the married couple’s allowance......................................................49 Maximising the Tax Benefits of Marriage...............................50 Sorting out your tax allowance ....................................52 Swapping your assets ....................................................52 Inheriting each other’s assets .......................................53 Taking a stake in a pension ...........................................53 Co-Habitating instead of Marrying..........................................53 Breaking Up ...............................................................................54 Sorting out the tax bill ...................................................55 Paying and receiving maintenance payments.............55 Chapter 5: Taxing from the Cradle to College . . . . . . . . 57 Becoming a Tax-Payer .............................................................57 Giving Money to Children ........................................................58 Giving money as a non-parent.......................................59 Taking advantage of the small amount exemption ....59 Saving Tax by Giving Wisely ...................................................61 Investing in single premium insurance bonds ............61 Setting up a trust ............................................................62 Table of Contents xi Getting Money for Children ....................................................65 Benefiting from child benefit.........................................65 Claiming child tax credit................................................66 Gaining a trust from the government...........................70 Receiving help with childcare costs.............................71 Chapter 6: Taxing Issues in Your Golden Years. . . . . . . 73 Retiring More or Less Completely ..........................................73 Realising when age does – and doesn’t – matter........74 Working on past retirement age....................................74 Paying Attention to Your Pension...........................................75 Claiming your tax-free lump sum .................................75 Buying an annuity to save tax .......................................76 Making Much of Age-Related Allowances ..............................77 Losing out due to the age-allowance trap ...................78 Escaping the tax trap .....................................................79 Chapter 7: Preparing for the Inevitable: Death and Taxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Passing On Inheritance Tax: Figuring the Final Take ...........82 What’s added in ..............................................................82 What doesn’t count ........................................................82 How the taxable total is figured....................................84 Spending Your Way Out of IHT ................................................85 Looking at life expectancy.............................................85 Making sure you have a home .....................................87 Giving Your Way Out of IHT .....................................................87 Avoiding dubious deals..................................................88 Reducing your estate as you grow older .....................89 Sharing with your spouse .............................................91 Giving money with potential ........................................92 Turning Capital into an Income ..............................................93 Drawing Up a Sensible Will ......................................................94 Setting up trusts..............................................................95 Making specific bequests ..............................................95 Rewriting a will................................................................96 Part III: You Work Therefore You’re Taxed...........97 Chapter 8: Working for Someone Else . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Delving into the Mysteries of PAYE and its Codes ................99 Finding out what the numbers mean ........................100 Looking at the letters ...................................................101 xii Paying Less Tax 2006/2007 For Dummies Checking Your Deductions ....................................................102 Checking your pay packet ...........................................103 Meeting your national insurance obligations ...........104 Noticing when your employer gets it wrong .............106 Considering Special Jobs and Special Situations................107 PAYEing people in special jobs ...................................107 PAYEing when you’re on a contract or a casual worker ....................................................108 Losing or Leaving Your Job ..................................................108 Making the most of the magic number ......................109 Heading off to temporary retirement.........................110 Welcoming a golden hello............................................111 Chapter 9: Paying on the Perks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Taxing Those Little Extras .....................................................113 Travelling To and For Work ...................................................115 Counting the cost of a company car ..........................115 Driving a van can save tax ...........................................118 Cycling – two wheels are better..................................119 Getting to work the green way ....................................121 Getting Non-Transport Perks ................................................122 Housing: From the vicarage to the lighthouse..........122 Paying for childcare ....................................................122 Realising other tax-free perks ....................................123 Explaining Expenses: The Wholly, Exclusively, and Necessarily Rule ..........................................................126 Examining expenses that qualify ................................126 Eyeing expenses you pay tax on.................................127 Special deals for special jobs .....................................127 Chapter 10: Sharing in Your Firm’s Fortunes . . . . . . . . 129 Offering Share Schemes – Who and How .............................129 Working out who offers what to whom......................130 Treasuring the tax savings ..........................................130 Listing the types of schemes.......................................131 Saving with a Save As You Earn Scheme..............................132 Looking at how SAYE accounts grow your money ...133 Feeling safe with SAYE..................................................134 Cashing in ......................................................................134 Leaving before your shares’ time ...............................135 Discussing Share Incentive Plans .........................................135 Getting something for nothing with free shares ......136 Going into partnership with your employer .............137 Matching shares with employer generosity ..............138 Divvying up the dividends...........................................138 Table of Contents xiii Going Beyond Approval ........................................................138 Getting a reward for enterprise .................................139 Picking out particular employees with a CSOP ........139 Chapter 11: Working for Yourself Can Be Less Taxing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Defining the Terms .................................................................141 Meeting HMRC’s standards for self-employment .....142 Delving into the grey area: Sole trader or simple seller?........................................................143 Testing your wings whilst staying employed ............144 Formalising Your Status .........................................................144 Registering your new business ...................................144 Choosing your tax year carefully................................145 Signing on for and paying VAT ....................................147 Keeping Accounts to Keep Everyone Happy ......................150 Filling out Schedule D can pay dividends .................150 Counting your credits ..................................................151 Accounting for big business items .............................152 Claiming extra help as you start up ...........................153 Accounting for loss making ........................................154 Scanning National Insurance ................................................155 Complicating the classes .............................................155 Putting a cap on national insurance...........................156 Hiring Helpers .........................................................................157 Employing your family .................................................157 Establishing a partnership with your partner ..........158 Paying employees .........................................................159 Giving Up Work .......................................................................159 Chapter 12: Considering Your Company’s Status . . . . 161 Informing Yourself about Incorporating .............................162 Looking at reasons to reject the company route......162 Taking advantage of company status ........................163 Setting Up a Limited Company..............................................164 Steering clear of the big tax clampdown ...................165 Making use of family to lessen the tax bite ...............166 Deciding How Best to Pay Yourself.......................................167 Paying yourself a salary out of the profits ................168 Taking dividends versus taking salary.......................169 How it all works ............................................................169 Setting Up Special Pension Plans .........................................172 Starting your very own company scheme ................173 Looking at limits on how much you can pay in ........173 Selling Up and Tax Rules ........................................................175 xiv Paying Less Tax 2006/2007 For Dummies Part IV: Save on Your Savings and Investments .............................................177 Chapter 13: Minimising Tax on Your Savings . . . . . . . 179 Taxing Interest.........................................................................180 Paying tax without effort (or intent) ..........................180 Shelling out at the special savings rate .....................181 Doing the sums yourself ..............................................181 Asking for a Tax Rebate..........................................................186 Checking your rebate qualifications ..........................187 Recovering money with form R85 ..............................188 Getting money back with R40 .....................................189 Getting money back up to five years later ...............190 Caring for Children’s Bank Accounts ...................................190 Considering the source................................................191 Noticing when R85 stops ............................................192 Opting for Tax-Free Savings ...................................................193 Considering tax-free savings plans.............................193 Betting on premium bonds..........................................194 Chapter 14: Taxing Investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 Considering a Trio of Taxes ...................................................196 Doling out Stamp Duty .................................................196 Declaring your dividends ............................................197 Dealing with Capital Gains Tax .................................199 Looking at the Tax Implications of Investing ......................203 Saving hassle with unit and investment trusts .........203 Buying bonds ................................................................204 Examining the benefits of ISAs ...................................205 Rewarding risk takers...................................................206 Taking account of losses .............................................209 Chapter 15: Saving Tax with Bricks and Mortar . . . . . 211 Paying Stamp Duty and Council Taxes.................................212 Stamping on Stamp Duty ............................................212 Contributing Council Tax.............................................214 Buying to Let ..........................................................................214 Looking at the tax issues .............................................215 Claiming interest against your buy-to-let income ....216 Renting Rooms and Saving Tax .............................................218 Taking on holiday homes.............................................218 Moving into big-time property ownership ................220 Table of Contents xv Selling Up and Passing Along ................................................221 Telling the tax inspector about selling your home..................................................................222 Avoiding Capital Gains Tax – usually .........................223 Being subject to Inheritance Tax ................................224 Chapter 16: Understanding Life Insurance and Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227 Looking at the Basics of Insurance.......................................228 Buying pure protection ................................................229 Writing policies in trust ...............................................230 Evaluating Endowments ........................................................231 Saving through an Insurance Policy .....................................232 Cutting Away the Complexity of Life Insurance Taxation Rules ....................................................................232 Checking out whether policies qualify or not...........233 Jumping tax hurdles ....................................................234 Looking at Lump-Sum Insurance Bonds...............................235 Taking a regular income ..............................................236 Slicing from the top .....................................................238 Eyeing Guaranteed Bonds......................................................240 Going Offshore with Your Money..........................................240 Looking at the legalities ...............................................240 Weighing up costs versus savings ..............................241 Chapter 17: Depending on Pensions for Your Retirement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243 Looking at Pension Particulars .............................................244 Saving for a Pension at Work .................................................246 Calculating how much you can pay in .......................246 Looking at topping up and matching payments .......247 Discovering the Benefits of a Stakeholder Plan ..................248 Buying a pension for your baby .................................249 Getting life cover...........................................................249 Building Up a Pension When You Work for Yourself ........250 Earning Less But Saving More ...............................................250 Deciding What Happens When You Retire ..........................251 Living it up with a tax-free lump sum.........................252 Paying in today, collecting tomorrow ........................254 What else can you do with your pension pot?..........254 Smaller funds – bigger cash sums ..............................255 xvi Paying Less Tax 2006/2007 For Dummies Part V: Self Assessment and Getting Help.........257 Chapter 18: Filling In and Filing Your Self Assessment Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 Managing the Mechanics of the Form ..................................260 Getting the forms ..........................................................260 Discovering you don’t have to fill in a form ..............262 Keeping records ...........................................................263 Filling In the Return ...............................................................263 Avoiding the most common self assessment errors ....................................................263 Listing income and credits .........................................264 Going into savings and investments ..........................265 Making friends with the blank page ...........................267 Seeing about supplementary pages ...........................267 Counting the Ways of Doing the Sums .................................270 Finding out that the early form-filler works less ......270 Using purpose-built software .....................................271 Filing Your Form ......................................................................271 Posting in your form.....................................................272 Submitting your form online .......................................272 Paying on Account ..................................................................273 Asking for a reduction in payments ...........................273 Adding up the potential penalties .............................274 Chapter 19: Paying for Outside Help with Your Tax Affairs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275 Surveying the Services...........................................................276 Deducting the cost of advice.......................................277 Assigning responsibility...............................................277 Trying a Tax Form Checker....................................................278 Affording the fees..........................................................278 Helping to recover overpaid taxes .............................279 Working Out the Value of Accountancy Services................279 Trying Out a Financial Adviser..............................................280 Taking Cover against HMRC Action .....................................281 Considering the costs .................................................281 Avoiding voiding your policy ......................................282 Saving Fees with HMRC’s Helplines......................................282 Getting practical advice ..............................................283 Keeping your expectations realistic...........................283 Table of Contents xvii Chapter 20: Dealing with an Investigation. . . . . . . . . . 285 Explaining the Basics of Investigations................................286 Misleading the taxman inadvertently .......................286 Rectifying your tax errors............................................287 Setting off warning bells .............................................287 Ringing alarm bells when you’re self-employed .......288 Placing time limits on the Inland Revenue ................289 Being the Subject of Investigation ........................................289 Getting a Dear Tax-payer letter...................................290 Exchanging information...............................................291 Ending the investigation .............................................292 Dealing with the Aftermath or Continuing the Process .....293 Putting your accountant on notice.............................294 Climbing the HMRC complaints ladder .....................294 Asking for compensation ............................................295 Part VI: The Part of Tens .................................297 Chapter 21: Ten Top Tax-Saving Tips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299 Helping Your Favourite Charity.............................................299 Paying Attention to the End of Tax Year ..............................301 Making Gifts When You Can...................................................301 Using Capital Gains Tax Exemptions ....................................301 Checking Pension Possibilities..............................................302 Driving a Company Car ..........................................................302 Claiming Family Friendly Credits ..........................................302 Double-Checking Your National Insurance Contributions.......................................................................303 Ensuring You’re Not Caught in the Age-Allowance Trap ......................................................................................303 Claiming Tax Back on Savings ...............................................303 Chapter 22: Ten Top Tips for Dealing with the Tax Inspector. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305 Getting Yourself Organised ....................................................305 Researching before Form-Filling ..........................................306 Remembering that Rules May Not Last Forever ................307 Taking All Taxes into Account ...............................................307 Ensuring You Keep to the Timetable ....................................308 Going Back to Previous Years ...............................................308 Steering Well Clear of Illegal Tax Dodges .............................308 xviii Paying Less Tax 2006/2007 For Dummies Realising They’ve Heard It All Before ...................................309 Taking Professional Advice ...................................................309 Be Sure before Signing ...........................................................309 Appendix: HMRC Helplines..............................311 Index .............................................................315 Introduction H ow many times do you see the word tax in a day? Well, I admit to not knowing how often it appears, but I’d bet adding up all the mentions of this three-letter word in newspapers, on television, and on radio (and ignoring Internet hits), must come to hundreds or more every day. There’s another three-letter word ending in ‘x’ that’s also widely used in the media. But whereas you can choose to ignore sex, you have no option when it comes to tax. Paying tax when it is due is compulsory. Failing to do so brings a range of penalties from a simple fine to a long spell in prison. Paying Less Tax For Dummies is the only book in the Dummies series that focuses on a legal obligation. So it’s different. There are no ifs or buts. Instead, there are plenty of must-dos. It is very difficult to avoid dealing with the Inland Revenue. When your grandparents or great-grandparents were young, only a minority paid tax. Most people earned their weekly cash wage packet and that was that. Now practically no one escapes the tax inspector’s net. You start paying income tax and national insurance at just over half the national minimum wage when you work full-time. And if you are lower paid, or out of work, many state benefits are now part of the tax collector’s job as well. You can be a customer of the tax system as an employee, employer, self-employed worker, a student with outstanding student loans, a parent, a parent wanting help with childcare, and as a consumer – because VAT is now part of HMRC’s remit. About the only tax not included is Council Tax. One way or another, around one-third of the average pay packet ends up in taxation with the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Treasury. I’ve been writing about the tax system and how it impacts on everyone from the richest to the least well off for over 20 years. During that time, much has changed in the tax world. One factor remains unaltered: We all need what the taxes pay for such as hospitals, schools, roads, and the police. Yet, we