I agree, but I imagine they'd have a hell of a time unweaving the multitude of agreements and concessions between the monarch and the government over the centuries. Give them back a bunch of assets and property to manage under private ownership and be equally taxed on and we'd have a fair start.
The "bunch of assets" that the crown effectively surrendered in return for financial dependence on parliament is the Crown Estate, currently worth GBP 8.1 billion (USD 13.6 billion).
They also pay tax: "In 1992, The Queen volunteered to pay income tax and capital gains tax, and since 1993 her personal income has been taxable as for any other taxpayer. The Queen has always been subject to Value Added Tax and pays local rates on a voluntary basis." I also assume that she does minimal tax avoidance.
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I agree, but I imagine they'd have a hell of a time unweaving the multitude of agreements and concessions between the monarch and the government over the centuries. Give them back a bunch of assets and property to manage under private ownership and be equally taxed on and we'd have a fair start.
The "bunch of assets" that the crown effectively surrendered in return for financial dependence on parliament is the Crown Estate, currently worth GBP 8.1 billion (USD 13.6 billion).
They also pay tax: "In 1992, The Queen volunteered to pay income tax and capital gains tax, and since 1993 her personal income has been taxable as for any other taxpayer. The Queen has always been subject to Value Added Tax and pays local rates on a voluntary basis." I also assume that she does minimal tax avoidance.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_Estate
http://www.royal.gov.uk/TheRoyalHousehold/Royalfinances/Taxa...
She avoids the 40%-over-£325k inheritance tax normal people have to pay: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inheritance_Tax_%28United_King...
The whole financing of the Royals was updated fairly recently:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_Grant_Act_2011