January 14, 2026
Pints vs Taxes: Choose Your Fighter
Find a pub that needs you
Tax U-turn maybe, bills are brutal — your pint might save a local
TLDR: The government may reverse pub business rates, but nothing’s confirmed and costs keep climbing. Commenters swung from memes about being “Absolutely F***ed” to shock over a 480% tax hike, debating UK-vs-England nitpicks and asking what “pub rates” even are—while agreeing on one fix: go buy a pint.
The internet has rallied around the cheeky Fucked Pub Index™—a “world-class” tool powered by one guy and a spreadsheet—to find the local boozer most in need of a pint-buying hero. The government has teased a possible u-turn on pub “rates” (that’s the business property tax), but nothing’s confirmed, and costs are still rising. Cue half-celebration, half side-eye: some cheer the hope, others say it’s too little, too late. One commenter gasped at a London pub’s 480% rateable value jump, turning headlines into personal outrage. Another asked if this is a new tax scheme—translation: people want answers, not vibes.
Meanwhile, the community turned the site’s status labels into instant meme-fodder. “Somehow Fine → Absolutely F***ed” became a mood board for modern life. Americans tried to join the party, only to find it’s UK-only, triggering a chorus of “sorry, wrong zip.” Then came the pedants: “Find an English pub,” sniffed one, kicking off the England vs UK nitpick wars. Through the snark, a clear call emerged: buy a pint and keep the lights on. The index uses official rateable value data for 45,199 pubs link, but the drama is in the comments—equal parts comedy, confusion, and “save your local” rallying cry.
Key Points
- •The UK government has signalled a potential u-turn on pub rates, but no changes are confirmed yet.
- •Pubs are facing rising costs and the article urges public support by visiting and buying a pint.
- •The Fucked Pub Index is introduced to identify local pubs most urgently needing patronage.
- •The index uses VOA rateable value data covering 45,199 verified pubs (SCAT 249) and Google Maps for geospatial analysis.
- •The site will update when government support details are announced; some experts estimate more pubs may be affected than the dataset shows.