AIBU to feel disheartened by earning into the higher tax band?

Right, but at the top of that page it states that 50% of people claiming UC are in the 'no work requirements' category, so people who are severely disabled, or a full time carer of a family member. So that actually only leaves 18% who are considered able to work but are not.

Why do you pay your tax as one lump sum? DH is self employed and makes two payments per year, but we put money by every month to pay for it. At least then we get savings interest on that amount.

I actually agree with you - many ways to drive up revenue and productivity. I'm also on 6 figures and went down to part time as financially and work/life balance wise it just made more sense - I have the same household income working 4 days a week as I do working 5. Which is silly really

Thry pay their taxes too. Theres no one to blame but the government that the tax take in the UK is so poor. Getting rid of the marginal tax bands and increasing the tax rates to compensate would boost the tax take immeasurably but Keir is too chicken to do this. This is the issue. Try giving £100k + earners their tax allowance back and the little socialists in his party throw their toys out of the pram and whine about tax breaks for the rich even though having such big marginal tax rates is deeply damaging to the Uk economy and addressing it would boost the tax we take.

When I reached that point, I paid 40% tax, 12% NI, and, as a single mum, they removed £1 of my child benefit (for my one child) for every £10 I earned. So I was paying 62% incremental tax.

And then if I spent the remainder on anything other than food, I paid 20% VAT plus fuel tax, insurance tax, alcohol tax......

It got so silly, I chose to take a lower paid job. Now I have a 5 minute commute and have regained an hour a day and £250 a month train ticket. I have time to make my own lunch so I'm not giving custom to coffee shops or sandwich bars or the station car park, and I buy less petrol. I buy everything else second hand if I can.

I am better off to the tune of about £350 a month. I think the tax man is £100 a month worse off and other businesses by £250.

I was a bit disheartened by a recent salary increase where my salary increased by 40% but my take home only increased by 25%. But then had to give myself a wobble - I now focus just on the fact that I have a good wage, prospects to earn even more in the future and it's in exchange for a more interesting job and the satisfaction of climbing the career ladder. Plus I do want to live in a society where the most vulnerable are looked after.

I know the UK is facing problems at the moment, I'm deeply saddened by the state of the NHS, the police force, lack of investment, poor job market etc. I like to think at least my tax contributions help make it slightly less shit, I just wish more millionaires and billionaires (and their corporations) thought similarly and would pay their tax dues too

Surely these are all things you knew? Did you not realise a student loan needed paid? Are you unaware how interest works? Tax brackets aren’t exactly a new and confusing phenomenon.

if you don’t like it then you could always change job and early below the 40% if it makes you better off financially.

Don’t you think it’s an issue, that the benefits bill is massively rising? The whole premise here is that OP is paying a shit tonne of tax for minimal public services while looking at benefits rising ever higher. Surely you can see that taxes rising, public services falling but benefits rising might be linked?

Sorry but I think this is a bit dramatic - you are being seen as a cash cow with the biggest shoulders.

What do you actually earn? You say you have just hit the 40% tax rate and only marginally? So actually very little of your salary is taxed at 40% yet you are a cash cow, ok!

Quit and go on the dole then 🤷 if life as a high earner is so hard.

One of my DC is a band 8 in the NHS. When he went onto the higher tax band he put some into a SIPP and did a salary sacrifice for an extra week annual leave.

And don't forget that as soon as you hit the £100K salary ceiling, work-related stress tends to double...

Sorry forgot to tag you in my previous response

So what's the picture here then, so we know how concerned or annoyed we should be by it...?
What are the numbers of people who are claiming benefits as a lifestyle choice, as oppose to those genuinely in need? And what criteria has been used by those who have gathered the data to differentiate between the two groups. And how much do this group actually cost?
When we have the answers to those questions we can decide whether we actually have a problem that needs a solution, rather than vice versa.

What a stupid thing to say

Was wondering how long it would be before people started bitching about benefits.

Just add the extra to your pension to the level that the tax bracket comes down again

Very simplistic statement, that doesn’t reflect the reality that the UK tax system is one of the least competitive of the OECD.

taxfoundation.org/research/all/global/2025-international-tax-competitiveness-index/

taxfoundation.org/location/united-kingdom/

“The top personal income tax rate on dividends is 39.35 percent, while the top rate on capital gains is 24 percent, well above the OECD averages of 24.7 percent and 20 percent, respectively.

The real property tax burden is among the highest in the OECD.

The VAT at a rate of 20 percent applies to less than half of the potential consumption tax base, and the VAT exemption threshold is 2.8 times as high as the OECD average.”

I'm all for providing the basics. But when I look at statements for people on benefits and they have the same net income as me and are spunking jaw dropping amounts each month on deliveroo/shein/ iphones for all the family/massive netflix packages/daily Costas then it's hard not to think something has gone badly wrong with the system

Exactly that. It's very definitely a lifestyle choice in some communities and I fail to see why we should all have to be ok with that

I have no problem at all with paying tax. I do sympathise with your student loan repayment though. I'm from the generation that didn't have to have loans and I think its grossly unfair on yours. I'd happily pay even more tax if they would write the loans off.

Good. The obvious reply to this complaint is "Tell them you don't want the extra pay, then". So you've found a way to do this while gaining time off. You win! Your promotion was more than worthwhile!

Your complaint about your student loan's equally irrational. That's how loans work, they accrue interest. Ever looked at how much of your mortgage payments actually go to repay the capital?

It is really outrageous. You might decide to lower your days to be better off economically and leave the service you are providing to the country with even more gaps. If you are NHS, that is struggling for personnel and pays £££ to external consultants, it will impact loads of people. And this only because this country can’t see how bad such a tax policy on earners between £100k-£150k is.

People really have no understanding of how much some people make in benefits, often without ever paying anything in. Meanwhile people who HAVE contributed to paying everyone else's benefits have ill health or job loss and believe there is a safety net. There isn't ANY safety net for anyone who has done any of the 'right things' (including staying married / home ownership with mortgage / trying to work even if seriously ill / having some savings in the bank / limiting family size). All of the things listed will become a stick to beat you with so that money can be handed to others who make really bad choices. In the meantime you will be taxed until your pip squeaks for the benefit of people who contribute little to nothing to society and never will because there is no incentive.