AIBU to refuse extra hours when most of the pay goes in tax?

When I had two kids in childcare, I worked out that after tax and childcare i only earned 12.50 on Fridays. So I dropped it. Not worth it.

“Slavery is having no choices - being on no or so little money you do nothing but work and would starve if you stopped.
Is that your lifestyle?”

@JumpingPumpkin - well there was a time when my 4 DC were young when i worked up to 14 hours a day including most weekends and slept about 3 hours a night and felt I had to. And used to frequently sleep in the office on the floor whilst pregnant. So yes, I have done the slave to the job entirely, putting myself and my unborn DC at risk. There is no way in hell am I advising any of my own girls to do anything like this espeically if they cannot even keep a majority of the earnings for themselves.

Last year I paid £120K tax on £301K gross pay. Sod that. This year I won't be working anything like as hard.

The problem is the costs of public services are going up massively because of people living longer with complex health needs. Also the lack of investment due to austerity and privatisation. Some will say immigration costs add to this, others will say it’s been a net positive. And income has reduced due to Brexit. Perfect storm

Slavery is having no choices - being on no or so little money you do nothing but work and would starve if you stopped.

Is that your lifestyle?

I think IF public services improved then people would accept higher taxes. Trouble is that public services are deteriorating but people are paying more taxes, hence why they're annoyed and why politicians are losing trust.

Nail on the head. Successive governments/chancellors simply fail to appreciate human behavior.

Goes right back to Brown's day when he introduced tax reductions for small limited companies which made them so that they paid A LOT less tax than someone trading as a sole trader. His Paymaster General, Dawn Primarolo, said in Parliament that she didn't think sole traders would convert into limited companies "just to save tax". That shows how deluded politicians can be. Of course, history shows hundreds of thousands of sole traders, such as window cleaners, dog walkers, tradesmen etc converted themselves to limited companies. Who'd have thought it??

This was done year after year by previous governments. It has to be a stealth tax because noone wants to pay taxes (but they want better public services). They can’t win!

@Theolittle Oh believe you me the NHS has had many hours free out of me since I started work and still does, late finishes, staying to help a coleague with a difficult case, phone calls on non working days. I am talking about the attempts to book people in for extra activities that are separate to my normal job and voluntary but paid. I have no desire to make my tax situation complicated so do not do any of these extras for payment. The risk of falling foul of the pensions tax madness means I am happy to steer clear

Society has historically been run by people doing stuff for free. Women mainly. They’ve provided free childcare, elderly care, volunteered and been expected to ‘go that extra mile’.

Now we all know that we have had the piss taken out of us we are stopping which is a good thing. Pay people properly for doing their jobs, stop expecting free stuff. Workers should do their hours, that’s their contract and when you’re taxed the way we are now why would you go over and above for a little more. I would also like to point out that doing it for promotion can backfire as you’re seen as too good at your job and the promotion goes to Henry who started 3 minutes ago and is amazing.

I dont earn anywhere near 100k, but I do know it's not a good thing for loyalty to one's job and unpaid overtime to be conflated. Am too pro worker for that.

It is not just those on over 100k. The fiscal drag coupled with inflation is biting thousands of angry workers who are adjusting their behaviour. And hence the lack of productivity.

You cannot just introduce stealth taxes left right and centre and pretend you did not raise taxes! Lots of people about to enter the 40% tax bracket will find out and act out too.

It shocks me that so many people don’t have any loyalty to their job or enjoyment of their job enough to do a few hours for free. I work in public sector and have regularly done 50 hour weeks (paid for 37) at peak times to make sure I meet project deadlines etc., around being a single parent. At the time I was earning £40k ish, but didn’t want to let my colleagues down. And you're on huge salaries, I just don’t get it

There seem to be an inordinate number of mumsnet posters on £100k with young kids who’ve maxed out their pensions 😂

You’ve no idea how lucky you are

I also do not do extras as I feel I earn well as it is, good luck to colleagues if they are happy to work the extras. The balance of time with my family feels right not sure why I would want to spend yet another weekend in work to take home less than half of the money. When I started many moons ago (a 78 hour week) I worked so many hours with the compulsory overtime paid at a fraction of the base rate.

Certainly locally, and I am sure in many places, the wonderful fall in waiting lists has been achieved by throwing crazy amounts of money mostly at external companies. Not a sustainable solution in the longer term. Most of the doctors employed are doing so as part of a company and therefore have a slightly more favourable tax situation. So less income tax harvested for the price of the publicity wim of a drop in waiting lists 🤦🏼‍♀️

I used to pay a hell of a lot of tax, but then found out I was pregnant at 42. I took my maternity leave, then got a just above minimum wage job doing just 2 days.

I am not doing it anymore, I’m not killing myself and putting my baby into nursery.

Fuck the lot.

I wonder how many would if there weren't incentives to keep below it?

So true

Also, I thought the point of the trust was to ensure access to means tested benefits. If the money from the compensation is in a trust, then it doesn’t count as his assets or money, and he’ll be eligible.

Are you talking about income tax ? Or are you including extra costs like childcare ?
When both of my kids were in childcare I worked a 40hr week for £200 a month the rest was childcare.
when eldest went to school and youngest had 15hrs funded I paid about £600 a month childcare.

I wouldn’t and I don’t.
I have purposely gone to a 4 day week and put 35% of my salary into my pension via salary sacrifice in order to keep my tax free allowance intact. So I am paying less tax than I otherwise if that unfair cliff edge at £100k didn’t exist. In fact I’m thinking of accepting an internal transfer for a 35% pay cut but a far less stressful roll. I’ve worked out (back of envelope stuff) that if I fiddle about with my pension contributions I’ll only be about £200 worse off. It’s bonkers really.

I wouldn’t and I don’t.
I have purposely gone to a 4 day week and put 35% of my salary into my pension via salary sacrifice in order to keep my tax free allowance intact. So I am paying less tax than I otherwise if that unfair cliff edge at £100k didn’t exist. In fact I’m thinking of accepting an internal transfer for a 35% pay cut but a far less stressful roll. I’ve worked out (back of envelope stuff) that if I fiddle about with my pension contributions I’ll only be about £200 worse off. It’s bonkers really.

Yes @BorgQueen and then they complain they cannot find enough markers or get markers in (from god knows where) who cannot actually mark English language papers. And we get kids sitting their GCSEs whose papers are undermarked by 30 marks (happened to a friend of my DD’s including a marker who annotated correctly spelt language as “wrong” - that is how underqualified some of them are).

And now we have a Government who is infighting again which is going to cost us billions in extra interest due to volatility. And we have Angela Rayner who paid her 40000 stamp duty late but has been let off my HMRC on late interest and fines. Whereas the rest of us would have had to pay? And that is now supposed to fill us all with confidence? That she what did not pay the stamp duty because it was all too confusing for both her and HMRC?

And then anyone is surprised if the middle class revolt translates to stay at home and do not work extra. Or do not go out shopping in your car ever again because you are bound to be flashed by some camera and charged a fine for something.

For example, why aren’t student loans based on taxable income? DD has to pay 11% in pension contributions ( Teacher) yet pays student loan on the whole of her salary so in effect she pays 50% tax on part of her salary.

Her pension is part of her salary. It’s effectively deferred salary paid in retirement. If she really feels it’s unfair then she can always opt out of paying pension contributions thus giving herself a very decent pay rise.

Lots of things are an ill thought out disgrace.
For example, why aren’t student loans based on taxable income? DD has to pay 11% in pension contributions ( Teacher) yet pays student loan on the whole of her salary so in effect she pays 50% tax on part of her salary.
She marks exam papers to pay for the summer holidays and will pay 40% tax rather than 20%, the pay for the marking hasn’t risen in 4 years but this year she’ll lose £400 to tax.