Tax should not be paid for working over time

[Dssen]

Me and ds were chatting the other day . He's done some over time but he said sometimes it feels pointless because the tax man takes quite a bit of it . We were thinking that if someone works over time that person should not be taxed. It should be a kind of reward that if you work overtime it's tax free .

Not going to happen but wishful thinking.

How would that work for self employed people?

Ridiculous. A very sweeping unfair and untrue statement.
I WFH and still send my child to nursery full time. I physically could not get my job done with them at home and my company are very strict with the expectation that their employees and not looking after children in work time except for things like sickness if there’s no once else to look after then but any lost time should be made up in the evening.

I don’t know any of my friends who work from home who don’t send their children into a childcare setting.

Certainly an argument for making commuting costs a tax deductible expense for workers like it is in some other countries.

ridiculous statement!
I pay for childcare, also when I work from home. It doesn’t cost me any less to work from home in fact it costs me more because I’m using my electricity. I’m very thankful my government is that way and actually phased me back and the amount of electricity and broadband costs for when I wfh!!

No it would be a mad idea. I don't think the tax burden is too high at the moment compared ro what it has been in the past.

Bonkers

Overtime used to be paid at a better rate.
Pre tax credits if course.

Time and a half or double time.

This is still the case for many other places.

Why? People wfh pay for their own utilities during the day, a tiny minority might try and juggle childcare but not many, and it's not the case that everyone commutes into work who is in an actual workplace.

I do think some jobs will eventually have to increase salaries for those who have to attend the office.
I work in a sector where operational staff have to attend full time and admin can WFH 40%. It’s becoming increasingly hard to attract recruits into the operational roles. London so commutes can be long and expensive.

Do they not do shift as operational roles? I think as it’s a hands on job it should be paid accordingly anyway! Most operational roles in my sector in Ireland are paid a shift rate and earn 60-90k!

Okay? That's up to them isn't it! It doesn't mean messing with the tax is the answer, employers might just have to pay their staff better wages.

How do they know you work from home or hybrid? All our contracts are office based. I’m in one day a week. DH is also contracted to be office based but is fully remote. HMRC can’t tell what’s what.

Also to make overtime pay more attractive isn’t HMRC’s job. We get 1.5 or 2 times depending on time of day. It’s the employer who set the wages. If they can’t find people to do it, they will increase pay.

i don’t think op has said this? Just that he’s taxed ‘quite a bit’ - not that it’s a different rate.

I do think that the tax and NI system could be used a bit more strategically to incentivise certain behaviours.

Before the whole WFH thing came along, I did wonder whether employers should be given an incentive to employ or recruit someone living locally via slightly lower ERNIC rates or a rebate. Perhaps for roles up to a certain salary threshold?

Obviously this wouldn’t be compulsory and if employers felt that the best candidate lived further away that would be up to them, but they would just forgo the rebate.

Some of us WFH and do make sure our children are properly looked after while we do it, thanks.

I admit it feels like a perk though - DH and I work different hours which means the kids are around while I work with him looking after them and it's nice that we have meals together. Also nice having zero commuting time.

I think it's a bit mad that you can get a tax relief on utility costs when WFH but not on commuting costs when not WFH.

OP your other half should still be getting more than half of the hourly rate he's earning, even if he is in the higher tax bracket. More if he isn't.

No - the more you earn the more you should pay in tax- hes still making more money.
I always liked the idea of childcare being tax deductible

Because not everyone has commuting costs I suppose.

How much does he earn? If he is a low earner, he may be shocked at being taxed on anything he is earning over the £12,570 personal allowance so in reality isn’t paying much tax at all.

Perhaps needs to reframe it and realise that tax funds our society. We need tax payers and he is contributing.

If you are paid over a certain amount, you pay tax. That’s the law. You still earn and take home more money if you work overtime. If DS resents paying tax, why work at all.

Lol

So I’ll get a contract for one day a week but work five as overtime so I only get taxed for one day?????

Mandating a higher minimum wage for uncontracted hours might work to disincentivise employers from hiring 1-hour employees and making them do full time regular "overtime".
I'd like an on call wage to exist, to stop rogue zero hour employers requiring employees to be ready and available to work at all times.
Even £1 an hour would stop this practice.