The top 10% of taxpayers contribute 60% of income tax...

[MsPinkMarshmallow]

I'm fed up of hearing that "high earners" will be targeted by the next budget.

The top 10% of taxpayers pay 60% of income tax.

Don't piss them off. They'll just leave the UK or work less so they're taxed less.

Some more stats: in 2024-25, the top 1% of income tax payers earned 13.3 per cent of total income and paid 28.2 per cent of income tax

35% of adults in the UK pay no tax at all

More from the Taxpayers Alliance here:

https://www.taxpayersalliance.com/briefing_share_of_income_tax_paid_by_percentile

<stands back and awaits kicking>

Do you honestly believe that things like cancer, menegitis, autoimmunie disorders covid, flu, brain tumours, epilepsy, etc only happen to people who werent healthy and active?

There are lifestyle factors in some diseases in terms of risk, but im old enough to have seen plenty of healthy active people struck down by by all sorts.

The main issue is our ageing population & the fact that the majority of pensioners take out more than they paid in. We need to acknowledge that.

A) People on much lower incomes also work for their money. The financial reward for jobs/roles is in no way related to the importance of it.
B) Nobody said it was your fault that people are poor(er) but a functional society supports the vulnerable.
Contributing to society isn't you being demonised.

If you are on UC you should still work more if your effective marginal tax rate is 100% as you should strive to be less of a burden on the state.

You can’t equate that to someone deciding that they don’t want to give away 60%+ of the next £ they earn while receiving no state support whatsoever.

This is the core of things - High Rate earners feeling 'hard done by', yet the reality is that lower rate tax payers and those on the margins of poverty have a greater burden of tax per pound. They pay the same 20% VAT, car tax etc, which is proportionally more as their spending is not discretionary. They have withdrawal of benefits and less than progressive rate of NI. They cannot afford to save for old age, so missing the tax benefit that the wealthy enjoy at 20% or 40%. Their council tax or stamp duty on a modest semi-detached, as a proportion of overall wealth, is much higher than someone in a £1m mansion. So many of the 'woe is me tax' choices by the wealthy are choices - they choose expensive cars and houses, they spend more discretionary etc etc. But, even before that they often can make more use of tax breaks and systems which benefit the wealthy.

I personally would rather see a much more progressive tax and benefits system, one where instead of a few 'steps' in benefit and tax there many more 'steps' in benefits and tax, making the withdrawal of support less severe, but also focussed on those who earn huge amounts. I would also see a much simpler system - let us do away with NI and up income tax, so in future years we do not have these odd 'steps'.

We wouldn't have Google or Microsoft if it wasn't for Brin, Page and Gates.

And thanks to them they built companies that have improved our lives and given many people valuable employment.

Actually, folk making comments like yours should be ashamed? What do you think would happen if nobody worked in low paying jobs such as retail and hospitality, services such as cleaners and binmen , much of the NHS, childcare, education and so on? Are you going to fulfill all of these roles or campaign for them to be paid more generously? Thought not.

Are you actually this stupid or some sort of BOT?

I have tried that but the shops shut anyway. Its one of those issues where it only works where everyone does it and like a lot of things I had the luxury of being able to pay more for my product buy local and support the local area, but others simply cant or another group dont see the benefit of that, until its lost and the area is rundown, then they move to dubai!

We wouldn't have the products if grafters didn't make them.

All those jobs are important. It still doesn't mean that people shouldn't strive to improve their own circumstances where possible. Lack of ambition is at least in part, facilitated by the welfare state. If everyone was more ambitious, salaries would naturally increase. It's a self fulfilling problem. People are not poorer out of civic duty.

Billionaires should pay a fair tax and not interfere in democracy by having too much sway/power, but unless there is international agreement between all countries to deal with this, annoying them just leads to relocation. We all know this to be the case, hence the fact we do not want the “Rich” to leave. It is a compromise a rationale person makes. Just like the acknowledgment that you allow people to keep a reasonable amount of their wage to incentivise them, especially when you know that all young and skilled people are assets that other countries want to attract. We are in international competition and need to be better than other similar countries. Whether anyone likes that morally or not. Morality does not come into it. If you want to look after your truly vulnerable you have to pay the international markets and finance game, if you do not, you actually hurt the most vulnerable the most. So if Reeves is not going to cut welfare waste and spending the national debt we pay is just going to increase. If people are not willing to buy our story and our investment strategy, we pay more because we are risky and bad debt. Just like an overly leveraged mortgagee. It is no different.

I've read your post. I hear you.

I agree that everyone should appreciate the hard work you've put in, and how that's helped the UK through your taxes.

And more importantly, I hear the sacrifices you're continuing to make.

And my human, one-mother-to another advice is to stop now, just for a bit. You have a lovely 10 week old baby, and honestly that is the most important thing in the world. The time you take with your baby now, the bond you make, the joy you take - that's all for you. No one can tax it. And you'll have what you build now for your whole life - your relationship with your child - the most precious thing you'll ever build.

You'll keep your career, even if you take a step back. Really, you will.

Best wishes.

Honestly, please stop being so patronising! Perhaps widen YOUR influences?

Going on about the sacrifices of unskilled labour is besides the point. Someone with no skills is less valuable than someone with lots of skills that are expensive to train and acquire. Most people can learn to be a good cleaner in a few days, a small percentage of people are smart enough to become doctors and do the training for many years. We can be grateful to those who clean for us, but their economic value is less because they are easily replaced by anyone else who is young and fit from all over the world. Whereas the doctors are not.

My other unpopular opinion is that I think MP and minister salaries should be doubled. We are never going to have a smart and talented government when the salary is such a deterrent, particularly given the career instability. Instead, we are stuck with this bunch of numpties.

There's lots of complex reasons why some people end up in lower paid jobs, and it's a good job they do because society relies on many of them.

Doubled? Most of them have several other income sources. What we need is more accountability.

@GehenSieweiter they wouldn’t need several other income sources if they were properly paid. Maybe if they didn’t have multiple jobs they would do a better job of their main one.

The lower paid, and sometimes lower skilled, positions allow others the luxury of higher paid positions.

If that were so, there'd have been less poverty before the welfare state, or in countries that dont have a such a generous welfare state. This doesnt seem to be so.

They don't need the extra income sources and they are already paid well.

People go round in circles arguing about how "hard" people work and that having either nothing or in fact everything to do with income.

Nobody arguing that those on lower incomes arguing that they work "just as hard" seems to have considered that gaining an undergrad, 2x masters, and a PhD in order to enter a certain high paying job is HARD. Paying off education debt way into your 40s when you have small kids to feed and house is hard. Working 60 hours a week and answering work emails on nights and weekends is hard. Everyone works hard, nobody is disputing that. But often the higher earners have worked way, way harder to get where they are and make just as many, if not different, sacrifices. It isn't a race to the bottom.

A) people on lower incomes need to assess the choices they made that lead them to low earning careers. A barista working tirelessly on a shift is all good and all but isn't worth the same as a neurosurgeon for example. DH and I both made good choices, both have master's degrees in stem fields. My DH works tireless and delivers value on projects for clients which is why he gets paid through big bucks.

B) we pay enough tax as it is. At some point there has to be personal responsibility and people need to look after themselves. The welfare bill is high already.

At some point our money is for ourselves and our family.

I'm not ashamed to be saving the state a fortune by caring for my 3 children with SN, 1 of which would need round the clock care. I'm also not ashamed that my husband works in a relatively low paying job that allows 600 pupils to receive their education safely.