I don't want to pay more fucking tax!

[marthainthemarket]

I am the sole earner in a family of four, earning just under 40k a year and getting probably fuck all or below inflation pay increase next year, if I am lucky enough to keep my job ( public sector and employer needing to make massive budget savings). I barely cope now.

I am so fucking angry that Labour fucked up the disability benefit cuts. Other countries don't have run away disability benefits crises because they have a proper assessment process that means they keep a lid on people getting disability benefits who don't really need them. But instead of dealing with that, they came up with a crap proposed cut that wouldn't have dealt with the actual issues and they couldn't defend.

And having fucked that up they are now raising everyone's tax. I hate them!

I'm actually really worried about it now. Normally I just ignore all the speculation and wait and see what happens but with council tax potentially doubling and income tax likely going up by 2-3% I just can't face it all. I understand people who earn more pay more but it's really getting ridiculous now.

They do, although more recently councils are counting some benefits as income so previously people who were paying next to nothing are now having to pay a nominal amount.

Nope. They alluded to it going to state schools but failed to ring fence it. More recently they said it would go to house building. Then they stopped talking about it at all (most likely because the numbers don’t add up).

And as for paying more for better services - it never happens - waste and low productivity are rife in the public sector and putting more money in is not going to help, it's just a bottomless pit.

100%

The Tories repeatedly compounded the problem to protect themselves and their own bank accounts, and here we are ... dumping the problem in Labour's lap pretending they created the problem. They didn't.

"People who understand that the world functioned fine before the EU and those who are just too young or too brainwashed to ever get it."

Abd then there's people old enough to remember how desperate the UK was to join the EU in the first place because if the economic benefits of being in it.

The world did and will continue to function just fine without the EU as you say. The UK,on the other hand, seems to be a different story...

If the tax I paid stayed in this country contributing to British people I would be less annoyed. All I can see is our tax leaving this country and British citizens being squeezed for more money we don’t see a penny of.

Agree. And merge NI and income tax and stop trying to treat us like idiots. They are both taxes and we know they are.

Yes, she'll no doubt attempt to cling on to the bitter end because Starmer knows she's a convenient scapegoat and because there's absolutely no one else to put in the job.

Before we were in the EU we had to be bailed out by the IMF. Yes, everything was tickety boo. I’m 61, if it’s relevant.

Who'd said council tax will double? That will be unaffordable for the majority of people. Currently I pay £280 a month (10 months of the year). £560 would be absurd.

Exactly, so much better before stupid Blair and his rubbish policies

But thats where you are wrong. The average person who works and does not claim or rely on benefits is being bled dry to subsidise those that don't work and seem to think they are entitled to benefits without putting anything in. It's unsustainable and basic economics

I know you’re angry, but do you really want to hammer disabled people? Many of whom have no way to increase their (significantly less than £40k) income at all?

Because of Brexit and then Covid, we never got a chance to recover from the world financial crisis in 2008, and then with years of austerity (that still doesn’t seem to have ended) on top, we’re in a slump thst I can’t see any way out of.

It’s depressing, to say the least and I can understand the anger, but I don’t think it’s always aimed in the right direction.

The health element of UC isn’t even reviewed, people just sit on it too ill to work forever.

Yes. They always pretend not to increase taxes - by saying that income tax hasn’t changed. But every other tax has gone up, it’s just an accounting trick at this point.

National insurance needs to be combined with income tax so people can understand the reality of what they are actually paying to the state and also to take away the ability of politicians to lie to us about not having increased taxes.

I think she’s pointing the finger at people, well whole families who just don’t work. Not for any reason other than for generations no one has worked, it’s just not a thing they consider doing. I worked in a solicitors office when I left school. I could do ten appointments some days where no client worked, not disabled not through any impairment they just didn’t work.

When we have a thriving black economy, far fewer people working, higher life expectency, an NHS that is completely overburdened and people not looking after their own health, and a benefit system that seems out of control then of course taxes are going to rise - everyone wants the services that a minority of people then have to pay for

Only the higher bands, the top 2, of which we are in so I will double from £3,800 to £7,600 (potentially!). Most people will just think oh well if you live in an expensive house then tough shit.

The problem is that everything is out of control. Nobody in government is brave enough to make any benefit cuts or change any of the current systems.

Just one example is DSA for university students. The number of students who have ADHD etc who claim this is through the roof. Not only do they then get a laptop and headphones and extra screens and laptop cases and recording equipment and multiple software packages but they then typically get 40 ish hours of mentoring support a year which means that every year their support packages are worth c£6,000. It is out of control and unsustainable. We simply can't afford it unfortunately.

Sorry if this has been said before on this thread, but isn’t stagnant tax thresholds effectively a tax rise anyway?

Do they honestly think they should raise income tax even more?

Apart from the Iraq war (and I recognise that is a huge thing to set aside) which policies were stupid?
Sure Start - Measurable improvements in life chances of poor children
NHS rated very highly, low waiting lists etc
Thousands lifted out of poverty
Good Friday Agreement
Human Rights Act
HoL reform

I could go on, but let’s start with these. How were they stupid? How was the country better before them?

I agree with this. I’m considering giving up work forever and being a SAHM because the juice isn’t worth the squeeze when it comes to my career (well, tax). Why would I spend my life in a corporate job, getting hit every which way for tax, when we can afford for me to quit and stay at home?

So, productivity would be down (if more people took this stance), less revenue from income tax aaaaaaand for what?

The disenfranchisement is massive, at least for me. I’m resentful. I’ve paid so much in, get zero back, and now will have to pay in even more? Nah. You know what? I’ll just apply for all the things I can to get my money’s worth back from the government. I paid in, so where’s mine?

And that’s what short-sighted people braying for the rich’s heads don’t get

How do so many people know such precise details about what is going to be announced on Friday ?

We’ve already had tax increases in Scotland and it hasn’t give any goods if I saw actual improvements I would be happy. In e I get into the duct tax bracket I’m raising my pension contribution. Yes I’ll be taxed on it eventually but not yet!