..to want to say to those who are whinging about the 50% tax rate

[vic77en]

..that they should fuck the fuck off?

At a time when lots of people are really struggling with high inflation, 20% VAT, high unemployment, lack of living wage etc etc.

If you're earning above the 50% threshold you are well off and can afford it.

I used to earn enough to pay 40% tax (this was before the 50% rate came in and I was nowhere near the 50% threshold) and did not begrudge paying this. If NI and VAT were factored in, over 50% of my income went in taxes. I still had high disposable income.

Rather than giving their views airtime, there should be a massive PR exercise on the benefits to all of us of living in a civil society where there is an economic safety net, NHS, free education (for under 18's at least still...)

AIBU or not?

Oddboots It should absolutely 100% always be the first. Anything else is madness.

The tax system has to be the most inefficient way of stimulating growth, let's just hope next time we have a period of record growth it isn't spunked up the wall by a chancellor with an axe to grind.

God , my maths is rubbish- 25% more.

Haven' read the whole thread but has anyone mentioned that Ni is capped and above about £817 ish pw NO Employee Ni is levied (Employer only) so a lot of their high salary will be exempt from NI @ 12% that is equiv to about £100,000 K of salary

I agree with much of what you say, Custardo altho' I'm not convinced that lowering the higher tax rate will help that much, either. There really are few options for the economy.

Alouise regarding companies re-locating to Switzerland, Middle East, Brazil, etc. Yes, it's definitely happening already but for quite sometime well before AD increased the top tax rate and the LP single-handedly crashed the world economy.

It's due to the growth of new-ish, resource rich, manufactoring economies on the Pacific Rim and South America. And it's been on the economic horizon for decades.

ThePosieParker Thu 08-Sep-11 12:01:41

Thought personal insults weren't allowed...

I don't mean on benefits - I mean becoming a SAHM, having time for my kids, and living on my DHs income.

But that was always the case, and in fact NI now goes on at 1% forever (whereas it just used to stop) so it's higher than it used to be.

NI is wank anyway, They should just call it tax and be transparent about it

I do not earn enough to pay 50% tax but do have some sympathies. I always find this statistic interesting when I hear complaints about wealthy people not paying tax:

The 1% highest earners contribute nearly 25% of ALL income tax receipts, the top 10% contribute nearly HALF!

This article goes on to consider whether the middle earners (ie me) are doing our bit....

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8417205.stm

Novice....What activities are you curbing, exactly?

And I just don't buy your post, at all.

YABU

nuff said...by everyone else...

fargate, yeah sure it has, of course it does help that the current chancellor has amended the tax laws to actually encourage them to go overseas doesn't it?

So the banks that screwed us all over and are now responsible for the recession/job cuts/spending cuts and so on actually hardly pay any tax at all as most of them are based overseas. As are other major businesses.

Like the Murdoch empire - based overseas. He pays no UK tax.
There are countless others.
Nice to know that whilst some of the high earners pay half their wages in tax and others struggle on pathetic wages with redundancy forever looming around the corner.

I'm very happy with the direction this thread is going in - common sense appears to be over riding some of the loonier "soak the rich" element.

Namechanger here; I pay 50% tax, and just wanted to make a couple of points.

I am lucky to have a high salary; I'm not in the City, but just someone who's managed to work my way up to be quite senior in a multi-national company, by a mixture of hard work and good luck. Being human, I was initially upset at paying out significantly more tax a month after the rate was raised to 50% and I lost my personal allowance, as we always spend what we earn (mortgage, school fees etc), and it was a big chunk to lose.

Clearly no-one enjoys paying tax, but it is in fact a privilege, and I am truly fortunate in being able to swallow the extra hit, and believe that those of us doing well need to step up to the mark in times of economic crisis, so on that basis I am fine with the increased amount.

However, I am not fine with it if it does not make economic sense to the nation; taxes shouldn't be about penalising people who do well because other people aren't doing so well; they should be about the most effective way of raising money to maintain and improve living standards for all. If the 50% tax is really a counter-productive tax then it should be abaondoned; if it isn't, it should stay. Agree with NiceGuy that it's just become a political football, and therefore difficult to have a meaningful debate about what should happen.

I find it sad that some posters talk about people paying 50% tax with real vitriol, as if they are a class apart from normal human beings; greedy, moral-free tax evaders, who are only out for themselves, and who employ a bunch of experts to try and duck their social responsibilities. I really don't think that I've suddenly turned into an ogre compared to when I earnt less than one 10th of what I do now; at the end of the day, like everyone else I still need to earn a wage, and certainly wouldn't dream of trying to swerve my tax responsibilities.

I'm not a fan of the whole tax-band system believing that a simpler flat rate would be much fairer. Don't know the economics of it but if everyone on under £15k paid zero and everyone over £15k paid 25p in the £, we'd probably match the current revenue. By making it so complex with step changes at various levels I think it acts as a disincentive and only keeps accountants busy looking for loopholes.

Agree with Cogito

Al0ise is it not possible to be a dissenter without being a 'soak the rich' person?

because I am sure I am that.

Cogito that does sound eminiently worth investigating at the very least.

Ditto agree with Cogito. Think that a lot of people don't understand how it works at the margins, either; a bright, self-employed friend of mine was, a few years ago, deliberately trying to stay under the 40% threshold, as he thought that then all of his income would be taxed at 40%.

Sorry you earn £150k but you might give it all up to stay at home? Working.....

Honestly. If your job honestly just about covers childcare and gives you little else by way of self esteem, income etc.....then of course give it up. Being a SAHM is very rewarding and worth every penny I don't earn.

"Peachy" I gather it's a fairly reasonable option in rl, however this is Mumsnet, the extremists forum of choice

I just get annoyed at the 'stop fucking complaining' tone.

I am not complaining. I don't know anyone who is complaining.

Some people were making an economic case for reducing top rate tax but that is not rich people complaining.

And we don't try and avoid tax - no crafty accountants or off shore dodges.

I am happy to pay my bit. I just get fucked off at being called names while I am paying my bit.

Can I just say how much I love rich people at this point? I think they get a very bad press. They are of course worth every penny that they have worked their pretty little bollocks off for and if they would like to PM me I shall provide them details of my bank account for transfers.

I'm not a fan of the whole tax-band system believing that a simpler flat rate would be much fairer.

That's what I like about the HK system. Unless you are v poor, you pay 15% flat. It's really straightforward. Complexity breeds avoidance schemes and "oh, sorry I made an error" evasion

Hard..... I hope I haven't given you the impression that I have any prejudice of the over £150k earners....