To feel that having nearly half of your salary taken away is just not right?

[WinnieTheWho]

I don't earn enough to pay tax & NI but my DH has a pretty good job & salary for which he works BLOODY hard. I was horrified to work out after last pay day that for EVERY £1 he earned, he only kept 60 pence. This is due to a combination of paying very high income tax and NI, as well losing all of his personal allowance because he might get a bonus at the end of the year! It just seems that if you work hard to get paid well and you are a PAYE taxpayer, the Government & HMRC will just shaft you from all angles. It just makes me wonder why we bother? So... AM I BEING UNREASONABLE?

This is not going to go well :(

Many people work long hard hours (in jobs that benefit many of us) and still have a take home pay of less than the national average of £20,000. They have never had a bonus to look forward to.

Unless your DH brings home less than this Then I think UABU

Yabu.

You earn the most, you contribute the most. You will find he earns more than 95% of the worlds population.

I'm proud to pay tax and contribute to society. Perhaps a change in attitude is needed?

Thanks Warren.
I wondered how long it would be before people who benefit from my DH's taxes but begrudge him earning the salary to warrant paying them would get on board.

That's what living in a civilised nation is like, if you are unhappy then you need to move to a country where you keep what you make and sod the less affluent, weaker and powerless in your country.
You have an enormous number of locations around the world to choose from.

Actually, I agree with you. But then I believe in a flat tax rate with those earning 12k and below taken out completely of paying any tax.

It strikes me that people are always happy to shout about others paying their way and how they can afford it yadda yadda but don't like it if they are the ones having almost half of their income taken away.

I also know several families where one person works part time and is as well off with CTC and ETC as they would be working full time. Do I object to working 70 hour weeks so someone else can choose to work 24 with my taxes as a back up? Yup.

But yeah, ours won't be popular opinions but there you are!

Winnie fgs how long did it take you to think up this one? Must try harder

My DB and BIL earn a gigantic amount with bonuses and the rest, and they pay large taxes.
I'm a teacher, married to an academic.No axe to grind.

YANBU ... But no one on here will admit that. They are taking away the incentives for anyone to work hard and earn a good wage. Why bother if you just get lots of it taken off you? May as well sit on the dole, untaxed.

You only pay the 40% rate on those earnings beyond £34,371, and 50% on any earnings above £150,000.

Anything you earn below £34,371 is only taxed at the basic rate of 20%, or 10% for the first £2,710.

So the 40% and 50% rates definitely won't apply to all of anyone's earnings.

Fallen - it's all very well saying that but if every one who pays high taxes did that, then where would that leave the UK?

Fallen, if all our taxes were just going to the vulnerable, weak and powerless then I don't think anyone would object to paying plenty of tax.

But they aren't,are they?

i.e. the first £34,371 is taxed at basic rate, and you only pay the higher rate on anything extra, not the whole earnings.

Em , yes YABU. I am another who is proud to pay taxes and live in a country that does not just abandon those who are not able to support themselves or pay for medical treatment.

DO try harder

2/10

NEXT

Winnie, you can't be mad at someone begruding his salary when, at the same time, you are begrudging the system that takes his taxes to benefit them. It sounds like, if you could, you'd rather stop paying that much in taxes. So you can't really be angry that there are people out there that think you sound a tad entitled.

You need to get the maths right before making up a controversial op

Most people have a social conscience and value the stable and structured society we have built. So you could choose to live in a compound with private security to protect yourselves from the rabble, or pay taxes and live here.

You're not going to make any friends by moaning about paying higher taxes because you earn more.

However, a legitimate come back to those who do resent you having a higher income would be to point out that you probably pay multiple times as much in tax and contribution as they do but don't get better services for it - you don't use schools or health services or the police force multiple times more so you are paying more than your share for services consumed.

But thems the breaks - in this country we have a progressive tax system (VAt being a notable exception to that) because that's the kind of society we've chosen to be. If we live here, that's the way it goes.

trixy are you paying 40/50% tax?

Yabu, move if it bothers you so much, you don't have to live here.

Out of curiosity, how does your dh feel about it? Since it's him that earns it afterall...

People benefit from my taxes and I'm glad. That's what makes Britain such a great country to come from. There is a safety net. Surely you use the public sector too to some extent.

Why would you resent that?

I don't begrudge your husband at all. I have also worked hard, I don't earn too much, but it doesn't mean I haven't worked hard.

Why not just be grateful that you have enough?

'Fallen, if all our taxes were just going to the vulnerable, weak and powerless then I don't think anyone would object to paying plenty of tax.

But they aren't,are they?'

That's a different argument, involving the restructuring and rebuilding of the parts of our society that have rotted and warped.