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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To really resent the amount of tax we pay.

328 replies

KettleBelles · 30/01/2015 14:10

I hate it, we pay a vast amount of tax to live in a country where we can't see a GP for a fortnight, feel criminalised every time we go to an airport, pay even more tax again to drive a car on inadequate and over crowded roads. Get squashed on crowded transport which is filthy and unreliable, where criminals seem to always be on the beneficial side of human rights.

I can't be the only one who feels like this?

OP posts:
GlitzAndGigglesx · 30/01/2015 15:19

moobie so can I if I connect between 8:30-9am as they're usually gone after then. People need to remember there are more of us than there are GPs so it's hard to always be accommodated. However I think having to wait over a week for an appt is ridiculous

vortexshedding · 30/01/2015 15:20

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

IssyStark · 30/01/2015 15:20

YABU.

I would happily pay more tax and get frustrated that I often can't vote for a party that supports increasing income tax (rather than increasing unfair and regressive taxes such as VAT).

Mrsfrumble · 30/01/2015 15:21

BTW, the $30 for the epipen was on top of the $500 (!) covered by our insurance. Now imagine having no / inadequate insurance and an allergic child...

Musicaltheatremum · 30/01/2015 15:22

If you are self employed you should do your tax bill earlier and be prepared. I put 1/3 of my income away each month so was able to pay my tax bill 2 weeks ago and we had our accounts to the accountants last July so no big shocks. (Polish my halo talkinpeace ) I think the taxes on income are fine. Do you remember everyone used to pay about 33% tax above the tax free allowance. I do. My biggest bug bear is the indirect taxation on the pensions.

RandomNPC · 30/01/2015 15:23

Pay your tax, and stop fucking moaning about it. I personally object to my contribution going towards Liz Windsor's dysfunctional family and Trident too, but I pay up without complaining.

LurkingHusband · 30/01/2015 15:25

The reality is, for ever £1 the government gets in tax, it spends £1.10 out Hmm.

WiltsWonder15 · 30/01/2015 15:26

I think complaining about the rate of tax by itself is a bit like complaining that you spent £100 whilst out shopping. We need more information.

£100 on a brand new car? You got a bargain!
£100 on a pair of socks? They saw you coming, mate.

It's all about value for money and, whilst we think about it, affordability.

£100 to Lord Alan Sugar is not the same as £100 to the likes of you and me.

So, I am inferring that the OP considers public services to be poor value given current taxation levels.

If we make public services more efficient, we get more for our taxes OR taxes can be reduced for the same level of service.

I don't think anyone seriously argues for inefficiency for its own sake.

Therefore the argument is really over how inefficient the public sector and why that might be.

Go to a restaurant with £50 of your own money and you'll spend as much of it as you feel you can afford, knowing what you like to eat, how hungry you are etc.

Send someone else to a restaurant with £50 of your money and you'll not be surprised if you don't get any change back.

Go to a restaurant with £50 of someone else's money and you'll spend as much of it as you think you can get away with.

Send someone else to a restaurant with £50 of someone else's money and you won't really care what they do with it - this is how our public services work and why they are so inefficient.

It's efficiency that matters (or 'value for money'), not the level of taxation in itself.

moobieburger · 30/01/2015 15:27

@Mrsfrumble. Totally agree. Although your road is in MUCH better condition than mine was in IL.

HedgehogsDontBite · 30/01/2015 15:27

I live in Sweden. I dream of paying UK tax rates. That said, our public services here make the UK's look like 3rd world ones.

TalkinPeace · 30/01/2015 15:29

Vortexsheeding
Hong Kong sounds great. Oh, except for the lack of democracy and free speech.
Ditto Singapore.

Yup, the NHS has its faults, but at least Women are free to drive and we do not get arrested for speaking out against the government, or for wearing a dark tie on the king's birthday.
The Government here is not prone to beheading women in the street

if you think the world is entirely better in low tax countries, the door is just over there.

VictorineMeurent · 30/01/2015 15:29

Research shows that people who live in Scandanavian countries where tax is higher but the level of and standard of public services are more content and don't mind paying the tax. I think what we are unhappy about is paying for services that are not good. The road in m village was recently repaired to a pretty poor standard and now 6 months later ( and there has ben no snow or frost here this winter yet) the surface is breaking up again.

HedgehogsDontBite · 30/01/2015 15:37

That's true Victorine, it's considered part of their 'social contract' and there's a very different mindset to paying tax.

ChatEnOeuf · 30/01/2015 15:42

Um...our family has recently relocated to a country with a significantly higher tax burden than the UK. Thankfully we have been incentivised with health insurance, because it's a very expensive setback every time anyone gets poorly - and the schools insist on a doctor's note when off poorly. Coupled with the higher cost of living in general, it's not a good value switch - I'm looking forward to coming home...

tomandizzymum · 30/01/2015 15:43

I don't live in UK because I don't really like it and I love where I live but...drive a car on inadequate and over crowded roads
GrinGrinGrin I live in a wealthy country but to back out of the supermarket this morning I had to avoid everything you would as well as mule carts, stray dogs and occasionally the odd chicken. I dream about British roads.

vortexshedding · 30/01/2015 15:46

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MrsLindor · 30/01/2015 15:52

“I like to pay taxes. With them, I buy civilization.”
? Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

MephistophelesApprentice · 30/01/2015 16:01

I'd pay more, though I'd rather the rich would just pay their share and the corporations pay a living wage.

When I was living with a roomate who did nothing to search for work, but instead spent all his time smoking weed, playing on my xbox and keeping me awake til 4am I was angry and resentful that he was claiming benefits. But I was still proud to pay my taxes, even knowing that a tiny part would end up with his dealer.

That's because I was raised right, frankly, and understand that to live in what is essentially a paradise requires everyone to do their part.

MephistophelesApprentice · 30/01/2015 16:01

I'd pay more, though I'd rather the rich would just pay their share and the corporations pay a living wage.

When I was living with a roomate who did nothing to search for work, but instead spent all his time smoking weed, playing on my xbox and keeping me awake til 4am I was angry and resentful that he was claiming benefits. But I was still proud to pay my taxes, even knowing that a tiny part would end up with his dealer.

That's because I was raised right, frankly, and understand that to live in what is essentially a paradise requires everyone to do their part.

MephistophelesApprentice · 30/01/2015 16:02

Damn, sorry for double post.

tarashill · 30/01/2015 16:04

I think the OP has a point about tax and I'm sure that probably a large percentage of the country agree with her. While I'm aware that the taxation levels are never going to please everyone, I do think the personal allowance should be raised to a more realistic level. My dd earns not much more than the minimum wage and is taxed. She can not afford to even rent a small flat. I think the OP is talking about the unfairness of the system, the country gives millions away each year to countries, ie India, sets the national minimum wage far lower than it should be, thereby people have to claim tax credits and so allows companies to get away with slave labour. Just because the USA and other countries have an unfairer system doesn't make it right here.

Madamecastafiore · 30/01/2015 16:07

What do you consider 'rich' Mephisto?

FringeDivision · 30/01/2015 16:08

Just because other countries are worse it doesn't mean we shouldn't criticise what's bad here. We are paying more and more and getting less and less for it in terms of public services. The bankers ruined our economy along with bad management from the government but we are asked to pay more and get less while they continue to get our money.

The nhs is struggling - a man collapsed in my local supermarket today. The ambulence took ages to arrive - they are overworked. If he'd had a heart attack or stroke he could have died before help arrived. This is not a brilliant health service. It's patchy and not cheap.

I wouldn't resent a penny of my family's taxation if I felt it was truly paying for public services but it seems to me we get all the cuts and the super rich continue to dodge their fair share.

JadedAngel · 30/01/2015 16:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MephistophelesApprentice · 30/01/2015 16:15

Madamecastafiore

Owning more than one residential building capable of being a 4 person family home, or a single building with enough space for an additional 4 person family.