To really resent the amount of tax we pay.

[KettleBelles]

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?

My sister lives in the us and everytime I speak to her I feel grateful for what we have here. They have a great lifestyle as they pay very little tax even though they are high earners. So they can afford a nice life

But
They have 3 months paid maternity leave
Pay for it everytime they go to hospital and won't be able to get in an ambulance without confirming they have private health care
The roads are terrible and completely unkept
Sending their children to private school at great expense as the local schools are in her view terrible and have an extremely limited curriculum and no resources.
Have to pay for all childcare until they go to school.
Have no real benefit system so just have food vochures.

It seems to me you're ok if your rich and screwed if not .

Sometimes I look at my wage slip and bulk at how much tax has come out but then remember what she has told me. Then I think , yes, we do pay a lot of tax but we get a lot back actually.

Trust me. Americans pay less tax. And they get what they pay for (in our major city, road repairs are on a par with Central America). I second what cleoteacher says about the state schools, but it does vary from area to area. The problem is that any tax increase or levy, no matter what it's for, is painted by the usual suspects as a "tax grab" as though it will be going directly to line politicians' pockets instead of, say, public education. It's depressing.

In comparing UK tax to US, most don't realise that Americans in many places pay 1. Federal tax ( everywhere)2. state income tax, most states,3. property taxes annually - like rates & can be very high, 4.,and sales taxes on most purchases, which is a local tax. They can also pay 5.state tax on inheritances as well as 6.federal tax on inheritances

Sales tax in the US is around 6% whereas in the UK it's currrently 20%.

You don't pay federal inheritance tax till your estate is worth $5.5m so I think most of us will avoid that. I live in a state with no state inheritance tax so I don't know much about how it works in other states.

Increasingly, states are eliminating state income tax - my state is in the process.

It's also quite shocking how little federal tax we pay too. The rates are almost irrelevant, as it's so easy to write off various things.

However I do agree that property taxes can be very high. Ours is about four times what we paid in the UK.

OTOH in return for our property tax we have an amazing school system, so I don't resent paying for it.

I did the calculation for us moving back to the UK and we would have paid £80k a year more in tax and that's with me not working as my wages wouldn't cover childcare for 2Dc. We live in New Jersey and pay about 12% tax between federal and state. Our property taxes are $14k a year and we live in a nice town that is very safe. Education has been surprisingly good and we are sticking we public schools.

We are probably the only people with the high earnings we have who live well below our means. We also donate about 10% of our income to charity plus a lot of air miles.

The UK is very high tax for what you get in return. I've said it before on here that I left England because I was fed up like you OP. I was on a 3 year wait list for physio for my back that I hurt badly due to a riding accident. I couldn't register with a GP in London as all were full and I paid £250k for a small 2 bed flat while a family two doors down were able to live in a whole building through benefits. Here was me working very very hard to pay for someone who sat smoking weed all day live in a multi million pound home.

It isn't only small uncivilized countries in Africa with no or low taxes though, I had a friend in the caymans, where they pay no income tax. I visited and everything seemed really expensive but was affordable for the islanders as they got 100% of their high wages tax free. That was a nqt teacher earning about £50k and getting to keep it all. And having a much better quality of life than here, with the beach on the doorstep!

I don't resent a penny of it. The treatment that I've had on the NHS has saved my life & got me walking again. If I'd been paying for it through health insurance I'd either be bankrupt or dead.

Well come to Italy where a much higher % of your wage goes on tax. You pay to use motorways , public transport local and regional is pretty crap lots if strikes . Seeing the GP is free but the prescription charges are based on income and if you are say medium wage you can be looking at £45 for routine blood tests . My dd has a broken arm and taking her for her ' check xray and check up ' is costing £70. ( her initial treatment and xrays were free however). kids clothes up to 12 are taxed unlike the UK and VAT here is now at 23% I think might be higher have stopped checking......
One postive thing is that the wine is cheaper as they don't tax that as much as the UK !

Perhaps the overall burden of taxation, which I agree is high, would be lower, or the NHS would be in better shape, if successive governments didn't squander so much of our money on illegal wars and meddling in other people's affairs.

I don't understand why the OP is getting such a hard time, it is a bit ouchy every month when you get your wage slip & see how much you earned & then how much you actually get. I don't believe anyone leaps for joy going 'lucky me' at the massive deductions.

I also think it was reasonable to raise public transport as an issue as it is all part of the country's infrastructure & we do have a woeful rail service compared to many other European countries. I live in Perthshire and the rail 'service' is a joke - very few trains, very expensive, many rural stations shut years ago, times not geared to commuting etc. It is not good and I am not going to be all PollyAnna & think, well at least I'm not in Somalia. I do think as a nation we should aim a bit higher than 'better than the developing world' for our transport infrastructure.

My biggest gripe is tax credits effectively subsidising low wages - in reality we are supporting wealthy corporations, not the low paid, who I am sure would rather have a decent wage than have to rely on tax credit.

That and the fact we always seem to have enough money to get embroiled in wars, which are stupidly expensive, then have to penny pinch on things that would make life better for everyone (such as social care).

Please - never ever invite me to dinner. Ever.

I think we should pay a bit more tax actually.

On the other hand I do resent some taxes, our high council tax and cannot really see where that is spent and the tax on fuel. Fuel costs are too high.

I do think we pay a lot and get a lot back but I agree within posters who say the taxes could be spent much better and more efficiently and then perhaps they would be lower/we would get more.

We pay a lot of tax but we get a lot back in this country. Unfortunately there simply isn't enough money to do everything and there won't be unless taxes are increased and spending is reassessed. Personally I think there are areas where the money should be refocused (due to need) such as shifting away from nice to haves such as the arts and moving the money to essentials such as education and health. I love the nice to haves but due to our massive debt in this country we simply can't afford them at the moment. I also think there are areas where savings could be made very easily such as turning out street lights at night. But in the whole we have a good system which provides us with a civilised society which is the envy of many.

And I say this as a top rate tax payer who pays a LOT of tax, far more than I personally take back from the system.

There was a documentary on last year showing what proportion of government spending we each take. The figures were really interesting. You had to be earning something like 60k before you gave more in tax than you received in public services (can't remember the exact cut off point so happy to be corrected).

In Denmark they pay around 50% tax and they are supposed to be the happiest nation on the planet.

Wages are higher I understand but still, it is half your wages.

They also have phenomenal maternity and paternity benefits.

LOL at the airport comments (or at least I'd laugh if it wasn't so serious). If you think it's for theatre then you understand neither the risks nor what gets caught. And, as far as the treating like criminals crap goes, well it's always the same story isn't it - 'they' should do something about it all, but in reality 'they' never extends to any personal involvement or responsibility on our own part.

whatthe the transport system is all privately run now, so tax wouldn't impact on that.

If you think it's for theatre then you understand neither the risks nor what gets caught.

So, are you saying there are liquids out there that are safe enough to sit in a bin next to the scanners but dangerous enough to not go on a plane?

I am not saying that it isn't necessary. I am saying it isn't done correctly. Airports out there that are under serious threats actually do things that matter (for example, personally interviewing passengers).

I do find this attitude weird and selfish, but also incredibly naive. I had an accident which broke my collarbone. Had I been in the states my operation would have made me bankrupt. I have recently needed some anti - depressants which would have either cost me too much to afford or dampened my productivity and that of my employers for several months. I have worked extremely hard for the economy and in the public sector needing only to push for salary for living expenses not for health insurance and safeguards against no safety net. The increased levels of poverty and extreme poverty where I live haven't increased crime or destitution because of the limited welfare state so policing costs have gone down for society. Compare detriot and baltimore where police and crime escalate.

I have had periods of unemployment without losing my house andbecoming a burden elsewhere for society, and my state education benefittednot just me but all those other low income family kids who could then go and work relatively well educated in the businesses that generate income for the higher waged.

The contributions made by a wider team in the uk are made because of the fact that some advantages aren't given only to those with money but also to those in the team uk that can make the most of those opportunities.

Of course wealthy people suddely think 'hang on I did itall myself' but money corrupts your thinking. If wealthier people suddenly think ' oh I would like to keep my money' then a. it would have been harder getting there b. You wouldn't be as wealthy as you think. . look at wealth distribution in the US its not all frazier and friends you know.

Also, I think we should let people like the op opt out at age 45, and have fun watching them bankrupt themselves as they use their healthcare into their old age pay for ambulances and police at cost etc... They would still, , have the benefits of a low wage economy, reduced social problems and crime etc but they would still moan louder when they have to really pay.

Many of those services outlined which my council tax get spent on I do not use as they don't refer to me. Bins now collected fortnightly, pot hols in road, local libraries closing so I do not feel a get the benefit of our council tax hence my resentment in paying so much. But we do have some parks around us and a great local swimming pool which I do use but wouldn't say they alone are worth the price.

At a more national level, although I don't use the schooling system yet and don't use the nhs much I do feel the tax I pay for the services is worth it. Just wish it was used for efficiently and huge corporations and the riches people paid their fair share too.

Plus currently merging the two local areas together to be made one large one and will keep the name the of the one we live in. Another cost saving exercise I guess . So local ambulance/police service in my area doing twice as much. Are they lowering our council tax accordingly, no. So I could say I am now paying the same amount for half the services as they will be stretched for twice as many people.