The tax system in this country is unfair and penalises hard work

[renouncefifty]

I have just finished an assignment working 20 days straight and put in nearly 300 hours. Im exhausted but have a week off to recuperate.

I get overtime for every hour over 8 hours a day I work and overtime for weekends all day. I just realised I've "earnt" £9000 this month which sounds fantastic BUT over £3000 is going in Tax and god knows how much in NI. I dont get a full personal tax allowance as im taxed on my private health insurance premium. I will be lucky to see 5.5k of that money. Oh im in scotland so we pay a penny more per pound in tax also.

I just think sometimes why bother ?

Don’t then. If you would rather not have the £5.5k than have it and help support the less well off you’re welcome to not bother. I’d be happy to pay more tax to support our services, actually. I’d rather live in a place which had them than one without.

You’re serious?

I agree. Though not earning as much i also often do long hours and weekends to get urgent work done just to see a massive tax bill.

Also, what Anouk said.

Awww poor you, only £5.5k in your pocket for a months work. You do realise that some people earn 1/4 of that and work just as hard?!

You have private health care but resent paying towards the NHS care for those whose employers don't contribute to their life in any way beyond paying them NMW? What a lovely person you sound.

How do you suggest the country is funded then? You are being ridiculous

So you’d like to pay every time you see a doctor or need medical treatment then? You’d like people without any money to die because they can’t afford medical treatment? You’d like roads and pavements to be riddled with dangerous potholes because nobody will pay for the repairs? YABVU

yes, im not a high earner but dh is just below/just over 6 figures most years and it does grate a bit that almost half is tax/ni/pension (appreciate that pension is his choice).

Its meant that for years we havent had child benefit ... friends with 2x £50k salaries do and use it to buy i pads, hunters wellies and north face rain coats for the children - obviously essential to slap brands on the kids!!!!!

We also didnt qualify for the 30 free nursery hours either, only the 15 hours.

Income tax doesnt go direct to fund others benefits though and you never know how life might turn out!!

if you earn less for the rest of the year you will get some of it back in Tax but i also think YABU as you earn more and you pay more tax - thats simple life

Quit and go get a min wage job then.

Don’t then. If you would rather not have the £5.5k than have it and help support the less well off you’re welcome to not bother.
^^ this

There are plenty of hardworking people who would love to earn 5.5k for 20 days work.

although obviously, you are doing the job of more than one person, your working average 15 hours a day for 20 days.

Well, why do you bother?

5.5k is about a third of what I earn in a year. I work bloody hard too, just in a job and sector that's not traditionally well paid.

If that's all you have to worry about I'd say you have it pretty good.

Ah the old 'work hard' argument. Just as additional information my daughter earned £7000 as a full time TA, A YEAR.

Yes you worked hard but you have been more than compensated for it. Others work hard and are not well compensated for it. You didn't work any harder than anyone else.

Your greed is showing.

Don't work for the rest of the year and get it back? There's an option.

Tax system doesn't penalise 'hard work' just to be pedantic.

Genuinely I don’t know where to start OP.
You’re right, the work you have done has only been rewarded with a measly £5.5k you’ve been royally fucked up the arse.

You’ve got £5.5k in cash.

You get to live in a country which is pretty stable and have a nice roof over your head.

That’s a pretty decent reward.

You need an accountant.

Your tax is calculated over a year so depending on what tax band you are usually in you may get some of it back but ultimately I’m also in Scotland, also have a massive tax bill and probably put in more than I take out especially at the moment but I’m glad for the things I do get. I’m grateful for a ‘free at the point of use’ NHS (despite the private healthcare I have - that isn’t going to help me in an emergency) and for our emergency services. I realise that I need to pay for the roads to be maintained, the bins to be emptied and the hundreds of other small services I don’t even think about. Most importantly i glad to live in a country where children don’t go without an education because their parents can’t afford it and aren’t begging and living on the streets because there is no safety net. Having lived in a country where there is no welfare state and medical care is all paid I’m glad we have one, even if it’s not perfect. I’m lucky to earn enough to afford a comfortable life for myself and my family and paying tax so that everyone can benefit from government services and if necessary be supported by the state if they can’t support themselves, seems reasonable to me.

Also I bet there are plenty of others who work much harder than you who get paid a hell of a lot less.

I know who I’d rather give the £5.5k to!

It’s perfectly fair.

You can certainly spare the extra tax. Plenty of people work hard yet barely take that home in six months.

A loaf of bread doesn’t cost any less for people on a lower tax threshold.

I knew id get a lot of this but hear me out. If I had worked just 40 hours a week instead of 90+ i would still take home around 3 k but all that extra stress, hours away from family, looks good on paper but at the end of the day its whipped away. Im all for a progressive tax but 41% ? Thats a big chunk.

The middle earners are propping this country up and thats a bloody fact. Amazon pay a pittance ! What exactly are we doing here ? A fairer tax system is in everyones interest !