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 ?

@renouncefifty

The issue isn't the tax system.

The issue is that you work in a job where you were doing hundreds of hours in a short space of time.

That’s ridiculous.

You what?

There are people who work the same hours you do for minimum wage. Do you think they don't work hard?

Well, why not retrain and take a lower paid job like a nurse or teacher and kick back and relax!

Then you should be cross with Amazon and campaigning for a clamp down on tax avoidance. Do you boycott them?

You obviously realise that Income tax is a progressive tax, so the more you earn the more you pay. Are you aware that NI is a regressive tax, so the more earnings you cram into a month, the less NI you pay? I also hope that you waived all your rights under the WTD, as otherwise your employer has probably broken the law on a number of cou t's.

Perhaps you should apply for child/working tax credits You poor thing!

A fairer tax system would be cracking down on companies like Amazon to pay their fair share of tax. Not tax cuts for people bringing home £9k a month.

Try working in Italy. I earnt €7000 last year and my tax and NI contributions come to €3900 and that's not including my accountant's fees.

So that's 15 hours a day at £30 an hour. Works out at about a salary if £52k if you worked a normal 37.5 hour week. So Op's done 8 weeks work in under 3 weeks
If that's not hard work, I don't know what is.
But the tax is still due no matter your work pattern.

Because people who earn less than £9k a month never work hard, do they?

Paying tax is a privilege. Go and try to live off benefits if you don’t agree.

we dont even know what OP does? She might be in charge of a project and budget of millions etc - pay her the same as a office administrator as they work equally as hard?

"You need an accountant" Im a PAYE employee. Nothing can be done.

I don't use amazon at all actually. I try to buy locally where possible.

Im not after sympathy here ! I just cant fathom why the tax system penalises middle earners so much. I know many self employed earning similar amounts who run their cars through the books and employ their spouses as a director of their company who pay a fraction of the tax I pay.

The Tax system is needing an overhaul

And to top it all off, I am guessing your diamond shoes are too tight op.

I think tax is necessary but really despise inheritance tax. If I end up with a large estate and nobody to leave it to I'll go on a huge spending spree before I let the government spend it on a missile or suchlike. I'd also hate the idea of working my arse off to build my own company then get my bollocks taxed off.

Why don't you put it in your pension then? Or donate it to a charity?

I work 30 hours a week and it takes me 6 months to earn 5.5K...

I know of plenty of people as you have just described too OP. can you become a contractor?

We all work hard.

I’m glad you pay tax on that.

You could always work in McDonald’s if you like?

£5.5K net is almost 3 months' pay for me and I'm not exactly poor. So you need one of these...

@heattreated people aren't saying that at all. People are saying don't moan about paying a lot of tax when you're earning so much money, more than a lot of people would dream of.

And don't forget the £4bn we're investing in Africa...

Firstly I agree with PP's. The more you earn, the more tax you pay. If you don't like it want less.

As for being in Scotland I didn't know you paid an extra penny per pound tax but isn't it right that you get free prescriptions, your children don't have to pay uni fees if they go to a Scottish uni and I'm also pretty sure you get an extra bank holiday too?

At the risk of being flamed, I agree OP. I'm not a higher earner but DH is. He works away, works long hours and has huge responsibility for other people's safety. He earns well, we are not wealthy by any stretch but I find it irking that we are constantly losing out. We live in Scotland so pay more tax anyway. We were hammered with our local council tax rises for band D+ houses. We don't get child benefit. We qualify for nothing that our tax funds. Any overtime or bonuses lose almost half their value in tax and NI. Not withstanding the troubles in my husband's industry has meant no pay rises (in fact we had a pay cut) for 3 years. We are quite a bit worse off now and feel that there is no incentive to be successful in Scotland any more.
I'll go find my tin hat now while I'm bombarded by comments that with a high earning DH I'm not allowed to feel hard done by and robbed as I should just be grateful for what we have.

Well at least you get overtime. There’s lots of people who work far in excess of their contracted hours and get no additional pay.

Suck it up OP. You have £5,500