To kind of agree with Boris about tax?

[taxwtf]

I've never voted Tory in my life and can't stand the man. I'll never vote for him/them. His plans won't work because he's spouting crap and nothing adds up and Brexit will make us all poorer.

But...

Earlier this week someone I line manage asked me to check their payslip as they'd had a couple of extra payments and sick pay and weren't sure it was all correct. This person works 50% of the hours I do and is several points below me on our pay scale. I am a manager with a lot of responsibility and they are not. I now know that they take home about half what I do for working half the hours AND having waaay less responsibility/tasks etc.

I obviously don't begrudge this individual a single penny. The reason for this disparity is tax. The last few pay rises I got were barely noticeable in reality once tax, NI and pension contributions had gone up. If this person ever goes full-time their pay obviously won't double, but will not be as far behind mine as they might imagine.

WTF is the point of all the extra I do? As a single parent I also lose out so I strongly believe household income should be looked at instead of me subsidising married couples as is the case now. I wish I'd never seen that payslip, but although Boris's 'plans' obviously won't work, AIBU to think the tax system needs a massive overhaul and people like me in decent jobs, high end of our careers but absolutely NOT on silly money, should be better off?

If it's that bad for you, then just imagine how much worse it is for people who are earning less than you.

It is probably better for them in a roundabout way.

But that wasn't what OP was asking.

Yanbu

I can't stand Biris, or the vast majority of tory policies, but allowing people that aren't super rich to keep more of the money that's they have earned themselves just makes sense. The threshold for paying higher rate of income tax is currently set far too low, I say that as someone who is likely to stay on basic rate for life.

YANBU, at all.

I don't understand, they earn half what you do but do half the hours? Surely that's proportionate?

Anyway, it's not the tax system that is the main cause of the problem imo, it's the ridiculously low wages we have in this country.

They don't do the same job as me, Holly. Did you rtp?

I think tax is quite high for middle earners. Personally if we want to reduce inequality then we need to look at wealth & not just income.

It doesn’t seem fair but console yourself that at least you’ll have a decent pension when you retire

OP has extra responsibility.

Think of it as:

Manager of er, say Co op. Full time, earns £2000 a month after tax. Loads of responsibility and stress.

Till worker at Co op. Part time, works 2.5 days a week, no stress. Earns £1000.

I like progressive taxation systems. And well-funded public services.

There is a weak case for raising NI threshold (which would help you & your colleague).
Are you in the 40% tax bracket then? Coz raising that to kick in at about £80k would make you take home a lot more... if you don't want public services properly funded, then fine, argue how great that would make the world.

The other earners tax allowances are a higher proportion of their income so at lower levels they will seem rateably better off. You will take home more for every £ you earn.

Boris’s leaning is hard right. He would have lower taxes and privatise everything apart from the army. Then whatever extra you earn will have to fund private medical care, private education, private toll roads etc.

The saying “there is no free lunch” should resonate strongly here.

Manager of er, say Co op. Full time, earns £2000 a month after tax. Loads of responsibility and stress.

Which is why nurses are so well paid - they have the responsibility for peoples lives.

Oh, hang on ...

Apart from the marriage allowance that allows me to transfer part of my unused allowance to dh, how are married couples being subsidised? If only one person in a marriage works, then they can only use one set of allowances, plus the small transfer from the other person. They can't set both sets of allowances against the one salary.

We have independent taxation of married women, so we have our own allowances. I really wouldn't want that to change to a household system.

I am always trying to console myself with thoughts of my pension, but I have no confidence that I will ever receive it as I believe there is an issue with the funding of it...

If you want to start a thread about how shit nurse's pay is I'll agree with you DG but this isn't what I was talking about or OP.

I did @taxwtf, why the snippy response?

You may have read it, but you missed the fact that OP is in a position of responsibility.

State pension.....issue with the funding of it........hmmmm. Well if we ever get a long spell of hard right government it could well become means tested.

What!? After ten years of austerity you think tax cuts for people earning over 50k are a good idea?

We can all agree that the threshold for higher tax band hasn't gone up in line with earnings but, while we have street sleepers and hidden homelessness/food banks/NHS cuts/school funding being decimated etc etc I can't justify a tax break for those earning relatively well (and I would benefit from it).

AI203 lijkk The thresholds for higher rate haven't been raised for years, so it is about time they were. Boris can't privatise everything...it won't get through parliament.

Frankly, yes.

Very much in favour of public services - I work in one of them and certainly don't want more cuts. It's just I don't really see much in the way of rewards for the work I've out in to get where I am. I know it's not really logical...

The married couple thing seems unfair to me because I get taxed at the same rate as each person in a two adult household in which both were earning the same as me. I don't think that's fair because they benefit twice from the part of your income you get to keep before tax kicks in etc. I realise it would be complicated but I understand other countries do things differently.

Are you in a higher rate tax bracket OP?
Why do you think you're subsidising married couples?
Also, you ARE better off than you would be if you earned say £10k less money! You will have a much better pension than your colleague as you work full time and pay more into it. You may have more disposable income, a higher mortgage, a better car, more expensive food.
Do you actually mean that everyone regardless of income should pay the same tax, NI, pension etc?
If my salary goes up £1k, I will be in a higher rate tax bracket. Ignoring pension and NI, that means I will pay £400 in tax as opposed to £200, equalling an extra £3.85 a week. Hardly a fortune, the cost of a take out coffee.