Question time man top 5 percent.

[refraction]

Did anyone see the man on QT asking about tax?

Apparently he doesn't even think he is in the top 50 percent of earners.

All doctors earn more apparently and solicitors.

How out of touch with reality?

He didn't come across well and very out of touch.

his comment has highlighted how poorly paid Brits are for the economy they live in

He lives in the North West. He is very well paid for the economy he lives in.

Don’t know if this has already been posted - apologies if so

www.globalrichlist.com/

Where you fit in

@ReceptacleForTheRespectable
My ex-SIL was once convinced that someone is defrauding me with childcare fees. She was "self employed", claiming tax free childcare, 30 free hours and working tax credits, and was paying out of pocket around £200 / month for a full time place at the same nursery chain where I was paying £1400.
The difference amounted to £24K pa in terms of pre-tax hypothetical salary. But she did not see it like this, as it was never monetized so did not feel like real money to her.

£36k is the median earnings for London. There is nowhere in the UK where £36k would be bottom quartile!

Oh and on the “how much do you earn threads” I am told I am jealous and poor when I gently question that not everybody is telling the truth about how much they earn. Because statistically and looking at some of the sentence formation and logic some people display, 90% of MNetters do not earn six figures.

Then “told to get my head out of my arse” when I say I don’t consider myself rich. Interesting.

Only on Mumsnet! 🤣

Tbh, I think 'normal' earners don't post on those threads. I don't see the point of them myself.

I have my own business. What I earn is between me, my accountant and the tax man I don't feel its relevant to mention it here. I have worked bloody hard, still do. A 15 hour day, 6 days a week is standard. When I started out I worked on a supermarket checkout to make ends meet and often had to choose between food or feeding the electric meter. If people are resentful because I've done OK for myself then they can piss off, frankly. I pay my taxes, I holiday in the UK mostly, or take 1 foreign holiday a year. I live in an ordinary house, drive a second hand car (someone else can pay the depreciation), I choose to buy assets rather than blowing money on daft stuff but if choose to spend my disposable income on dining out that goes to pay someone's wages, if I shop I employ people and their disposable income goes to pay for other goods and services too.

What would you have me do? stop earning money to pay people or to spend on goods and services? Do you think all my profit should go in tax and force me to jack it in for a 9-5 on minimum wage?

You are wealthy though, regardless of income. Owning more than one property, with no mortgage to service, puts you in a wealthy minority.

hit send too soon, should say... If I shop that's someone's job too, I employ people and they pay taxes too.

I also donate anonymously to charity and help fundraise occasionally.

Shoot me now, for no longer being on the bones of my arse.

We also work in public services - I’m a teacher and DH is military. Not traditionally occupations regarded as wealthy. I do acknowledge that we are better off compared to many people, I feel fortunate if not rich.

Nobody wants to shoot you or seize all your money, dollyandshirl. Some people think that those in your position should pay slightly more in tax to fund improvements in public services. That's a long way from sending you off to the gulags.

Mumsnet does seem to have a skew towards a wealthy demographic though. There seem to be lots of posts about public schools, despite only 7% of children being privately educated.

Or maybe it's just that a MNer sending her kids to the local comp doesn't feel the need to post about it? Who knows. All I know is that the vast majority of people cannot afford to privately educate their children, so the preponderance of those threads doesn't reflect the real world.

Similarly, people who only mix with highly paid professionals should be bright enough to realise that the salaries of the people in their bubble don't reflect wider society.

There was a thread recently from someone who claimed that it was simply impossible for the median household income after tax to be c.£30k. She didn't know anyone like that, therefore she couldn't believe it was even possible. Yet she had apparently been considered intelligent enough for a well paid professional job. Bizarre.

who mentioned gulags? FFS.

Pay a little more? how much is that? the more I earn the more I pay anyway, and the more people I can afford to employ with what's left. More tax, or another person in work?

Tax isn't about being jealous or resentful, it's about how to ensure that the needs of society are met. We all benefit from living in a society with good local services, policing, health and social care, a safety net for the vulnerable etc...

The UK has a progressive taxation system, as it is fairer to tax people who are better off more than those who are worse off. The only debate is about the appropriate rates and thresholds.

Nobody is being picked on or forced to stop earning what they do.

My DH would pay more tax under this proposal and I have no issue with that. Nor does he.

We both acknowledge that we would benefit from living in a fairer society. It's not only the poor that benefit from a more equal society, richer people do too. There is loads of evidence to suppoer this- read The Spirit Level.

^Support this

Employee wages are tax deductible for your business. You must know that.

Do you really think that people are thick enough to think that companies pay tax, and then have to find employee wages with what's left? Christ.

who mentioned gulags? FFS.

You were the one making huge dramatic statements about being forced to jack in your business and take up a minimum wage job instead. That isn't what this thread has been about, as is fairly obvious from even a basic read. Nobody's coming to seize all your stuff.

Pay a little more? how much is that?

well, the man who's the subject of this thread was taking about how much more he'd have to pay under Labour's taxation plans. He said he earns over £80k but didn't say how much over, although he did say he wasn't rich and believed that most people earned more than him. So let's say he's on £81k. That would mean under Labour's plans he'd be paying an extra £50 in tax a year.

I also donate anonymously to charity and help fundraise occasionally.

oh fuck off @ReceptacleForTheRespectable

Everyone else, interesting to read. Ok so I pay more tax, at some point though I then have to cut jobs or at least pause employing more people or risk financial uncertainty, I'm not prepared to overstretch or borrow and pay interest on a loan to keep the cashflow straight. I could buy supplies from cheaper (European/Indian/Chinese) sources rather than British manufacturers I've worked with for years, too.

tomorrow at the animal shelter I'll make sure to feel like the cold, bloodless twat you take me for. Probably while you're watching Strictly.

of course employee wages are tax deductible. Luckily the income to fund gross salaries grow on the magic money tree out the back.

What I don’t think a lot of people who earn higher amounts seem to understand is they may have high outgoings but these are a choice. Those with less don’t have the same choices. So they may have less disposable income but that’s because of choices they have made, and they could still make different choices. I would happily pay more tax for better services and I don’t earn anywhere near £80,000. We live in such a consumerist society I think we lose sight of what is necessary and what is a luxury.

Fuck off? Because I pointed out you were insulting everyone's intelligence? It is absolutely not a given that paying more tax means you have to cut staff. That's not how economics works.

Reducing inequality and putting more disposable income into the hands of lower earners (who will spend it) is likely to boost sales for many businesses in the medium and long term.

This is why austerity failed, and one of the reasons why UK growth has been so abysmal for the last 10 years. Tax doesn't just impact the payer, it impacts the economic environment of the whole country, every individual and every business.

fuck off for the charity meme.

off to work now, feel like shuttering the bloody place and taking a fucking holiday TBH. 30
years hard graft and care, and I'm still not doing enough.