To think all keyworkers should have their tax stopped for the next two years

[marysuzairn]

All of those that worked throughout covid need to be rewarded. Why not just stop all tax for every nurse, care worker, teacher (and assistant), gas engineer, pharmacist etc. They kept the country going and weren't just at home on 80% pay (and actually better off with less outgoing). Isn't it time to now reward them appropriately?

Well if finance people are on the list I would exclude them from this.

FFS! Lockdown has swilled some so far down their navels it's become a coronavirus version of It. You really spent time considering this? YABU. It's a job, people did all kinds of jobs during this. LOL @ the idea that everyone else was furloughed and living it up on 80% of their pay. Talk about privilege.

Yeah furloughs been a barrel of laughs , can barely pay the bills, my job is at risk, my electricity bill has doubled being in all the time, the food shop is a joke, and I lost my self employment jobs that topped up my already measly minimum wage and wasn’t entitled to the self employment grant. Just paid my tax bill in full (I’m not a sneaky shitbag hiding my income) and I’m ruined. Absolutely ruined.

But hey apparantly I was better off...

@marysuzairn

Well if finance people are on the list I would exclude them from this.

Why? You have a scale of who is deserving of this tax break everyone else has to pay for ? 'Finance people' are all monsters?

@marysuzairn

Well if finance people are on the list I would exclude them from this.

I bet they're not the only ones you'd exclude if you actually looked at the list, which you clearly haven't.

I wish I knew where this money tree is that some people seem to think exists.

Silly idea. I worked through the lockdown, not a keyworker in my authority (but would have been in others.) The list was huge and confusing therefore ridiculous idea.

I'm a key worker and I think this is a ridiculous idea. We're all going to need to pay more tax. There's no bottomless money pit.

Instead of those who have worked paying less tax I think those who were furloughed or the companies who used the scheme should pay more tax. At the be Very least those who were furloughed should have had to use annual leave and shouldn’t be accruing any leave

Are you being so stupid on purpose OP? Plenty of pp have pointed out that furlough is actually making a lot worse off, yet you still don't seem in any way contrite?

Not all finance workers wear pin striped suits and bath in champagne.
A bank cashier is on the same wage as an Asda check out clerk.

Back to the OP point, so people with a safe job, sick pay, a final salary pension, and a job for life should pay no tax for 2 years.

However, the self employed builder, the small cafe owner, the small start up companies should keep paying their tax, their overheads and in essence pay more tax to make up the shortfall?

A ludicrous idea. Key workers have been thanked a lot. We all need to move along now and stop this strange idolisation of key workers.

My friend is a nurse, on a non covid ward, and she has never been so bored in work.

Furlough isn't a privilege FFS.

@Mirrorxx

Instead of those who have worked paying less tax I think those who were furloughed or the companies who used the scheme should pay more tax. At the be Very least those who were furloughed should have had to use annual leave and shouldn’t be accruing any leave

And how do you plan to retrospectively impose these changes?

I work in a supermarket. I worked all the way through lockdown.

I don't earn enough to pay tax. Neither do many of my workmates. What about us?

@marysuzairn

Well if finance people are on the list I would exclude them from this.

So only a selective group of key workers then - not all that "kept the country going"?

And how should we devise the list of key workers that are suitable?

Yes, stop the tax of those who’ve had reliable work and money throughout all of this. Let those of us who have suffered financial ruin pay for it all.

@marysuzairn

Well if finance people are on the list I would exclude them from this.

So you’ve made this decision without actually looking at the list? Yes you still know that the list of keyworkers is ‘very small’?

What about me? I've worked at home with a year old for 3 months. Should I just get a kick in the teeth?

@marysuzairn

Well if finance people are on the list I would exclude them from this.

Oh so the people you think are worthy.

I can't decide if this is misguided niceness to keyworkers or a swipe at the furloughed.

So no tax from the key workers Inc those on 40% tax, a ton of redundancies, a spine in unemployment. Exactly how ARE we financing the recovery Mary?

Great idea. Let's also give all the keyworkers a free car, gold shoes and a unicorn. We can always just print more money, right?

Keyworkers are workers. They do a job and get paid for it. Other people who arent keyworkers arent somehow worth less because their particular jobs werent "key" during the pandemic. Also plenty of keyworkers were working from home and/or in very low risk situations. It's not like every keyworker was a nurse in ITU.

OP
The Governor of the Bank of England and back office payments staff in a bank are both key workers. However, one is paid a lot and the other not very much. Both have worked through the crisis. Would you exclude them both. What about judges? They are public sector workers and High Court Judges are well paid.

What a selfish, goady post.

Are we not past the idea that the Tesco check out person is a saint, and the rest of us (not on furlough who will pay the tax come September) were working from home having a fucking jolly.

Give the keyworkers a tax break only if they pay back all free childcare. I have barely held onto my job and my kids are being raised by Blippi.

My ds is a key worker (community pharmacy) and was happy to go in and earn extra to make up for the people furloughed next size of shielding/childcare issues.

He's happy to be in a secure job unlike the furloughed who are more likely to be made redundant.

Define "finance" OP. My DH is an actuary for a life company. Do you mean evil bankers or anyone who works with spreadsheets and earns a high salary?

I was furloughed. It's not like I had a choice and my mental health suffered. Conversely a good friend is an ICU nurse. She was very happy to be working and treated COVID as being part of the job she signed up for.