New NI tax. How are people meant to afford this?

[OnTheBrink1]

We bought our house just before covid, got a mortgage that pushed us quite a bit but worked it all out and it’s been doable since then. We needed to push the mortgage quite a bit because we were upsizing to get an extra bedroom for the kids and a downstairs loo and in our area and from what we had before it was a jump.
Been managing since then but no progression opportunities in DH job during the last 18 months due to covid it seems as recruitment was largely paused.
However, now we will now have to pay an extra almost £900 per year on this new tax. £73 I make it.
We don’t have any benefits of any kind.
It’s going to be quite a struggle to afford the mortgage and still maintain the car (which is old but we need for work and kids stuff) plus all the usual bills and food. Kids are between 8-12 and need bus passes, constant uniform and all manner of expenses of course.
I mean we will struggle by but it’s going to be tough to afford that extra £73 a month when we had all the mortgage planned.
Just don’t get how they can bring it in so soon when it’s such an increase. How are others in a more difficult position going to afford this? People will be loosing their houses surely?

And plenty who were furloughed will be hit by this clawback

@portico

I wonder why the government hasn’t tried to claw back furlough money from furloughers now back in jobs

What a supremely ridiculous suggestion. Did you actually even look at what you wrote, before you clicked 'post message?!'

Where the fuck would the people who were on furlough for some 8 to 12 months, and who had 20% of their salary taken from them (not a poxy 1.25%) GET the money from, to give back the furlough money?!

Daftest post on the thread. I can only surmise that YOU had to work right through, and are jealous of people who were furloughed, because you see them as being somehow spoilt and privileged because they didn't have to work for a while. Never mind the fact that they were worried sick about their jobs, and had a 20% drop in income for the whole time they were off, and struggled to make ends meet!

Also @OnTheBrink1 No sympathy from me. We have ALL had shit to deal with over the past couple of years, and many of us over 40/45 have had several recessions to deal with, along with home repossessions, and job loss etc etc... People have had to deal with it.

I can't muster up a single grain of sympathy for someone who is earning so much money, that a 1.25% raise is over £70 a month. You're obviously on a very good salary. More than most!

I mean most of us over 40/45 have had recessions, home repossessions, and job loss over the past 35-40 years or so, and have had to deal with it!

@MyPatronusIsACat wrote:
“What a supremely ridiculous suggestion. hmm Did you actually even look at what you wrote, before you clicked 'post message?!' “

Off course I did!

If people over 50 really have not noticed by now that life is harder and more expensive for all those younger then they really are deliberately trying to avoid that knowledge in a desperate self-justificatory mode. The economy has been deteriorating steadily since the 80s, with the growth of a rentier economy and an attitude that individuals should pay for everything rather than seek out communal solutions.

As usual this is an extra burden on top for the working population, and it will be a squeeze. The Big Issue had a good article about it. www.bigissue.com/opinion/the-national-insurance-hike-is-a-scam-and-wont-fix-social-care/

I'm not sure if The Blame Game is very helpful, although it seems many here like barking up that tree. Rather unproductive I think.

There's a little bit more number crunching involved when assssing NI liability, the Levy doesn't just take 1.25% of gross earnings, there's lots of thresholds and levers that apply to NI liability and the proposed Levy would apply along these lines and also include some 'groups' that currently have no NI liability.

It's a bloody good start, it's just a White Paper with Bills at this stage; loking forward to hearing any other proposals, unlikely, so now's the chance to vent spleen and come up with Amendments that actually helps the current Adult Social Care situation.

@BlueFairiesinthesky yes i had a letter from my gas and electric company saying charges going up and on my usage would be about £12 a week , thats a huge increase , looked around and all seem similar they have all jumped a lot
So rent has gone up, ctax gone up , gas and elec , new ni tax. Water rates up and petrol is high, car insurance due so prob go up to.
Yet my dh no payrise and all I can get is temp work, I will have to start charging my 16 year old rent soon just to get by at this rate.

People having less in their pockets is going to have a knock on effect on the economy. We are in for some tough times I fear.

The energy bills is the biggest swindle the government or the CMA has not stepped. Energy companies are a cosy oligopoly - similar prices and and always on the up. When they have reduced prices, I have never really felt the benefit.

It sounds like the mortgage is your problem not the NI op?

As a fellow high earner I don't feel I have any place to complain relative to those on much lower incomes who are being hit with this.

@Bluntness100

Gosh op you bring in approx a hundred grand a year and can’t afford seventeen quid a week? You need to cut back somewhere, because the bank will have done an affordability check which includes if interest rates went up way more than seventy quid a month.

As such it isn’t the mortgage it’s the rest of your spending.

This. Affordability rules and stress testing for mortgages mean that your claim of struggling to afford your mortgage simply doesn't add up.

Of course no-one likes paying extra NI and you might feel the impact, especially when combined with increases in food and utilities, but the only affect on incomes like yours is that your disposable income will be reduced. You're either being over dramatic or seriously deluded if you think you're at risk of losing your home.

At worst, you might have to think a little bit more about how you spend your disposable income, you're quite far from being at risk of losing your home or having to choose between essentials like food, utilities or school shoes FFS.

@portico

I’m just trying to come up with options for the government to take. Besides, furlough was a lot more than income support/unemployment benefit. Surely, there should be some clawback.

Furloughed people who are now working will be paying the NI increases too.

If you think that people forced out of work by the government through no choice of their own should now pay it back like a "student loan" you need to take a look at yourself.

Honestly it is what it is. I do struggle to have sympathy for higher earners moaning about this. I'm a single parent on a low wage, if I can manage then a couple on a 6 figure salary can.

I feel you, OP.

In real terms, this increase represents an extra 9% of my mortgage or 2 days' travel costs.

I don't resent paying extra for things like funding the vaccine rollout, or paying furlough to key workers. I wouldn't even resent paying extra if it was redistributed to lower paid NHS workers.

I do resent paying extra to cover the idiotic Eat Out to Help Out schemes that were responsible for up to 17% of Covid infections over the summer and significantly contributed to the second wave. I do resent paying extra to cover furlough payments that should never have been claimed. Over 100,000 companies have repaid cash that they didn't need, but I can bet you a significantly higher number of companies haven't been publicly shamed and have no intentions of paying back the money that wasn't really aimed at them.

I think mainly I just resent our government.

There's an assumption that higher earners just swim around in cash, but I can assure you, it's all accounted for, and in my case, primarily goes to support other people. It's exhausting having so many financial dependents. If I stopped working, they'd all be screwed. Luckily, if I work myself into a grave, the death-in-service policy will take care of them all.

I knew the increase in tax would come eventually, and as much as I don't want to pay it, I know it's fairest that people who on paper are the higher earners should have to pay it. But my circumstances mean I'm not anywhere near as privileged as many posters will assume, and I'm just tired. OP, I sympathise with you, but I suspect very few on here will.

[quote Porridgealert]**@Maverickess. No, I did inderstand what you said. You recognise that the the extra payment is necessary but you don't believe it will be used in the right way. Hence you said, I wouldn't begrudge paying it if....I just can't see it happening. The only inference that can be drawn is you don't want to pay it. Everyone can rationalise about not paying and I'm not implying that people are lying about their rationalisation.
The mantra of there's no point doing anything because it won't work is what govt's of the past 30 years have followed. And look where we are now. At least they're trying to tackle it. Will it work? I don't know but it's a conversation now that everyone has to start partaking in. The other political parties can't duck it now. Hopefully they'll come in with ideas to help, amend and improve what's happening.
I use care staff for my mum and you are all bloody fantastic. I really do thank all of you. You've had a bad experiences because of your employer so I understand your mistrust and frustration. But there has to be a point when we acknowledge that we can't hold off tackling the problem any longer. Having tried to navigate my mum through the social care system, I'm thinking this is as a good a time to tackle it as any because each year we leave it, it's only going to get worse.[/quote]
No, the inference that can be drawn is that I want this money to actually improve the care and not end up in providers profit margins.
Because that's what I said, and that's what I mean.
At the end of the day I have no choice in whether I pay it or not, but I will not be told by people like you that me wanting it to actually improve the sector I work in means I'm just trying to justify why I shouldn't pay it.

If your family income is around £70k (as suggested by an NI monthly increase of £70) I would not expect you to lose your house.

Nobody wants to lose £70 but I'm sure you can reduce your expenditure without losing your house, and if you want to post a detailed monthly budget I'm sure other posters can give you ideas.

@Waxonwaxoff0

Honestly it is what it is. I do struggle to have sympathy for higher earners moaning about this. I'm a single parent on a low wage, if I can manage then a couple on a 6 figure salary can.

I agree.

anything that needs money gets the instant reaction of how am I going to pay for this? the simple answer is,you just get on with life,it's that simple,another 10 yrss,& this will pale into insignificance,as everything does,in this life,nothing stays the same, imagine what the child in the pushchair today is going to face,a damn sight worse than us,you just cope,no more no less

I'm working poor and a single mum and I'm now expected to pay towards people being able to inherit. It's a a double kick in the teeth as it's come too late for my darling mum who has had to use all her savings for a dementia care home. Sickening.

@portico

I wonder why the government hasn’t tried to claw back furlough money from furloughers now back in jobs

But the Inland Revenue are investigating and attempting to claw back the furlough money that was fraudulently claimed by some companies who literally invented extra staff on their payrolls. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-57027046

The daily Mail are reporting that a few new managers on six figure salaries will be recruited by the NHS. I'm sure these new taxes will all help to pay their salaries and pension contributions etc :(
I know they are saying this money will go towards care , but I still feel a lot of it will end up elsewhere.

It is staggering to me, that the older generation having purchased houses that have gone up in some cases by hundred of thousands, state funded degrees, have gold plated pensions and all the perks of triple lock for years and other benefits are now expecting the young to pick up the tab for their care homes now as well, so they can keep all of the wealth. The young whom had to fork out for university fees, can not afford to even get on the housing ladder and are now finding they can't even afford a holiday. It is appalling and so unfair.

The government are creating a huge intergenerational divide, already simmering with the sacrifices made for the old during various lockdowns, will now blow the divide wide open by now making the young pay for this as well!

It is a disaster for this country's working population.
The old never paid for social care in the past, they paid for the NHS. So why do they get the benefit of something they never paid for in the first place? And why as a country are being forced into funding every single care home place now. Surely people must plan for old age properly. It can not be on the state to relentlessly pay for everything!

I can't believe the conservatives have done this to be honest.

Some of the money will go into the pockets of private care owners. They are not all rip of merchants but some are. What I can't see it doing is going to pay carers a decent wage which recognises the difficulty of the job.

@longue

The OP’s household probably is in the top 5%, no?

No

Actually yes they ate. If the OP is going to be paying an extra £900 pa as they say then depending on the split of salaries that means a gross household income of £85-100k pa, that puts them in the top 5%.

Of course the carers won't receive a pay rise or any kind of decent working conditions .
The care home owners might be looking at new car brochures though