[quote mikedyson]@MatildaIThink
You linked to a 2016 ONS report.
You seem to be very confused about what is actually direct and indirect taxation.
Here are a few extracts from the 2021 version of that ONS data -
Over the 10-year period leading up to FYE 2020, the richest one-fifth of people's average household income after taxes, benefits and price inflation increased by an average of 0.9% per year compared with the poorest fifth, which decreased by an average of 0.3% per year.
Indirect taxes made the largest contribution (4.3 percentage points) to income inequality over the last 10 years; as a proportion of disposable income, the poorest fifth of people paid 32.9% on indirect taxes compared with 11.4% for the richest fifth of people in FYE 2020.
The amount of indirect taxes paid as a proportion of spending was similar, although the poorest fifth of people still paid a higher proportion (18.7%) than the richest fifth (15.8%) in FYE 2020.
You contention that the poorest 2/3 need to pay more (presumably income) tax (with attendant complaint about the burden for the better off) doesn't bear examination. The income tax threshold is only part of the story - and that 5+ years out of date report you linked to considers the value of things like free education and the NHS in the calculation of who is a "net contributor". Your crude claims without qualification don't bear scrutiny.[/quote]
I am aware of the differences between direct and indirect taxation, but I have neither the time, nor the will to write an entire white paper in response to a post on here. I linked to the 2016 ONS report because it was the easiest to find from a quick Google, but it is not dissimilar to the 2021 report.
You are also cherry picking as you ignore the impact of benefits as negative taxation.
The bottom two thirds of earners (I very much doubt that someone in at in the middle of the earnings spectrum can be regarded as part of the "poorest") have very low taxation in the UK. You say it "doesn't bear examination", but what you actually mean is "I don't agree". In any other country in the the EU they would pay considerably more tax and that taxation funds better services from which all benefit.
Factors like education and NHS also need to be factored in, they have to be funded and unless one is an immigrant or was privately schooled we all took advantage of the education system in the UK. The current UK tax system is not working, as exemplified by not having enough money to fund our already substandard public services, countries such as Norway or Germany have higher taxes, much better services and, at least pre-Covid, balanced budgets. They do this not by a narrowly tax base, targeting only high earners, but by a system where everyone, across the whole earning spectrum pays more tax. Higher earners already have the fifth highest income taxation in the EU, sure that could go a bit higher, but the reason our tax take is so much lower as a percentage of GDP is not because a few hundred thousand top earners pay 47% instead of 49%, it is because ten million on £20k per year 13.5% in income taxation instead of 35% income taxation.