Quite a lot of better off people would be happy to pay more tax?

[Echobelly]

Provided it was channeled towards things like NHS, social care, education.

It seems weirdly outdated to me that mainstream political parties find raising taxes on the wealthy anathema. We've been living in such a low-tax society for so long, but households like mine (I'd say it's a 6-figure annual income between us) could easily afford to pay more in tax and still enjoy our lives.

But instead parties are obsessed with recouping money by removing benefits for the poorest people, which is stupid as the difficulties resulting from plunging people into greater poverty, as well as being cruel, will ultimately cost more money than it saves.

Take that money off people like me in taxes! We won't become homeless or sick or suffer mental distress for the sake of a bit more tax. Year after year I see budgets that will apparently save people like me £500 a year, as if this is supposed to be an incentive to vote for the Tories but tbh, I won't even notice being better off by £500 a year. Give that saving to someone for whom it'll make an impact!

I'd rather live in a higher tax country with better public services. The health and transport systems here are a joke and education seems to be going the same way, and police only investigate the very worst crimes. I'd rather pay more tax and live somewhere where if I got cancer there was a lower risk of it not being spotted, quicker treatment times and more advanced treatments.

However I think YABU to think this is what most high earners want. The majority of people in this country are more right leaning and the culture is more geared towards the individual rather than what's best for society.

The posters saying you can give some money to charity or pay more tax if you want have lost the plot though as that is a drop in the ocean

I’m nowhere near a super high earner, but am somewhat higher than average. No I wouldn’t be happy to pay more tax. I pay enough as it is. Elsewhere everything is going up, food, utilities, council tax etc. if I also had a higher tax bill I’d have barely anything left.

@Allywill the only regular prescription we have is my contraceptive which I pay for privately as the doctors put me on a generic brand allegedly the same as my branded one and it caused my endometriosis to flare up.

Free university fees is one I had forgotten I'll give you, but may not be around by the time DS goes to uni, plus it's not something that is really helping the lowest earners although I suppose it does mean people may be more likely to go on to tertiary education.

OP you also have a distinct lack of understanding of the difference between wealth and high earners. High wanted pay a lot of tax as it stands whereas wealth is not taxed anywhere near as appropriately as it should.

Thousands of people are sitting on large amounts of wealth that they use loopholes in order to avoid paying. For example care home fees or inheritance tax.

Living in a country with well funded public services is brilliant. Much less stress, a nicer place to live, even if you earn well it’s still a better quality of life than keeping more of what you earn. I wish to god I hadn’t returned to the UK.

Sorry wanted=earners

People who want higher taxes almost always think that the people who should pay it are people who have just a bit more money than they themselves do.

@Ifailed

Currently around the top 10% of earners pay 60% of all income tax, just how much more do you expect them to pay?

And there it is- the reason rich people vote Tory and always will.

@HardbackWriter

People who want higher taxes almost always think that the people who should pay it are people who have just a bit more money than they themselves do.

Nope, I would pay higher taxes, but on my investments, not on my earned income. Labour should pay at least the same as passive income and work is taxed enough for the majority.

Nope I can’t afford to pay anymore tax and actually have money left over at end of the month. I don’t qualify for any government benefits so don’t see why I should pay more because Iam not on benefits.

How come you’re paying a small amount? Ours is over 50 percent when everything is added in. It’s a huge Amount.

If you have money to spare then there is nothing stopping you donating it to causes that need it. Go for it. You don’t need to hold back demanding every other person pays more too.

@rookiemere

I pay more tax already as I live in Scotland. Naively when it was first introduced I was happy to do so. I can see no discernible difference between education, NHS or anything really as a result of this extra funding. Lots of SNP propaganda though. In theory extra tax is an appealing idea. In reality it puts people off earning more and generally hits the squeezed middle class rather than the genuinely rich.

The extra tax that Scotland pays compared to rest of UK pays for free prescriptions and higher education tuition. I live in Scotland and am a higher rate tax band payer and would happily pay more to maintain these social benefits and expand upon them.

I wouldn't complain at paying more tax if it was spent on more police and more prisons.

I don't want more money spent on the NHS, though.

People who want higher taxes almost always think that the people who should pay it are people who have just a bit more money than they themselves do

^^This exactly! People with moderately high incomes generally have higher outgoings (big mortgages, schools fees etc), and consequently don't have massive amounts of spare cash or think of themselves as 'rich'.

@MoniJitchell

The extra funding that Scotland receives from the treasury, compared to England, helps too.

No way.

I'm not supporting any government that proposes increasing income tax for higher earners, its already ridiculous at 50%. I have a mortgage to pay and retirement to save up for (state penion won't be enough by the time I retire) so the more I pay in tax the longer it is before I achieve my goals. No thanks.

Tory politicians (at least the ones making policy) are rich, selfish and only out for themselves. They assume all rich people are equally selfish because they can’t fathom how anyone could not be like them.

I agree! I would happily pay a few extra % in tax than I do if it ensured that the NHS was funded adequately and the most vulnerable in society were supported appropriately.

@SoftSheen

People who want higher taxes almost always think that the people who should pay it are people who have just a bit more money than they themselves do

^^This exactly! People with moderately high incomes generally have higher outgoings (big mortgages, schools fees etc), and consequently don't have massive amounts of spare cash or think of themselves as 'rich'.

Those higher outgoings are choices though. They could pay more tax so that state education is better rather than paying for a 'better' education just for their own children. And don't forget the unjustified charity status that many private schools have so that they pay less tax.

@SofiaSoFar

I wouldn't complain at paying more tax if it was spent on more police and more prisons.

I don't want more money spent on the NHS, though.

May I ask why?

Completely agree, not least because I think most people, including higher earners, end up saving in countries with high tax and good public services. Here if you need mental health support, decent dental care, uni education, childcare - it really costs.

Nope. I want to pay less tax.

@Allywill I know this isn’t the point of the thread, but is it worth you and your DH getting prepayment certificates if you have regular prescriptions?

*we do not live in a low tax society