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It seems weirdly outdated to me that mainstream political parties find raising taxes on the wealthy anathema.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!

@fridarose plenty of people at all incomes are in stressful jobs. Many without the safety net of financial security. I think you need a better argument than that. Although I am interested. Do you really think that there’s some sort of hierarchy where better paid people work harder or something?

@ReallyaSecretMillionaire good post

Reading this thread, I actually prefer the idea of contributing to charity more directly.

I don't think or believe that governments - especially THIS government deserve more of our money, and therefore control. The NHS is hugely wasteful in resourcing.

I'd rather donate money to say, charities supporting green and healthy living to prevent illness than more to the ministry of sickness.

I pay a marginal rate of 60% on part of my earnings, I feel I pay quite enough tax.

If you keep upping the tax that higher earners pay then surely it will get to the point where they think “what’s the point” and choose a lower paid less stressful job. Or move to a country with a lower tax bracket. I know I would.

@Dontgetyerknicksinatwist

If you keep upping the tax that higher earners pay then surely it will get to the point where they think “what’s the point” and choose a lower paid less stressful job. Or move to a country with a lower tax bracket. I know I would.

That's exactly what has been happening for years. Doctors and dentists started to reduce their working hours when they were hit by the 62% marginal tax rate on their earnings between £100k and £125k.

Personal finance boards are full of people putting money into pensions or working fewer hours or refusing promotions to avoid their taxable income going over £50k meaning they lose some/all of child benefit.

Lower paid people taking 2 part time jobs instead of a full time job to avoid paying national insurance.

The entire tax system is full of thresholds etc which drive behaviour detrimental to tax revenue, usually brought in, ironically, to raise tax revenue.

Personal finance boards are full of people putting money into pensions or working fewer hours or refusing promotions to avoid their taxable income going over £50k meaning they lose some/all of child benefit.

Really? do you mean if they earn 51k? You are not going to turn down a 60k job for child benefit.

not a chance. The robbing bastards take enough.

I agree up to a point - the point being that I don't trust the government to actually spend the money wisely! After all, they have literally wasted millions, if not billions, on Brexit with no tangible benefits whatsoever. I would like to live in a country where education, health and the environment (including subsidised transport such as trains and buses) receive a lot more funding than they do. This government cares little about anything other than lining their own pockets though.

You could probably double or treble the NHS's budget at midnight tonight, and in 10 years times it'll still be the cesspit it is and somehow in the middle of the "worst crisis it's ever faced".

@Biker47

You could probably double or treble the NHS's budget at midnight tonight, and in 10 years times it'll still be the cesspit it is and somehow in the middle of the "worst crisis it's ever faced".

I think this is true but not because the money is wasted but because the NHS wasn't created for a world where people live so long, and with chronic health problems for so long, and no one has really figured it out how it can work in that world, and no one wants to talk about it. So it keeps running in the same way but it just doesn't work anymore.

Interesting point on the first page by @Ifailed.. claiming that X% of the total income tax is paid by Y% of the higher earnings.. this ignores several other wealth and income parameters that should be included for context like... half of all private wealth is held by 10% of British households and 50% of England is owned by 1% of the population. Much of the UK's income and wealth is held in offshore companies that pay no UK taxes. It's not as simple as saying 10% of the population pays 60% of the income tax (I believe the actual figure is closer to 1/3...).. and income tax is not the only tax, VAT, NI are also burdens that are born unequally.

Absolutely not. Higher earners already pay close to 50% on tax.

Whenever you see posts on mn asking whether to take the stressful high paying job with a longer commute or a lower paying local one, the majority say go for the latter, life is for living, life is too short, your fault for living in London.

So NO. I am not further subsidising people to have a nice stressless public services-rich life.

@Biker47

You could probably double or treble the NHS's budget at midnight tonight, and in 10 years times it'll still be the cesspit it is and somehow in the middle of the "worst crisis it's ever faced".

Labour trebled it, and yes, a few years later it was in trouble again.

I agree OP

% wise, we pay less tax now than my entire working life. It’s no wonder we complain we get worse services.

However, I do think we need more confidence that those services are well run and spending our taxes wisely and efficiently- we don’t currently have this.

The posters suggesting voluntary additional contributions are just deflecting, it would need to be across the board, guaranteed higher funding to result in better services, the odd donation here and there doesn’t do the job. And it shouldn’t be the role of charities to pick up the slack.

@blueshoes

Absolutely not. Higher earners already pay close to 50% on tax.

Whenever you see posts on mn asking whether to take the stressful high paying job with a longer commute or a lower paying local one, the majority say go for the latter, life is for living, life is too short, your fault for living in London.

So NO. I am not further subsidising people to have a nice stressless public services-rich life.

Absolutely not. Higher earners already pay close to 50% on tax. Why do people keep spouting this bollocks? Unless you're that PP who weirdly insists on in including employers NI this is simply untrue, except as a marginal rate.

Only if it was spent and controlled properly, which it won't be, so no.

OP if you would be delighted to pay more tax nothing to stop you contacting tax office and telling them how much extra YOU want to pay. Others on higher incomes may not wish to use their disposable income in yet more tax. Each to their own. I don't think you can speak for anyone other than yourself. So crack on with your additional tax payments.

Absolutely not. Higher earners already pay close to 50% on tax.
Why do people keep spouting this bollocks?
Unless you're that PP who weirdly insists on in including employers NI this is simply untrue, except as a marginal rate.

Splitting hairs.

It is close to 50%. I did not say 50%. It is certainly 55% at the top rates. Even if it were 60%. The message is the same. What is wrong with including NI. This thread is about paying for the NHS, unless I missed something.

NHS, police and roads are not benefits though, they are services. Benefits are cash handouts usually dependent on having a low income, a disability or money paid towards housing costs or childcare.

@Kendodd

I agree OP and could afford to pay more AND it would make more financial sense, even for people like me to pay more.

I remember a poster on here once saying she'd never vote Labour because they'd put taxes up and add VAT to her private school fees meaning she could no longer afford them for her daughter. She then went on to say she'd had to take her child out of the state school as it couldn't provide the support her daughter needed. I just don't get the logic! Vote for a party you think will save you money on taxes, that party then cuts state services to the absolute bone so you feel you have no choice but to pay privately. Makes no sense to me. I bet she had private healthcare as well.

Unearned income (which is most of my income) needs to be taxed much more imo. Seems so unfair to increase the taxes on somebody scrapping by while someone else gets a half million pound inheritance and pays nothing.

'Seems so unfair to increase the taxes on somebody scrapping by while someone else gets a half million pound inheritance and pays nothing.'

But that would be double taxation. Inheritance tax is paid by the deceased's Estate and then distributed.

I've often thought similar OP, but then you factor in council tax, employer NI contributions, VAT, stamp duty and sometimes inheritance tax, and you feel that surely those contributions to state coffers are sufficient.

In Scotland, tax rates are higher than in England and the amount you have to earn before paying higher rates of tax is quite a bit lower. It really annoys me. The NHS is terribly run here, education standards are falling, quite frankly I don't have a clue where all this money is going.