Trickle down: To ask higher income earners...??

[venusandmars]

Following on from the budget announcements today which disproportionately benefit higher earners (particularly anyone earning over £150,000 pa), if you have a higher income and will therefore benefit from the tax changes, how will this really impact on your spending?

Will you actually spend more on local services (more coffees out in a locally owned cafe)? Will you increase what you pay your window cleaner? Will you donate more to local charities or spend more time volunteering? Will you make voluntary contributions to HMRC? What WILL you do with the extra money?

OK, I know IABU asking people to account for their choices, none of us know the financial pressures that higher earners might be under, but it seems to me that the whole 'trickle down' economic theory is completely flawed. So little of that additional money is going to be seen by lower earners - and almost none to those who cannot work.

I'm not in the +£150K bracket but I have enough when I know others are really struggling. I have increased what I pay my window cleaner. Over the next 4 months I will use my 100% of my energy payment to donate to local foodbanks. It's small stuff, nothing heroic.

I am despairing about the tax announcements today.

What are you trying to say? Would you please spell it out

Party Political broadcasts are strictly regulated, the Labour Party can’t just make one on a whim. Meanwhile this government has cracked down on protests - and I’ve yet to see one that’s made any difference. Vote the bastards out when the time comes is really all we can realistically do.

This.

Also “staff” is a bit rude. Our gardener does 2 hours per week, the cleaner 4 hours, car valeter 1 hour. They’re small businesses owners providing a professional service to us and other people. They’re no more “staff” than a hairdresser or nail technician.

I found this Facebook meme rather apt

😂

I think the irony is that £150K is around the point at which you stop increasing your spending in proportion to your income. You've probably already made your major lifestyle choices (housing/childcare/schooling/cleaner/holidays) and income above this amount is much more likely to go into long term investment. So doing fuck all for the economy.

DH hovers around the £150-200K mark (depending on bonuses) and as a household we certainly won't be spending anything we save on taxes. It will go on meeting increased cost of living (especially against future mortgage rate increases) and pension/investment.

The budget is completely nuts!! People earning over £150k don’t need a tax rebate right now and shouldn’t be benefiting more than those who are on low incomes.

Such rhetoric, such wit! 😂
How long did it take you to think that one up.

It’s not a rebate.

And,well they pay more tax so when there are cuts, where do you suggest the tax that they no longer need to pay, actually goes?

To others?

So in effect they get a proportionate increase?

Cutting taxes is ridiculous btw, I don’t agree with it at this moment in time.

A lot of people with those things haven’t always had them though so are well aware of the “real world”

Lots of high earners don't have any of those things

Only on MN is a cleaner compulsory.

@pastaandpesto That sums it up well. If you already have cleaner, get your car , go on holiday (usually overseas) car serviced, pay for kids activities etc- you won't suddenly be doing loads more of it . !! It will be money into savings or pensions

Absolutely. Any extra money we get just goes into our long-term savings as we can already pretty much spend whatever we want and we’re happy with our lifestyle.

it would have made much more sense to have tax cuts at lower income levels, so that people would actually spend their extra money.

Said no high-earner ever.

A lot of the money higher earners gain will be invested instead of being spent & going back in the economy. This budget has done virtually nothing for basic rate taxpayers & anyone who doesn't earn enough to pay tax.

Errr - said quite a few high earners on this thread

Says this high earner and her equally high earning spouse, and most of the (very, very) high earners in my office that I was discussing this with yesterday

Quite a few on this thread have said it.

It’s bonkers. The sensible way to cut taxes would be to raise the thresholds of personal allowance and the 40% /45% tax rate. Then the people who need it most would benefit.

Totally unreasonable comment @BigChesterDraws, just the fact of being a higher rate tax payer doesn’t make someone an arsehole. Many are horrified by these ridiculous changes. It’s the people who voted for the conservatives who you should be sniping at.

I think a few of the people who are struggling on here need to think about making judgements on people you don't know. Not all high earners are arseholes/greedy nasty pieces of work. Some are, some are not. Just as not all low earners are hardworking salt of the earth nice people, some are, some are not. I get that you feel resentful but as someone said before sniffing their candle out doesn't make yours shine brighter!! I've read a ton of tweets from various people who have stated they would rather the money went into public services or a much higher level for 40% tax to start or a much higher level for standard rate tax to start etc

This is counter-productive even for higher rate tax payers. Tax reduction already wiped off pension/investments in 24 hours.

And just to add to that I know a lot of high earning centre and centre left voters and quite a few low earning Tory voters in not far off minimum wage jobs back in my old home town, and it's their votes that tipped the balance and are the reason the Tory's are in power - as there are lots of them and a ton of constituencies like this. . It's Not my comfortably off middle class centreist and left leaning friends. - they don't vote Tory and are happy to pay same tax for better services

I’m concerned that anything we save on our taxes will just be eaten up by higher mortgage payments and pension value losses many times over.

Like many other high earners on this thread, I don’t think these policies are likely to work. I hope they do, of course, but it seems more likely that we will all be worse off.

Whilst we’ve got you all here, does anyone mind telling me how you became such high earners? I’m on £25kpa with promotion prospects up to £45k tops, and don’t hate my job but quite fancy earning more.