AIBU to believe rich people should contribute much more?

[marcusian]

A bit tongue in cheek, but given that its almost impossible for poorly paid workers including care workers and nurses to strike, and that the government have given people earning over £100K a massive pay rise, what other ways could the most wealthy be made to pay?

My idea: - a new LUXURIES tax (think 50% VAT) on things ordinary people cant buy, like superyachts, airplanes, £10K+ dining tables, a box at wimbledon, £500+ handbags, £100+ football boots!

AIBU - No - they should pay more and heres my ideas how they should do it!
AIBU - Yes - leave wealthy people alone, its not their fault

Actually enforcing tax payment would help.

As would linked wages

And being realistic about the effects of wealth inequality and capitalism.

Never going to happen though.

Leave rich people alone.

Why keep on at them? They already pay alot more in tax and give away money. Everyone has the opportunity to make money in this country for themselves. Good luck to those who do.

I doubt if you were rich you would want people telling you what you should be doing with your money and how you should be spending it?

Don't people pay VAT on luxury goods anyway?

Rich people generally pay loads in tax, for private healthcare, for private dental care, for private schooling so they probably pay more in than they take out.

£100 football boots doesn't make you in the super rich category, it makes you a parent of a football mad kid.

You talk as if the majority of people just happen to be rich through sheer luck. Most rich people actually had to plan, study, save and work hard, you know. And we already have some of the highest tax rates in the world for the wealthy.

Everyone has the opportunity to make money in this country for themselves.

True, but it's not equal and is heavily geared against the poor. Hence why people born into poverty remain there.

The rich do very well from a system that works in their favour. You can see this evidenced by the recent mini budget. And for the very rich, this is just amplified.

A better way of wealth redistribution needs to happen and not just talk from those members of the WEF. The great reset needs to happen but so far is just hot air.

I know it’s tongue in cheek but it shows a total lack of understanding of how these things work

A superyacht or plane is about as mobile an asset as you can get
The UK whacks a massive tax on, but Europe doesn’t
Clearly no one is going to buy from a UK company and pay the tax when they can buy from an Italian company and not pay it
So all it does is mean the UK companies go bust and the craftsmen working there lose their jobs

A £10k dinner - is this £10k per head? Because those dinners don’t exist, and for most £10k bills for a group, a large part will be the wine which is already very heavily taxed.
Or £10k for the total bill regardless of how many people are there? Because that’s going to screw over an awful lot of people getting married!
And the majority of those dinners will be corporate entertainment to a lesser or greater degree

Wimbledon- Roland Garos and the Swiss open doesn’t charge the tax, and it’s 2hrs to get your guests there. So who do you think now gets the corporate hospitality budget?

Tax rich people and medium people capital gains tax on their houses.

Don’t tax people extra to buy expensive stuff. There’s no one else to buy it and we need to keep crafts people on Saville Row in business.

Not everyone has the same opportunity. If you're lucky enough to be born into a family who can privately educate you, get Uncle Crispin to give you a job in his law firm, leverage family and school networks to progress your career then it's dandy. But if you can't afford to go to uni or have to work three jobs while you're there meaning your grades slip, or don't have networks to help you get a decent job, or have to drop everything to care for relatives because there isn't a good social care provision, then it's a very different story.

Who are ‘medium people’?!

I'm a lefty, but a pragmatic one, and I think taxation is really the only way forward. Kwasi obviously feels differently. This country needs to clamp down on tax avoidance too, by closing a few loopholes. I don't think taxing luxury goods up to 50% works, it won't stop the waste nor impact on the environment, because if it's so desirable it will be bought. 20% VAT on a £3m super yacht is still a significant sum. You have to remember the luxury market also has employees, who rely on their jobs to live too.

Not everyone has the same opportunity. If you're lucky enough to be born into a family who can privately educate you, get Uncle Crispin to give you a job in his law firm, leverage family and school networks to progress your career then it's dandy. But if you can't afford to go to uni or have to work three jobs while you're there meaning your grades slip, or don't have networks to help you get a decent job, or have to drop everything to care for relatives because there isn't a good social care provision, then it's a very different story.

LIFE ISNT FAIR

I don't get this. Why do you want to punish rich people? I'm at the other end of the scale by the way, scraping by on hardly anything. Why punish people who through sheer hard work or luck perhaps are wealthy? It's a very prejudiced view.

What’s the obsession with “rich people” tax is a percentage of salary. Someone on 100k already pays 35K in tax.

I mean really give it a rest.

Exactly who do you mean by rich people?

Rich people already give away 40% of their earnings and pay tax on everything they buy. And these are not even mega rich, many are just ordinary people living ordinary lives.

People with spare money buy things. Things that keep other people in jobs. They use services, which also keep others in jobs. If there were no rich people, who would pay the workers?

What massive payrise?

Threads like this make me despair. For people who think like you, it's a race to the bottom. Eat the so called 'rich' then you will be totally full.

Do you mean scrapping the additional rate? That’s on earnings over £150k

We have a household income of £100k plus. We are not buying / doing any of those things!! Even friends who aren't richer don't do that. Super yachts are for the 1%.

How have they given people on over 100k a huge pay rise? Have you looked at the figures? They already pay a disproportionate amount of tax.

No one on 100k is buying super yachts 😂

I am really convinced that when people read ‘45% tax for high earners scrapped’ they believe high earners won’t be paying tax or something.

and so many people don’t understand how tax brackets work either.

If you make 160k a year, the removal of the higher tax rate means you will be £500 better off!

£500.

You obviously get the same benefit on the portion of your earnings that are taxed at the basic rate, which every tax payer gets.

Trouble is that the rich will just buy stuff abroad instead to avoid VAT, like Lewis Hamilton buying his private jet through the Isle of Man.

The rich are mobile and can base themselves and buy stuff in other countries. If they do that, UK get nothing.

It's best for the UK to get a smaller percentage of something rather than a higher percentage of nothing.

Why should rich people (whatever you mean by that) keep paying for everything?

Why?

Why not sort out corporation
tax as a start and go from there.

Why is that ‘poor’ people are never ever at fault for their low/no earnings (clearly some will not be at fault) and that everybody who is rich is just ‘lucky’

This victim narrative is a bit pathetic tbh.

And I am no Tory and believe in helping people, but the acceptability by some of not personal accountability by others is galling.