I don’t want to pay less National Insurance, I’d like a better funded NHS

[CormorantStrikesBack]

🤷‍♀️

obviously I appreciate I’m in a position to think that, but I’m not on a huge wage. I’m glad if it helps people who are struggling but I’m also worried about the nhs, school funding, etc.

They don’t seem to be managing now, I can only imagine it will get worse. There are councils going bankrupt and cutting services, respite care, libraries, etc.

id rather carry on paying what I’m paying than risk such services been funded even less.

If you're that bothered, you're free to make voluntary contributions to The Treasury!

Feel free to pay more if you choose

Do you really think it will make a difference? Seriously. Bit of a silly comment really. I can’t imagine many people would bother. I don’t think me giving them an extra £20 a month (?) will help fund many nurses.

I'd like a specific tax for NHS funding. A pot that preferably couldn't be ransacked every time the government had a policy change

I hope you find an nhs dentist to help with your dental pain.

I don't understand how a whole class of National Insurance can be abolished and 'save' people money (Class 2s for self-employed). They can't just stop paying NI, can they, without fucking up their state pension entitlements?

So they will have to pay one of the other classes somehow (1,3,4) which will cost them a lot more? So how is it saving the self-employed money.

All this ^^ was why the idea got kicked into the long grass a few years ago.

Does anyone have any more info on this, in case the BBC is reporting it wrong?

Of course, it makes so much sense; if you pay less into the kitty there’s going to be so much more money for public services.
Public services don’t register with tory mps, they have private everything.
My daughter and granddaughter have both been hospitalised on separate occasions for double pneumonia and I suspect it’s the damp in their flat. When a motion was put to the commons to have a basic level of decency for human habitation they turned it down. At least a third of them are landlords.

I think I’d rather donate the saving to a local food bank as at least it’s more likely to make a tangible difference.

one person, or a small number of people donating to The Treasury won’t make a difference. Which is why we have a national tax system.

You are being rather rude OP. It goes on benefits mainly anyway.

I'm private and covered thank you

Don’t worry @CormorantStrikesBack, loads of us are being dragged into the higher tax band and out of eligibility for child benefit as thresholds have been frozen for a long time. The national insurance cut won’t offset that for many of us so we will be paying in more.

Cutting NICs does sound like a hefty cut to public services budget, BUT this cut is outweighed by the freeze as to the point when higher rate tax kicks in and the freeze to when you have to hand back child benefit (£50k).

Cutting NICs rewards workers without rewarding wealthy pensioners.

National insurance isn't to pay for schools and public services though is it? I thought it was called national insurance because it's our "contribution" towards the benefits system? Including pensions, maternity, job seekers etc.

Isn't general tax to pay for things like public services?

I don’t think I’m been rude at all.

oh well, if it mainly goes on benefits that’s fine. I don’t want to be funding that. 🙄

There was me thinking the U.K. was £2550 billion in debt…..but guess I’m no economist so maybe that level of debt is nothing to worry about and a tax cut is in order.

Citation please?

Oh no I've just seen the NHS is funded through both general tax and then supplemented with some NI.

Ignore me

I'm not really clear on how this is going to work - which level will need to be paid for state pension eligibility?

From the King's Fund”

The NHS is funded mainly from general taxation supplemented by National Insurance contributions (NICs).

I think just the basic level for a certain number of years….35?

Me too, I’d like a system that funds our public services, and helps those who need it properly. This was a Tory statement designed to try to sway votes rather than anything that will actually make a difference to the dire situation this country is in.
The one positive is it suggested to me that an election may come around sooner than we think.

Let's be honest, you could pour 100% of everyone's income into the NHS and it still wouldn't be enough.

The self employed pay class 2 and class 4 currently, so they already do pay another class

I think they'd already set things up to be able to abolish class 2 NI, the threshold for that having risen to match the threshold for class 4. But I agree the devil is in the detail for self-employed people below that threshold - a system (other than voluntarily paying class 2 NI which I have done in the past on occasion) to ensure they get credits. I'm now hopefully going to be above the thresholds and paying class 4 anyway going forward but will certainly have to keep an eye on the rules.

Self employed people pay two different types of NI, so they will still be paying the other one.

Personal taxes are going up overall despite NI cut and OBR confirms overall tax burden is rising so you'll be getting what you want.