to think that 6000 per month is excessive for the government to take off my pay for tax?

[tootaxed]

Surely there should be a maximum limit that each person has to pay as tax? Six grand per month in tax is just excessive imo. And that is before NI contributions etc. If the government set a maximum tax limit they would take more care over how they spent their central funds. And I wouldn't have to work so many hours away from my DCs only to have 72 bloody grand a year taken off my income to fund their mis-spending.

I haven't read the whole thread, only got to about page 5, but here are my thoughts on the subject....

Are You Being Unreasonable? Yes. Although you have suffered difficulties in life and put a lot more into the "system" than you take out of it, you are actually in a very fortunate position compared to a lot (most) of society. I am sure it may not feel like that on a day to day basis, but when there are people who cannot provide food or warmth for their children then complaining about such a high tax bill is unreasonable.

It seems that there are other factors which drove you to "crying point" over your tax. What stands out to me about these is that YOU CAN CHANGE THEM. For example you could work less hours, you could start claiming invalid benefits for your husband etc. That other people are in situations that they cannot change is why you faced such vitriol in the responses. Because people think "oh dear, poor her, in a situation of her own making that she can change and she wants us to feel sorry for her".

All that said, I do understand that you are taxed a lot - as am I. But I do not begrudge it. Having spent a lot of time travelling in developing countries I really appreciate what my taxes provide in this country (even if I moan about the NHS too). What they fundamentally provide is a safe country - where we are not subject to high levels of crime just because people need to take from others for their basic survival and are driven to violent uprisings to protest about their situation. When I look at colleagues who live in Kenya, I realise that although they pay less tax, they end up spending that money on private security instead.

Maybe you should use this crunch point to re-evaluate things in your life and decide if you are truly happy and if there is anything you want to change. Because you are lucky enough that you can.

also, as theyoungvisiter says, you have never done your bit. There's always more we could spend on schools. Another operation we could do. Another road sweeper we could employ. A friend of mine (American) had a premature baby and her bill to date is $1.8million. Thankfully, she is insured, but it's easy to see that the costs for individuals can be huge. We make it manageable by spreading them among everyone.

And the more income you get, the more disposable income you have which is why it's fine to continue paying tax. And your average tax burden goes down with every additional pound you earn because you don't pay any more VAT or excise duty.

It's still about choice though isn't it smallwhite. DH used to work as a corporate lawyer in the City. He hated it, even more so after having children, and so we moved and he's now a lawyer in a rural area. He still works long hours (although a lot from home) but lots of the things he hated about working in the City are gone. It came at a cost though. His salary is now less than half what it would have been had he stayed in the City. That was our choice.

We do moan about the amount of tax he has to pay - especially when we have had to pay for almost every service our severely disabled son has received out of taxed income, but neither of us would moan about his tax bill to people who are on benefits, or who would think of his salary as a large one. And I do recognise that we are very fortunate to be in the position of being able to pay for speech therapy, private consultations and to work with people in the States for example. It would be terribly crass to moan about our situation to people who are poorly paid or who are on benefits . And not really an example of advanced EQ that Xenia seems to think goes along with higher earners

Fio asked earlier whether this was a'how the other half lives' thread. I think it's more a 'don't know you're born' thread.

Hear hear swc

And the money being wasted by the government is never ending ... It does feel like a massive drain with no end in sight.

agree with you smallwhitecat. What I don't agree with is the notion that people who earn a lot necessarily deserve it because they work hard. A great deal of it is to do with particular industries, and luck and expectations.

I earn quite a bit and I could argue that I earn quite a bit because I work hard but also, crucially, because I worked hard at school and university and got myself into a good career and stuck at it. All of which is true. But that's not WHY I earn a lot. I could have done all the above and gone into nursing or teaching or academia or the civil service (where I started out) and not earn what I earn now.

My pay is high mainly because I chose to go into finance.

Just don't want that point to stick that people who earn a lot work so much harder than people who don't.

I think the real reason to work hard at school is so you can have a decent job in later life and don't have to work really hard, horrible hours like office cleaners. We all have to work hard sometimes but they work in the middle of the night not just for one case but every night - and with no nice taxi home afterwards.

Whilst I think 40% is not excessive at all for the top tax rate, it does amaze me how people who earn high salaries are usually pilloried for doing so. We rarely hear about how much tax and NI contributions their salaries generate. After all, every £1m bonus is £400k straight to health, education and so on.

DH (earning half his previous job in the City) has a lot more responsibility than he had in the City. He's still working in a professional job just not in the City. City salaries are over-inflated. There is no way round that. It's obscene not to recognise it. If you earn it enjoy it, but don;t kid yourself that you're working so much harder than everyone else earning less.Surgeons for example- well paid, masses of responsibility - but not much compared to many City jobs. Midwives- loads of responsibility, unsociable hours, hard work, utter peanuts compared to City salaries.

Someone earlier mentiond Scandinavian countries. Their pay packets are also much more equitable. They don't have the big gap betwen the higher paid financial work and every one else

I don't have any problem with people earning hundreds of thousands or millions. I just think it's a bit crass to moan about the tax bill on a website used by people who earn bugger all or are on benefits. And if they really think they work so much harder than everyone else and are therefore justified in receiving such payouts they've really believed their own hype. (Not to mention have left the real world long behind).

But smallwhitecat- do you really believe that all people who aren't (over)paid at city rates work 9-5?

I'm not particularly comparing private to public sector. I;m comparing City to non-City. Dh does have a lot more responsibility than he had in the City, he does still work very long hours but he gets paid half (and we have other benefits from him not working in the City).

IMO City salaries are over-inflated. And it does well to remember that when discussing salaries/tax bills with people who aren't paid such enormous salaries.

Exactly PerkinWarbeck. If anyone working in the Square Mile thinks they are working far harder and under more stressful conditions than many people with salaries less than their bonuses they're utterly mistaken.

If you get the high salary fine enjoy it. You don't need to justify it (at least not to me- if I'd wanted that I would have worked in that sector)but just fgs have the sense not to whinge.

dh is in the armed forces and gets no overtime, or time off in lieu. In fact we have had many years where he couldn't take his full leave entitlemnt because of comittments.

My Mum (a lowly nurse) works unpaid overtime all the time at the moment they're so short staffed. And no she doesn't get paid for it nor does she get time off in lieu. I'm not sure who the naive ones are on this thread tbh.

Agree with yurt.

Smallwhitecat the correlation that you are drawing between pay and responsibility is false. There are many professions that carry an extremely high level of responsibility, expect long hours with no paid overtime, and require many years of training. Most pay a fraction of what is paid to those in the City.

Oh and as far as stress goes, I think that flying for 14 hours over Afghanistan is at least as bad as any stress that occurs in the City. As far as I am aware, no-one is activly trying to kill mercent bankers? Or have I missed something.