To reduce hours when labour win election

[Parttimeplay]

I fall into the “60%” tax bracket. With the upcoming elections and knowing the government always hammer the middle ground….woudlnt it make more sense for me to cut my hours for a more relaxed life, eligibility for childcare, reduced tax?

Of course you can. Sacrificing salary to go part time is exactly this.

Lol yes - I seem to remember the phrase "live within your means" banded about a lot. Your means are less. Live within them. No yogurt for you, greedy pauper!

If others have to live within their means by skipping private school, the Red Cross will hardly be knocking at their door 🙄.

In the end, I'll be surprised if they do end up being taxed more anyway. But it's nice to dream about a slightly less unequal society in the meantime.

I definitely do live within my means. But for the sake of an equal society I might as well jack in my job for something with less stress and responsibilities so we’re all in the same boat. Understood.

Firstly, Labour is not about to raise imcome taxes, it would be political suicide. They will however close dozens of tax avoidance loopholes that all rich people have access to. Secondly whoever wins government will be forced to garner more tax, the costs to future government are already baked in, Tories would be loath to attack tax avoidance or even evasion when it will affect their core constituency of mega rich and corporate donors so will cut essential services even more. Thirdly, the middle ground re wages is about £30kpa. Contrary to what some people around here believe.
Also I will add that the tories have never been the good fiscal managers they pretend to be. The average worker has always paid more in direct and more so in indirect taxes under the Tories. The current shambolic state of the UK is 100% down to the Tories, and even Thatcher can be still blamed for the privatisation schemes and scams that we are going to pay even more for before all our service and infrastructure problems are fixed. Labour will need 10 years to do this

Yes. Just look at BJ, Mogg, Gove and all the other Tory filth or Farrage who spent 20 years as an MEP but never turned up while taking full wages and expenses, Never worked in their lives. Mogg for eg spends more time talking dog shit on GB news tgan in his constituency and BJ gets £350kpa telling lies in the Daily Mail, probably an hour a week talking at his secretary who's doing his D Mail assignment for him. There is little meritocracy or natural justice in how wealth is distributed.

Yes. Do this, if it makes you happy!

You can either continue as you are and be better off overall, but now won't be able to send your children to private school, and may have slightly less wealth (although still lots, by the sound of it).

Or, work less and earn less, but still be well off. You'll get more time to things you like. It comes across that this is your "cutting off your nose to spite your face" option. But actually, there is no reason not to do this - millions do. It's great! You don't have to be in a sulk to fo it.

Or, move country and try your luck there instead. Again, you have this choice when many don't.

Any of those could be fantastic! You are lucky. I think that's why your "hard done by" attitude is so grating. Of course, you can choose to be outraged and spoil your own happiness, but you won't get sympathy from many people.

Exactly, you're sacrificing, not purchasing - time doesn't have a price tag

Id say less “hard done by” more “what’s the point”.

its not really cutting my nose of as poised to making the most for my best interests. I’m not sulking, rather just questioning policies

Honestly no-one really knows what is in store. For example, we ended up paying huge extra costs because of the "moron premium" when Liz Truss took charge smd made us an international embarrassment.

It's hard to see how Labour could do a worse job than that compulsive liar Boris, or that coward David Cameron.

The Tories have made monumental errors, a failed and discredited austerity policy, destroyed public services, dismantled the machinery of a competent state like the justice system, take us out of Europe in the most damaging possible way.

I honestly don't see the doom.amd gloom being an accurate reflection of Tory vs Labour.

Reduce your hours for a better, more rewarding life. Don't do it from some misguided idea that life would be worse under Labour. Life in this country under Tony Blair was immeasurably better than its been since.

But if the Tories were to get in again, definitely do not reduce your hours, because they have destroyed state education to an extremely worrying level. My husband is a deputy headteacher in a brilliant state school.

After years of increasing workload and reducing pay and conditions, teacher recruitment has gone off a cliff. They cannot offer some subjects any more because they are losing so many people. Classes at some schools are increasingly held in the hall with multiple classes.

So your best bet will be to keep rowing your selfish lifeboat to survival, and pay for private school even with VAT, whilst the rest of the population sink in the Titanic.

@anon666 i don’t want the tories to get in again. I felt that way at the last election.

my opening title was obviously wrong in that respect and probably a little too antagonistic.

however I do think to suggest I’m “rowing my selfish lifeboat from the titanic” is unfair. Exactly how much tax would you like me to pay into the system to make it fair?

It's not all about your personal tax though. People make the assumption that their direct tax payments are the main determinant of everything. They're not.

Competent handling of the country matters, and this government haven't done that. At all. They've taken this country massively down the tubes through successively poor judgement and incapable handling of the business of government.

Their decisions on everything from corruption to immigration to investment to allocation of funds in the public sector have been disastrous. They're not a competent government.

I just feel that scaremongering about higher taxes is a bit cheap. We are already paying the highest tax burden ever under the Tories. They have comprehensively failed at everything.

There is no answer to "how much tax should I be paying to make it fair?". It's a very short sighted view and a victim mindset from someone who is relatively privileged enough to have choices. Ultimately I feel we are all in this together. I don't think of it in binary terms of how much money is in my personal pocket.

Imagine if Labour did a better job of running the country, like they did under Blair. We may all be better off.

You’re correct, my personal taxes don’t determine anything. I agree with a lot that you are saying.

but It’s a bit fluffy to go from you saying I’m being incredibly selfish to short sighted/victim/privileged and you want me to pay higher taxes but you don’t want to draw a line.

my choice right now as I see it is to reduce my net tax contribution?

That sounds annoying, but… you think 100K salaries are “the middle”? 🙄😂

in London yes

Nope.

The average annual salary for Londoners is £44,370 across all age groups, according to the latest data available for 2023 from the ONS

People keep taking class in this thread, average is obviously different. How do the ONS even define the average annual salary? Via tax returns I guess?

Why is no one mentioning how morally bankrupt private education is?

Would out of hours tuition be preferable?

"Life in this country under Tony Blair was immeasurably better than its been since."

Is that because Labour inherited an amazing fiscal position from the previous Conservative government (which they freely admit) and then completely fucked the country's governance which resulted in the financial crisis ("there's no more money') - the repercussions of which, we're still experiencing today?

Maybe because so many Labour MPs send their kids to private schools?

Wasn't Keir privately educated?

It's the median salary, but it's probably pulled down by all the people on UC that decide to work less hours in order to maximise their benefits payments.

I'm not sure what you mean by bringing class into this.

Should we accept you need more because you're middle class or do you mean something less ... Classist?

There’s a good saying about tax and a goose which is old but relevant.

ie get the tax but don’t change behaviour so people opt out

People will generally pay, but tip the balance so they feel it’s unfair or not worth it and you’ll have issues

We haven’t had a gov pushing the messages we’re seeing for ages. Blair didn’t as he knew to keep payers inside

You are the category Labour want as proof they are taxing the rich. What that category does next we’ll see

@ThisOldThang Wasn't Keir privately educated?

Not really. He went to a state selective school which became private while he was there.