To actually not mind paying tax?

[Squareplate]

I'm sick of hearing about how Labour will increase tax (they will, they'll have to, after the mess they've been handed) at the same time as demanding better services.

I quite like what Clement Attlee said
"Charity is a cold grey loveless thing. If a rich man wants to help the poor, he should pay his taxes gladly, not dole out money at a whim"

And yet I know loads of people who do great work for charity at the same time as doing whatever they can to hide their money from the tax man. They'll say taxes are wasted or there's corruption etc, but that happens in the charity sector too.

FWIW, I'm a higher rate taxpayer and my parents estate will likely be subject to significant inheritance tax, but I still think that's right and fair.

I don't understand why paying your taxes isn't seen as a social duty.

I'm a higher rate payer too and have no issue with paying tax. I do have an issue with paying significant amounts in tax only for public services to be cut to breaking point. Hopefully services will now start to be turned around. It's going to take time though, as Labour have inherited a sinking ship.

Depends how much tax and for what. I have worked hard with no family wealth to make a future for me and my family and higher taxes take away my ability to do this. Within reason I am happy to pay more for the NHS and social care, but there is more that can be done to reform public services. Notably in terms of pensions which are still very generous and far more generous than I and my family will ever get and waste in other areas such as HS2. We need reform as well as a little bit more money.

Absolutely agree op. It’s a myth that our taxes are high now in comparison to many other EU countries.

Those who can, need to pay more, to attain decent public services which basically form
a framework for a civilised country.

It’s not so much that people mind paying taxes, it’s that there is nothing to show for it. Because on top of paying high taxes you also have to pay ridiculous amounts of money for childcare, private healthcare, support for your SeN children and a thousand other things that you should be getting some support for through your taxes.

I'm happy to pay taxes, I'm not happy for my taxes to be wasted and I'm not happy to see no benefit from paying my taxes.

I don't mind paying tax, but already pay a lot, 45k ish per year which is more that 1/4 of my salary, so don't particularly want to pay anymore. They need to use what they do have more efficiently, before I'd feel happy handing over any more. Theres so much waste in the NHS for example.

I'm grateful that my income is high enough to mean I pay tax. Not all pensioners are in my position.

That should say more than 1/3 of my salary.

I lived on the continent for a few years and paid more tax but saw a lot in return:

• Good quality state schools
• Insurance based health service which was responsive and effective
• Good quality public transport

I wonder if there is an optimal tax level where if we paid just a bit more we could have decent public services. Paying too little but still quite a lot means that all services are always struggling to make ends meet. This in itself is wasteful of both time and resources.

I don’t mind paying tax - so long as I get decent services for it.

However - being excluded from accessing childcare support has really changed my mindset and has left me feeling quite troubled about my ‘role’ as a contributor to the UK tax system.

I want to fund great services and am happy to be taxed for it - but when I can’t access them and have to fund them privately myself instead… what am I then, just a cash cow?

If I lived some massively extravagant lifestyle I might think differently - but I don’t.

I’d happily pay more (and dh and I already pay plenty) tax IF it’s used efficiently and not used to line the pockets of morally bankrupt arseholes.
So much has been pissed up the wall and there’s absolutely fuck all to show for it. Criminal behaviour imo.

Tax bands have remained frozen for years, so people on very normal salaries are now finding themselves in the higher rate tax band, which was originally designed for 'the rich'. Lots of these people are struggling to make ends meet themselves, as the cost of living is so high.

I’m a higher rate tax payer too and I don’t mind paying higher taxes for better services

How can you say there's "nothing" to show for you taxes? I agree that lots of things could be better, but we do have schools, hospitals, roads, defence etc. etc.

Taxes in this country are low, in comparison to any of the countries used as examples of good publishing services.

Yes, absolutely agree that the waste needs sorting out and in the NHS that probably needs starting from scratch (so isn't going to happen in 5 years, the Tories had 14 and made it worse), but it's a myth that we pay a lot of tax.

I'm happy to pay tax, but the level I pay it at is ridiculous. Between tax and NI I paid £6k last month, and every month as a PAYE employee. I'm hoping to see some serious tax reforms from this new government.

It’s my privilege to be a top rate tax payer. I am happy to pay those taxes. It gives me great pride to go into the HMRC app at the end of the year and see what I have contributed.

However I don’t like the vitriol that comes alongside it, reading about how greedy I must be, how I should be taxed far more because surely I can afford it, and how much people will enjoy my children’s unhappiness if I have to remove them from their school.

I'm happy to pay tax. I'm not happy with how it seems to be squandered.

I agree OP.

We've been through a tough time as a country, with higher taxes/cost of living at the same time as public services being cut. So the worst of both worlds.

I'm happy to pay more tax if that means living in a society which runs smoothly, with good public services, less poverty and less inequality.

The 40% rate impact 3.5% of people when introduced, and will be ~14% by 2028.

The £100k loss of personal allowance has been at that level for 15 years.

Yes, the Tories did that so they could pretend they hadn't increased income tax.

@Squareplate yes one of many ‘do they think we are completely stupid’ moments of the past decade.

I'm with you, OP. I pay higher rate and my OH pays additional rate- very happy to pay our taxes, although would prefer it if they weren't wasted on nonsense like paying the Rwandan government a quarter of a billion quid for two thirds of fuck all.

My bottom line is, I want good public services run for the benefit of the people who need them. That costs money so we have to tax the people who can afford it. Me included.

I don't mind paying if it means better services but I'd like some sort of salary increase to be able to afford it! It's already difficult as it is. My council tax is also shockingly high.

I'd happily pay more tax if I thought that it would change anything. But to get a different result we need to do things differently. Lets start by looking round the world and see what good can actually look like. Which won't happen because there would be outrage at the consultancy cost, so it would end up being carried out by second rate civil servants and politicans with their own vested interests.

Then re-build, resource and fund our public services by taking best practice in each area and creating a truly world class system. Which also wouldn't happen because no Goverment would be in office long enough to deliver it.

So we end up in the same old cycle of second rate services inadequately funded and poorly run, meddled with at every opportunity by self serving politicans and career civil servants, and run for the benefit of the staff not the public.