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.

It is if you downsize your house and gift out to your children and then one of you lives for 7 years after gifting. You need to be a proactive planner though.

Think there are strings attached to that one.. don't think it's as easy as that as far as I'm aware.

It is but most people don’t want to give large chunks of money to their kids while they are alive they would rather hmrc had it! Crazy but true!

I pay c50k tax per year and am likely to pay more tax under Labour.

I voted for them not because I want to pay more tax but because a super majority means that they will be able to sort out some of these generational issues: fundamental reform of the NHS; unsustainable benefits; gold plated pensioners; social care; education; planning system etc etc.

A weak mandate would have meant more pissing around the edges and sending us deeper into a spiral of shitness and rancour.

I wouldn't mind if I actually got something for it.

Or some kind of lower rate because we don't use any services or have children.

I resent being treated like a cash cow for all those that just want to sponge off others hard work. (Whataboutery disclaimer: excl disabled and elderly).

Every month, DH and I each pay £7500 in tax and NI on our respective salaries. £15k a month gone!! Then bonuses each year are nearly halved by the time it reaches our bank account.

For that we get nearly nothing and public services are in the shit. Only 20% of the population being net contributors, yet there seems to be (on MN at least) an underlying bitterness and anger directed at high earners.

We usually make substantial donations to the food bank every week, but shortly we’ll be paying VAT on school fees instead. I’ve prepaid schools fees for a short while at least, as that seemed sensible to support the school (now that 4 children, 20% of my eldest’s class, and 2, 10% of my youngest’s class, are leaving).

No, I’m not happy to pay more tax. It will be pissed up the wall. I’d like to see a sensible spending plan that shows a positive outcome for society on what we already pay.

Goodness knows what the next budget will bring, but in the meantime, DH and I both need to channel as much as we can into our pensions now.

I’d like to see a significant investment in subsidised childcare provision to ensure parents can work, as well as greater focus on reforming education to ensure that both academic and vocational routes are catered for from age 11. There needs to be more accountability on individuals too, who have children and pets they can’t/don’t look after properly. Major corporations and non-doms need to be taxed appropriately and foreigners should be taxed at a much higher rate when buying UK property and accessing the NHS. I wouldn’t even know where to start with immigration. Major cuts should be made to the foreign aid we send overseas and the focus should be enhancing the UK.

Thus ends my manifesto 😂 🤦🏼‍♀️🫣

The things is their mandate is really weak - their share of vote is less than 35% and this is on less than 60% turnout.

It's nearly the same share of vote as in 2019, but clever campaigning (on the back of no campaigning by Tory) made them win. A lot of those who voted Labour did this not out of love, but out of hate to Tory.

It won't take long for this part of electorate to feel disillusioned and turn their back to Labour. Tory won't recover by then, means next time it's likely to be Reform. And then it's really going to be dire

Hhmmmmm…

I'm also okay paying may fair share of tax provided we as a society receive an acceptable level of service.

But why is this person getting 1k per month universal credit to homeschool her children (youngest is 9yo) instead of finding a job? Is this even real?

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/family-62k-income-forced-use-33149058

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.

I know people who think giving to charity is a waste because it all goes on admin. This would be fine if they gave their time instead but they don’t do that either.

More than 6 figures? I doubt it. Not unless you're a billionaire.

Wrong. We paid £220,000 in tax last year. Not billionaires

The Labour snouts are already well in the trough.

My new MP is also the WECA mayor and intends to carry on doing both jobs and presumably drawing two salaries from the tax payer.

I agree with this. My ETR is 53%. It's a significant sum in absolute terms and as you say that's right and I'm proud of my contribution. But if it goes up much more in % terms the financial incentive for me to further grow my business and create more employment is just not there. And ultimately that's what I'm here for, I am not a charity. I'd rather make more money, create more jobs, and pay more tax (at my current ETR).

How is £220,000 more than 6 figures?

I can't believe that supposedly intelligent people, claiming to be on high salaries, don't understand how to count!

If nothing else, it proves the point that such salaries aren't justified.

@ohthejoys21 What's galling is that the IHT threshold hasn’t changed since 2009 and a quick Google tells me that £325K in 2009 is worth over £550K now. So the estates of people who’ve been careful all their lives, but are far from millionaires, end up owing some IHT.

That wasn’t Gordon Brown’s intention when the current threshold was set, he was planning to slowly increase it-but Labour lost power. I hope the new government adjusts it to reflect today’s COL.

Funny how the Tories always accuse Labour of raising taxes but they quietly “raised” IHT receipts by not adjusting the threshold!

I feel that having one's taxes go into unusable ppe that's ended up in landfill and into Michelle Mone's pockets has made quite a lot of people quite peevish about paying tax. It's a social contract - we expect to contribute and to be benefited by our contribution. Don't know about other people, but I am desperate to be able to trust some politicians with our money.

I feel that, under Labour, our taxes won’t be wasted as much. I’d gladly pay more if I thought it was being spent wisely.

BruFord

"ohthejoys21 What's galling is that the IHT threshold hasn’t changed since 2009 and a quick Google tells me that £325K in 2009 is worth over £550K now. So the estates of people who’ve been careful all their lives, but are far from millionaires, end up owing some IHT.

That wasn’t Gordon Brown’s intention when the current threshold was set, he was planning to slowly increase it-but Labour lost power. I hope the new government adjusts it to reflect today’s COL.

Funny how the Tories always accuse Labour of raising taxes but they quietly “raised” IHT receipts by not adjusting the threshold!"

Agree but even if they've worked hard, done well and are millionaires why should they be penalised for that?

I see taxes as the price for living in a society that values public services. I'm a HR tax payer who is happy to pay what is due but it makes my blood boil when I see how much of our tax was handed out around the Tory old boys club during Covid. It makes me wonder how many other government contracts gave been granted this way.

I'm hopeful that Labour will funnel our taxes to the right places, rather than hand them out to their rich mates to make them richer.

Don't be daft you wouldn't need to be anywhere near a billionaire to pay 6 figures in tax.

When we lived in the UK we were both higher rate tax payers, we both felt our taxes were reasonable and wouldn’t have minded an increase in taxes be it income, NI, council tax or a combination of.

People claim the UK has high rates of tax, then compare the UK to countries that have few public services that are poorly funded, or countries that have an actual state pension pot, rather than pay on demand for state pensions.

The UK tax burden is quite high by international standards. We (quite cleverly from a political perspective) divide up taxes on employment into income tax and national insurance and split the national insurance burden between employee and employees. It’s all tax on employment and it’s split in that way so that the government can continue to talk about 20% / 40% tax rates when the real tax rate on employment income is significantly higher.

Student loan is also effectively now a tax which basically all high earners of a certain age will pay for almost their whole career.

There is also a marginal rate of 60% from £100k - £125k.

The UK also allows very few deductions from employment income. Many countries allow deductions for things like childcare, commuting etc. So you pay tax on a lower amount.

Even labour have pledged not to increase employment taxes, which presumably means they recognise that an increase in tax rates won’t raise revenue.

I'm happy to pay tax. I'm a higher rate tax payer and wish I wasn't taxed so much, but I still happily pay it. I just wish it was administered better, and that some people in society didn't feel so entitled to take without trying.
My view on tax is the same principle as going for a meal with friends and splitting the bill. We might all have different amounts in our purse but we split the bill equally because we all consume similar amounts and it's fair to split it. But if any friends have fallen on hard times we treat them.

How much tax do you pay per year?

I’m happy to pay taxes, but expect better public services.

Both DP and I are higher rate tax payers (DP also pays the additional rate).

Our newborn had to have an operation, which he wouldn’t have survived without, and we had to go private as it appeared it would take months longer than recommended if we waited on the NHS.

It probably wouldn't have killed him to wait, but there was a possibility it might, and poorer long term outcomes the longer we waited.

I really don’t think we should have been put in that position but I am eternally grateful that we had an alternative option.