To not be happy about paying this much tax

[Lovingthehamsterwheel]

Name changed to enable objectivity.
I just saw this new tax calculator that shows you how much tax you are paying in total, including all hidden taxes, council tax etc

For a Person on 75k a year, 44 percent of earnings go on tax.

10k of that is spent on welfare.

Am i being unreasonable to think this is absolutely a terrible time to be alive in terms of taxes in the UK. And it is no wonder higher earners are leaving the country.

tax.corgi.global/

Your salary is useless if you can't buy stuff with it. Alcohol and fuel are mainstream everyday purchases.

What do you want instead?
Tax the richest? The companies like Amazon?

Money has to come from somewhere….

Tax everyone equally. The same percent of a bigger number is still a bigger number. Stop wasting tax payers money and spend more efficiently would be a start.

I agree - but such thoughts curry no favour on MNet.

Agree 100%

There are legitimate arguments to be had on tax rates but they are undermined by this sort of rubbish.

You have a problem if Alcohol is an “everyday” purchase.

Not really. you would pay 23.24272% on £75,000.

People have always complained about tax, nobody wants to pay a lot but there are periods when it is proportionately less.

Seems a bit daft as there are lots of taxes there I don't pay such as tobacco, alcohol, gambling, land and air

@Lovingthehamsterwheel For a Person on 75k a year, 44 percent of earnings go on tax.

To begin with, there is a massive flaw in the tax calculator, and I'm surprised that someone on a £75k a year salary wouldn't be quick-witted enough to pick up on this.

The tax calculator deducts the employer's NI contribution, with the following rationale given: "It may not come out of your pocket but affects how much your employer can pay you."

... but that money is taken away before your employer gives you the £75k salary to begin with. In other words, that deduction already exists before you receive your £75k salary. It therefore makes no sense to deduct it again.

There are other taxes which are either not applicable to everyone, or completely optional altogether.

Alcohol duty: completely optional, and not applicable to me as I don't drink alcohol.
Fuel duty: varies drastically from person to person, and some people don't pay this at all.
Tobacco duty: 90% of people don't even smoke!
TV license: doesn't apply to me as I don't watch TV. In case you haven't noticed, modern TV is shit and ladden with obnoxious political messages.
Air passenger: Haven't been on a plane for about 6 years, so not applicable to me.
Betting and gaming duty: completely optional.

Last point... many people will be paying pension contributions by means of an employer's salary sacrifice scheme (if you have access to this and aren't using it, you are making a huge mistake).

Someone on a £75k salary should be paying £7.5k of their salary into their pension each year at the very least (though £11.25k or £15k would be better figures).

Money paid into a pension pot through a salary sacrifice scheme avoids income tax and national insurance contributions. So that money needs to be added back on as tax avoided.

If you have private health treatment and something goes wrong, they will call an NHS ambulance where you will be transported to an NHS hospital and take up a bed in an NHS ICU or HDU. The GP you see is funded by the NHS. The vaccinations you get are funded by the NHS. The herd immunity you enjoy is funded by the NHS.

The doctors and nurses at your private hospital were trained by the NHS. And some of them work for the NHS and if they didn't do private healthcare, they would have more capacity to bring down NHS waiting lists.

If you employ people, their health is maintained by the NHS. If you children, their healthcare and the healthcare of the children in their school who are not dying of TB or measles and spreading them to your children, is the responsibility of the NHS.

So no, you don't get a tax rebate because you can afford to jump the waiting lists.

That's neither here nor there. I actually only usually drink over the weekend, but a glass of wine with dinner every day is not excessive by any means. Regardless, it's a mainstream purchase even if you only buy one bottle of wine a week.

Point is your salary is useless if you can't buy stuff with it, so point of purchase taxes are actually a tax on your earnings.

Optional ones. 🤷‍♀️

This is exactly my point I agree. And still be entitled to a personal allowance!

@Lovingthehamsterwheel If I am paying for private healthcare, why should I not be able to reduce my NIS as I am taking strain off the NHS?

High earners can, and do, use the NHS in conjunction with private healthcare. Trying to suggest otherwise is disingenuous.

Second point is that if you are lucky enough to be able to access private healthcare, then you are not in a position to complain about your income.

I pay a substantial amount of tax (i.e. income tax, council tax, VAT). 20% on all my income above 12.5k (like everyone else). For this I get a comprehensive health service which has saved my life on a couple of occasions and tried very hard to save my DH's life; police, fire-service, coastguard, defence of my country, my state pension (NI contributions paid for this in a back-handed kind of way), an education system (which is currently working fairly well) including subsidised further and higher education (the latter of which I have taken advantage of several times), subsidised arts of all kinds (some of which I enjoy), museums, subsidised and supported theatre, protection for beautiful landmarks and historic buildings of all kinds, at least some TV without bloody adverts (an item paid for separately, I am aware), national parks, including much of the coast, beaches that are open to all (unlike in some countries I could name), a road network that is fairly comprehensive and railway tracks (I would prefer not to subsidise the railways so they make a 'profit' for shareholders, of course, they need to be publicly owned). I also see supported those who cannot support themselves, people like my sister-in-law, who had an aneurism nearly 20 years ago and finds mobility difficult, reading virtually impossible and is unable to work, and my nephew who has a hereditary disease a bit like MS (the NHS is caring for him too, until the day he dies). Also, trade delegations, security for the head of state (who otherwise pays for himself - Crown Estate) who is able to drum up trade, diplomatic relations and friendly attitudes from other countries for us. Equality laws and safety at work laws, a working system of democracy and free voting. And much more.

Which of these things would the OP like to do without? And her maths (and the maths of wherever she got her figures) are rubbish. As others have pointed out she pays no way near half her income in tax.

@SpaceOfAides I actually only usually drink over the weekend

The stuff I read here is hilarious sometimes.

"I only drink over the weekend."

What about,

"I only have McDonalds 5 times a week."
"I only spend £1000 a month on my car."
"I only have 3 holidays a year."

It's a bizarre use of the word "only."

If I am paying for private healthcare, why should I not be able to reduce my NIS as I am taking strain off the NHS?
And if you are unlucky enough to have an accident, or a cadiac arrest, the NHS is where you will be taken to receive highly competent care. Private hospitals do not have the facilities (unless they are the ones frequently by Saudi princes, and even the Duke of Edinburgh used an NHS hospital and surgeons for his final heart operation).

It really doesn't matter how much tax you might pay as a percentage of your income.

If the country was well run with great services, an overall healthy, educated population, low crime rate, well maintained infrastructure, a vibrant economy and a clean environment, you'd feel like it was a fair price to pay for the high quality of life you would get in exchange.

Your issue is with the complete mess of a country you get for all that money because we have political parties who seem to only go into politics to rake in whatever money they can for themselves and their friends.
You are getting a bad bargain and you know it.

None of the political parties we currently have actually have any intention of giving you good value for the money they take from you.
They just say they will to get into power, then ignore the electorate until they have no choice but to put on another dog and pony show for the next general election.

Indeed. Few and far between 😂

@HumanRightsAreHumanRights The issue is a high cost of living, which is primarily driving by high housing costs.

And the reason why housing costs are so high is because of generations of clowns who think that properties are supposed to be "investments."

Are you from the US? I think some of the posters here are from the UK/the rest of Europe. We don't pay the sort of insane taxes the US thinks are fine (and don't get much for).

I’m sorry but it’s not disingenuous. I can honestly say that the last time I used the NHS - was over 15 years ago! And longer for my DH. It’s not disingenuous at all! (And yes I know how lucky we are that we have not had an emergency!)
and people aren’t complaining about their income but about there tax they pay.
and with all due respect it’s not your place to tell people what they can complain about. People feel differently and just because someone earns well it doesn’t diminish their experiences and feelings. How unkind.

No. Not from the US. Originally from a European country but lived in the UK for 25 years (until recently)!

Sort of. There is a bunch of tax academic research from other countries that suggests that higher employer tax contributions (including things like social security and corporate income taxes) suppress wages. Broadly, the after tax return to shareholders and business owners remains constant when employer taxes rise, and the only real valve left is wages.

It has more to do with supply and demand due the exploding population. Starmer is now bribing landlords with 5 years guaranteed income to take immigrants, what do you suppose this will do to rental prices as they become scarcer still. Not to mention the new no fault evictions rule which has and will cause landlords to sell up. This is also putting property developers off renting houses out (my DH included)