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/

Just google. There is plenty evidence. ONS released some figures not too long ago

edited to say: I am not self centred enough to think that I am unique in my thinking and frustrations.

Mumsnet is full of posts about how difficult life is for families on a 6 figure income, but families with disabled kids living on £25k are taking the piss?

They’re attacking her because on here working people are nothing but work horses there to make the ££ to give away to people on benefits. They should be grateful they get to work for 40 hours a week in a job they find tedious and boring because they might get to choose their nursing home at the end of it. And for those who don’t, they’ll argue they should get it all for free anyway

🤷🏻‍♀️

The thing is - people object to taxes but also want a strong welfare state and infrastructure. Cannot have one without the other (it’s not like we have oil wealth.)

With no commuting costs or more importantly mortgages, and free prescriptions / lower council tax / cost of living payment etc yes I stand by that statement

But that’s simply anecdote.

And a lot of people that leave the UK go to equally high tax destinations (such as Australia).

I'd be in favour of this. 45% of working age adults don't pay any income tax at all and the taxes they are being subjected to are what we call stealth tax, so things like VAT, car tax, road tax etc so it's all nebulous and disconnected. All those people have no direct link to what they are earning and what they are paying into and receiving back out. Everyone should be paying Income Tax, if only so they understand that they are part of society and that society costs money. It might help to kick this 'entitlement' mentality into touch.

Of course you can. It's the difference between welfare state as a lifestyle, vs a safety net.

It's an odd calculator but I agree with your general point that taxes on higher earners, and especially those on over 100k at very high, those at the lower-mid end being low compared to many countries.
I think the chief problems which people are fed up with are the inequity, the fact that public services have deteriorated so much and the cost of living. In some high tax countries eg Sweden, the tax rate is high but the services far better and the support given to families is amazing (eg free childcare) and means that their expendable income is far higher in real terms. It makes a huge difference. Thirdly, things cost far too much relative to income, chiefly housing, which impacts massively on the young and middle aged.
A lot of talented, younger high earners are so fed up that they have left or are making plans to leave the UK.

This seems a bit far-fetched... they still have rent, bills, food, etc. And cost of living payments ended years ago.

Dont you use public services? Even if it is limited, tax is the price for living in a state that does not leave people to fend for themselves. I do think there are too many people on benefits - but not paying tax is not a reasonable response to that.

Clearly it isn't all about not wanting to pay tax for everyone then.
They may be in search of better job opportunities and salaries (the UK is pretty behind compared to many other countries here), better weather, better overall QOL. These things all make a difference.

And I’m sure that’s true - but what it shows is that the problem is that the quality of life in the UK vs the tax you pay is not compatible. I didn’t move to Australia and there was nothing anecdotal about our move. It was a painful process (and sometimes still is) where we miss our family dearly but ultimately we have a much higher quality of life here than we could achieve in the UK under the current circumstances. We hope to return but don’t know when.

When you think about what our taxes pay for, I think we get a good deal.
National Health Service (Even if you have private insurance, in an emergency it will be the NHS who will deal with you).
Fire Service
Police
Roads, pavements, street lighting, safety measures such as
traffic lights and maintenance.
Defence
Railway infrastructure
Libraries
Education
Pensions and Benefits
There may be more than I haven’t thought of,

How do you pay for the safety net without significant taxes? People assume the bulk of government spending is people choosing not to work. A lot of the spend is on healthcare and pensions.

What country has a good robust system of state spending with a decent tax take (not including oil wealth?)

I don’t necessarily disagree with OP (although I am not sure it’s true about high earners). I am a high earner and each year I have a little cry over how much is taken from my salary and bonus.

But then I see posts here at people crying over tax levels and also crying over this government slashing spending. And it’s like we cannot decide what we want.

Exactly. We've decided that if we must pay lots of tax, we may as well do it in the sunshine.

I stand by it. No family on benefits should be getting more than 25k a year in total. We cannot continue to take the piss out of working people by handing some families 50k a year, it’s immoral frankly. They urgently need a cap on all households.

Okay.

Let's say you could replace your health contributions with a private insurance. Since private doesn't cover high-stakes or emergency treatment in the UK, you'll have to pay the full whack for anything like that. Plus your ambulance fees. However, this unbiased calculator would count that as a win, with 'only' the corporate-related taxes going against your account. Never mind that you're hundreds of thousands down because you had to pay.

Move to a smaller, cheaper house to reduce your mortgage and council tax liabilities.

Don't drive.

Buy only essentials and you pay no VAT. Hurrah!

I agree about childcare bills, but I thought you could offset at least some of that?

So all you need to do to become a net gainer is:
Include your employer's contributions in your 'salary' before re-calculating, you can't count it as a cost if you aren't counting it in the first place
Downgrade your lifestyle to minimise liability
Have a few strokes and heart attacks
Need the fire brigade
Need the police and/or justice system
Count the actual cost of all the above

Enjoy your growing bank balance and your righteous sense of having taken more than you put in 😎

Good for you!

I mean this thread! Not slating the OP - she’s claiming what they’re allowing her to claim. But the numbers are eye watering. And I know MANY families in a similar set up

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/money-matters/5153509-does-this-universal-credit-amount-sound-wrong?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=app_share

I was more curious as to how little you thought it was suitable for poor people with disabled kids to live on.

Of course. I moved to Australia for years. Money and tax was not a factor in my decision as most of the countries I would want to live in have substantial taxes (except the USA but the states I would live in are comparatively higher taxed.)

There are wealth trackers if you google. I am not going to post another link incase it is biased as many are saying the calculator is biased (which I won't argue for or against without extensive statistical analysis).
But if you google 'high earners leaving the uk charts' you will find many sources.
Wealth is leaving the country, its a fact and the key driver is taxation. Which is worrying for all.

Most of the allegedly bloated amount spent on benefits is on housing, propping up the housing market. Most LHA doesn't cover full rent in the private sector and is topped up by payments supposedly for other bills and food. Maybe the housing market needs looking at? 🤔🙄

I think your 44% is bollocks

28%, all told.