Anyone else lost a bit of ambition now they’ve been taxed to the brink?

[Peasontoastt]

I used to be extremely ambitious and was really eager to reach some sort of financial security. As a consequence, I’m in what’s considered a highly paid career, I work hard and it took me many years to train.

Just as I paid off my student loan (which took many years), I then had a baby and returned to work to be stuck with the childcare dilemma. I struggled through that phase and have come out the other side but being taxed so much, no child benefit, still paying for nursery even though dd has ‘free’ hours now. It’s likely that savings are going to be bashed next, so what’s the point in even putting anything aside when there’s likely going to be a 4K cap on ISAs.

I used to feel so ambitious and of course I know money isn’t everything, not by a long shot. But having worked my way up the ladder and with huge responsibilities only to feel penalised financially for doing so…what is the point? Yes I have more financial security than someone claiming benefits but equally, I am not being flippant when I say a few years of resting and being at home and being frugal is starting to seem so much more attractive. Has anyone else started feeling this way? I feel taken the piss out of by every financial angle!

Good idea. I’d happily send a thank you Christmas card to all those out there working their arses off in minimum wage jobs.
Entitled arses — not so much…

Is this a joke question. Anyone earning over 50,000 sees so little of their take home pay, especially if they are paying student loan and substantial pension contributions alongside.

no longer being in the EU - UK is not bound to keep VAT

Who do you mean hasn’t paid enough tax? Which tax bracket do you want to pay more?

'We' haven't paid enough tax..... or the net takers, 5th generation never contributers has increased?..

They'd need to check whether the tax bands here (in Scotland) made it worth their while.

I've just had a look: the "advanced rate" here of 45% starts at £75,001.

www.mytaxaccountant.co.uk/post/tax-rates-in-scotland-vs-rest-of-uk

Absolutely. I have paid tax since I started working in my teens. I now pay between NI and tax, over 1600 pounds a month. Where does it go? I can’t access basic services and my children’s school is run on donations as money is so hard to come by!

@UncharteredWaters exactly. When I was doing FT and pushing on I also had to pay a nanny as my line of work means being always on. Basically giving all what salary I had left for savings etc away. Now my role is rescoped for PT and I am (usually) able to collect my children and see them in the evening. While getting my tax free allowance back and 30 hours and TFCC. To be fair if I was finding the juggle of career and family easy I would continue pushing up the ladder, but I was suffering from burnout trying to do everything and it seemed ludicrous to carry on working more and more to give more and more away in tax and childcare.

If you earn £50,000 then your net income is £39,521
If you earn £35,000 then your net income is £28,721
If you earn £100,000 then y0ur net income is £68,561

student loan isn't a tax and neither is your pension - the later actually saves you tax

Agreed. Of all the unpleasant, sneering posts on this thread her comments about people claiming benefits are some of the worst.

I wish I could earn more and would be delighted to earn enough to be paying more tax!
My main beef is how shit this country is investing in infrastructure long-term. I’d be delighted to pay Scandinavia level of tax if the government had the common sense to spend it properly 🤷🏼‍♀️

Go for it! See how much "the rest" there is to stash

You want me to go and ask someone on benefits to send me a thank you card? Are you mad? Plus it should come from them really but won't because as we can see most the people who get benefits are generally pretty ungrateful.

Nobody on minimum wage needs to send me a thank you card for being a high tax payer. I need them. But equally, they need me too.

What a piece of work you are.

Hole. Keep digging.

Neither do I.

Yes - 68% tax rate on the extra that is earned. My biggest gripe is where my taxes go ; mostly to outsourced ‘public’ services which make billions in profits for privately owned companies .
In my opinion this is the reason for our inadequate services , too much privatisation, deregulation and zero controls , hey , that’s the markets right ?? And so much is hidden behind symbols that are designed to confuse - NHS service providers… etc - why was so much ever allowed to be outsourced when it would obviously cost us all more. My local District nurses have been ‘provided’ by Virgin Health for years but that’s not widely known . Like government subsidised buy to let mortgages used by people to profit from the housing shortage - shit holes rented vastly over costs to tenants claiming their rents via housing benefits - etc etc
Asylum seekers living in squalor but that squalor is charged at top rate to the government and has made the landlord a billionaire….in less than 5 years .
I object to the lack of oversight and forward planning. I pay my way, wish everyone did the same and abhor those that actively seek to minimise their share .

No. My husband pays 45 percent tax and I pay 40 percent we have a lovely life. Lots of travel, business class flights to long haul destinations. Yes we pay a lot of tax but that’s the result of living in a society where we look after the weakest amongst us (which I think is a good thing)
At one point as a teenager my divorced mother had to rely on benefits for a few years until she could get a better job to support us without them. I still had to wear second hand clothes and money was tight but she could pay her mortgage, bills and provide the essential. that safety net was a lifeline.
We’re lucky and live in a lovely part of the country. I can get a GP appointment and have always managed to get one for my children same day if needed and had good experiences with the NHS. We have the grammar school system here, so the education is excellent.

If someone in 1986 as a teacher is earning £8000 and a hour is £20k - which they were in my area and now that same house is selling for £400k then a teachers wage should surely be how much?Its wages that are the sticking point - they aren't enough

but all the time people complain about the amount of tax or the lack of benefits or the price of houses

but its the wages that haven't kept pace and who pays the wages?

Actually, as someone who earns less than a quarter of your salary (and with a DH who brings in about the same as me) I can say that. And I can think it.

You don’t have to agree with me; that’s fine.

A mad idea was the “Entitled to” website. It was all part of the all rights and no responsibilities wave which seemed to crash over the population.

that should read can buy a house for £20k - sorry

There are loads of YouTube videos in which Brits moan about the lack of ambition in the U.K., and how things are different in Asia or Australia or whatever. But the U.K. is a small, overcrowded island. There just isn’t enough space. Also, the demand for housing is very high. Developers take advantage of this and build disgusting little rabbit hutches, jam them on top of one another, and then charge a ridiculous amount. And even if you do save up and buy a house on one of these awful new estates, there has to be social housing as well. So you’ll probably end up living twenty yards away from a noisy ‘problem family’. It’s no wonder Brits aren’t as ambitious as Australians or Americans. Life for hardworking people on middle incomes just isn’t that great.

Quite the opposite of a hole. I just get so pissed on these threads when all net takers are like, give us more! give us more! The sooner Reform get in and move to a more American style approach the better - its only a matter of time now with this labour shit show. Make Britain Great Again!