AIBU to think a 2% wealth tax on the rich is unfair?

[Mrspepperpotpot]

i just saw an article and petition from oxfam saying if we taxed the ‘super rich’ 2% it would solve a lot of problems. They were suggesting 2% on anyone worth 10 million. Everyone in the comments agreed

I just don’t understand this mentality. High earners are hit at every turn. They usually use private health and private schools, pay the most tax, get hit with tax on savings, IHT, land tax, pensions etc etc Why on earth should people earn money to be taxed on it, to then be taxed on it again and again.

Why do people begrudge others having money when they’ve worked extremely hard to get it? Why isn’t there uproar about benefits instead?

I know this will never actually happen but the amount of people who seem to want it to is astonishing

72% said they would be happy to do so. Who are we to say no.

Yes and why would they wait? They don’t need our yes or no they can just transfer more.

FFs you greedy and selfish bastard

do you think medics? Police? Bus drivers? Refuse collectors etc do not “work hard”?

There may well be some sort of legal reason why a tax is considered a more appropriate system to collect it.
Anyway, although it upsets you, they are happy to go with it.

The times to milk the cow dry in this country are long gone. It is all down the hill from here. Just you wait there is not more to squeeze and the rich will not pay to support people on welfare. Sort this and the economy first.

Things do not need to be so black and white.
There are welfare issues to sort. There are too many who do not pay the tax they should to, companies and individuals. The defaulters list is appalling. I would go after every penny owed.
You don’t have to join some sort of club where you cheer on billionaires and hate anyone on welfare. Nor vice versa.

Your post says rich, Oxfam are saying super rich. There's a difference.

This is an important post. We need to think very carefully about how and who we tax and what we can and cannot afford.

Im not opposed to taxing ‘the rich’. But who are they really and how do we do so without unintended consequences? The fact is this country can’t continue to afford the current welfare state without huge tax increases. I suspect ‘the rich’ will include anyone not on benefits / a very low income.

I’m not upset by the idea that they could just pay more now. Why would I be?

I do doubt their sincerity since HMRC would think thank you very much if they lobbed another £1m or whatever their way. That list below, all those people getting PR. They should go for it without waiting. Why not?

But the point is that the super rich are not being “milked dry” as you put it, because the effective tax rate they are paying is far lower than mine, and possibly yours too.

So how about they just pay the same as the rest of us rather than being allowed to benefit hugely from a tax system that hits people’s salaries but takes almost nothing from passive income resulting from enormous wealth?

Did it not occur to you to maybe work hard at school, study and gain marketable skills?

He does not live in the most expensive local authority. And he absolutely does not have any kind of severe disability, because, like I say, I know him and he works full time. He is perfectly capable of working, going out, going on holiday, living alone with zero support required. He is also not particularly skilled in deception, primarily because he tells so many people he does this. Anybody remotely sensible would keep it quiet! It IS possible, it IS happening and it DOES need to be addressed. And no, I do not remotely believe he is the only one.

Well, wow.

How rude. You know nothing about the poster at all.

If you’re worth 10 million or more you can afford tax lawyers and hide your wealth through a complex tax avoidance although legal scheme. See Richard Tice (not saying he’s worth 10 million but still). The average Nurse has to pay their fair share of taxes. There are more billionaires now than 20 years ago and none of them earn their wealth by themselves they get subsidies from not paying their workers a living wage which we as tax payers have to then subside through universal credit. Look at Musk, he’s the biggest welfare beneficiary of the US state with all his contracts and deals. He’s become even richer since Trump came into power.

And high earners are not the ones worth 10 million a year. They are the ultra rich. If we don’t do something soon, we will be a poor country with a few rich people.

And the welfare bill if you look at it, the majority of it is made up of the state pension payments and the triple lock system. https://wheredoesitallgo.org/welfare

Try living on minimum wage for a few months. If I had 10 million I’d be happy to pay 2% tax. Proportionally minimum wage families pay more tax than those who are wealthy - the rate of VAT is the same for everyone. If people choose private health and education they should feel fortunate they have those choices. The rate of higher tax in the 1960s was 19s6d in the pound. The NHS was working, people didn’t have to wait six weeks to see a GP or find an NHS dentist, and they weren’t paying most of their wages to greedly private landlords for mould ridden, squalid accommodation. Over the years the gap between rich andpoor has grown and the gap is getting wider. Why? Because wealthy people want more money than they could ever spend in several lifetimes.

They usually use private health and private schools

This, and other discretionary spending, is just that - discretionary. No-one is forcing them to make those choices, or to choose to have huge houses, fast cars, couture wardrobes etc, etc. It simply cannot be considered to be one of the 'punishments' of being rich that you have made up.

It's a lifestyle choice, they're welcome to make it - but don't expect me to feel sorry for them and cut them some slack over it by basically funding them to do so.

To address your broader question: in my personal experience, no-one who has made serious money has done so without exploiting others, either personally or by extracting wealth from a manufactured demand which targets those less economically or sociopolitically secure than they are. I'm sure it does happen, but it's not the rule.

I'm fine with those people being forced to give back.

They sure as hell won't do it without being forced.

The super-wealthy are another breed altogether. This layer of society withhold trillions that they owe to us, the people of the 'Broken Britain' they fund Farage to talk down, through shady tax dances through tiny loopholes. These people are morally contemptible and I hope they choke on the trickle down they pretend their wealth creates.

Never heard of the defaulters list so I’ve just googled. Bloody hell!!! Those are all the businesses who just….didn't pay tax? HOW? How do they just not pay it?

As a wealthy person, I assure you I did not work harder at school than anyone else, in fact I probably worked less hard as I have a good memory so could pass exams easily without needing to study.

Wealthy people got lucky, they were in the right place at the right time. If they left the country to avoid a wealth tax, a thousand other equally smart and talented people would be desperate to take their job. We do not need to worry about a few selfish richos leaving for Dubai.

Tax the rich

Did it not occur to you that sometimes people can do all these things and still end up stuck on NMW? Especially in this country’s low pay culture.

How bloody insulting to people on NMW, to assume they’ve not studied or worked hard enough.

I agree it is disgraceful. I would go after every single penny.
Am sick of those who do not pay what they should.
I expect if their house was on fire they would expect the fire brigade to turn up though.

You do seem keen to pay more, do you overpay tax?

Exactly.

My heart is not going to bleed asking millionaires to pay a little more.

I must admit I think this when some people I was at school with or with my kids say how ‘lucky’ we are at having well paid careers. I don’t reply that they were lucky to have a social life, to be out with pals, to never spend hours studying, not to miss out on parties etc etc. Choices have consequences. Sometimes you sacrifice short term fun for long term advantage.

But but but … there are people who haven’t won the genetic lottery with the brains and drive that enable them to be high earners, regardless of how hard they work. They may well still be vital members of society cleaning up after us, caring for us, working long hours in backbreaking low paid work that’s essential for the rest of us. They deserve respect and support too.

And there’s another cohort - the sick, disabled and those who live unimaginably hard lives caring for them. A society that doesn’t help them isn’t one I want to live in.

It’s hard to distinguish the lazy and feckless from the worthy unfortunate.

Does HMRC not have a mechanism to recover this? Surely, that money owed isn’t just…written off?