Andy Burnham should put the damn social care tax on landlords and big occupational pensions

[CurdinHenry]

Why is it always workers who pay

You'll have to elaborate on this because I just don't understand. That liability of just under half a trillion is real. There might be a notional profit whereby in a given year more is paid in than is taken out but its not profit in any meaningful sense of the word. Or have I got that wrong?

The huge hole you talk about in government finances is the almost £500 billion that is unfunded, with no clue how to manage it going forward. How much more of a hole do you want?

Getting rid of Inheritance tax isn't fair either though. Why should working people pay more tax so that other people get a big unearned windfall? The deceased doesn't lose out, because they're dead. The only losers in Inheritance tax are the beneficiaries who did nothing to earn it, so it seems one of the fairer taxes to me.
Agree that private care homes need scrutiny and ideally dispensing with.

Lots of people in the public sector have big pensions. I know someone whose yearly pension is more than my salary.

“The population of people unable to care for themselves is growing.
Im sick of my council tax payments -70% of which go to social care (mainly care homes) and council pensions. How much more are people supposed to pay to keep people who contribute nothing to society alive?! What about the young people?? They are just expected to pay for it all!”

@DaisyDooley what do you actually propose is done with people when they get older?

I do think the burden of this needs to be spread across society. We are living with the consequences of not preparing for an ageing population in both social care and the NHS. It will be the younger generations who will pay for this inaction.

People are living much longer and often in very poor health. Adults with disabilities are also living longer. I live in a county that is expecting to see an 80% increase of over 85s in the next 20 years. As someone who works in the sector every single day people are referred to social services who are reaching breaking point. The cost of care packages for the most vulnerable in society are enormous and I think unless you work in the sector or have personal experience you would not realise how much these packages actually cost on a monthly basis.

I think the 10% on estates is fair but don’t think that will be enough.

I know people who are millionaires now thanks to inheritance and house prices even after paying IHT.
They do well in life , but many would rather have their relatives around. Luck of the draw isn’t it, although I can understand why people don’t like paying it too! It’s always been around, but with higher house prices it is a lot more now than it used to be and many people are banking it on it in the future too.

No. We are landlords on a flat we used to own and we’re already taxed on profit.

I am happy to pay a higher tax towards adult social care ( after my MiL spending £6,000 per month on her care).

However, this needs to be equitable with everyone contributing, not some getting it free whilst others spend their saved money.

I am also really opposed to my hard earned, saved money (36 year unbroken contract) to be going into private venture and large CEO wages.
Social care must be provided by publicly owned, accountable organisations.

YABVU for investing so much energy into if, buts and maybes.

A lot of council run care homes and home helps were provided by the council , but that’s another thing that was hived off ! It’s all a racket ( only my opinion though , I appreciate that lumping them together isn’t fair to many places )

That'll be the public sector then.

I don’t think a 10% levy on death is the worst thing . Social care is a major issue and there are others that need resolving .

Yes my retired partner on a measly miner's pension is selling his house. He's sick of the hefty tax bill he gets each year for renting out. It's always the ones who get off their arses and generate money, people like the OP want to punish.

Bit like many other welfare claimants then, if you want to go down that road.

Agree, there was a poster the other day reporting £4k a month of benefits!

Question? What if someone doesn't need care and lives at home until their demise. An additional 10% tax on their estate to pay for others doesn't seem fair to me. It's such a difficult problem to solve.

@Aquagirl123but that’s true of every tax!

@EcoChica1980private sector used to have DB schemes too

There did used to be council care homes, but like many other things, everything became privatised, and had to make a profit.

I just assumed that the OP meant employee NI to become straight NI payments to apply to all income (which includes rental income and pension income). That NI then put towards a mix of social care and NHS. The landlord with a big portfolio then also qualifies for state pension and social care as has contributed NI. Don’t see the problem of all earners paying NI however income is earned (whether passive or active). Also couple it with the 10% estate tax.

Incidentally a lot of wealth has left the country since 2023 even. The UBS wealth report 2026 shows this very clearly. We are now poorer than Spain per capita. Mix of inflation and wealth leaving. A lot of rich internationals did leave because of the 40% inheritance tax - it is meant to bite if you lived here for 10 years. Obviously a lot of international millionaires and billionaires were never going to stick around for that.

Plus, people paying their own way actually subsidise those who are funded by social services. It’s totally wrong, in my book.

My dh wasn’t public sector , but his pension is more akin to one. He had to work for it though and pay a lot into it. His employer matched the payments, but that has changed over the years and it’ll be the youngsters who won’t get what he currently receives. He wasn’t even higher management , they are even more better off! Took a long tome to achieve though.
Some post office managers also receive good pensions. It’s not always just the civil servants.
Our parents didn’t have a house to sell on , but that is rare amongst my friends who are all wealthy because their parents made some good choices and wanted their children to benefit. You do have to look after your own too, something that tends to wind up some people , but we see politicians doing it all the time with their families. Maybe things have to change, but I don’t envy the ones trying to change it to make it all fairer and if yi are diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer’s you really are seen as a second class citizen unfortunately ( when it comes to any help )

If we are honest, this country is struggling and has for many years.

What is really needed is a whole evaluation of all benefits, all costs for us to manage life and all taxes, matched with the needs of a country with an aging population and a large increase in children with SEND and mental health issues.

The books need to balance, a near impossible task without some really tough decisions.
Or we all need to accept that our standard of living is dropping, that we have become more selfish and will only look after ‘me and mine’ without any shared responsibility for others in our community.

True! But I don't want to pay any more than I do already, I'm not in Gary Lineker's league. I'd rather sort myself out if I can

That's no different to having paid NI for most of your working life and dropping down dead before you reached state pension age. There has to be a certain collective attitude where people put in for the greater good.

It won't be an 'additional' 10% tax, it would just be a 10% tax contribution to fund social care. All social care.