to think 51% tax is ridiculous, and already to be planning to move to Asia

[hedgiemum]

Namechanged. Married to someone who earns well in excess of £150,000 a year, though neither does he earn 7 figures.
He is still quite young in his career - a recent promotion to a senior position, but has not been earning this kind of money of long, so we still have a mortgage and haven't saved large amounts (what we have saved is through his pension which is no longer going to be particularly worth doing.)

He phoned me a minute after end of budget to say he'd watched it with his boss whose reaction was that he would move the company (not a bank, but in finance) to Asia. Probably Hong Kong - 12% tax rather than the 51% we'd be paying here.

Seems like a kneejerk reaction, and clearly we can afford to pay more, but boss doesn't feel he'll get good productivity from staff if they are getting to take home less than half their income. Plus it decreases ever-present risk of them being headhunted by companies in lower-tax economies.

AIBU to be PLEASED (I used to hate tax exiles.) Partly because it just does not seem fair. Partly because this country has been run so badly by New Labour of whom we had such high expectations, and the medical care we have received has been shite, the local schools are shite, the roads are insanely busy and yet is costs so much to live here.

Pagwatch - agree with our post waaaaaay down at the bottom - I have no problem paying tax, just that they spend it on rubbish. I nearly choked today when I heard Alistair Darling pontificating about tax avoidance, when ordinary mortals are taexd on beneifits in kind while MPs just rake it in, no tax paid.
Those earning over 100k have plenty of ways to avoid the new rules and good luck to them until MPs are taxed on the same basis as the rest.

Back in the 60s, IIRC, the top rate tax was 105% which is why the Rolling Stones moved to France. Imagine that - 51% doesn't seem so bad in comparison...

Hedgiemum - would you have thought along the same lines 4 years ago when you say your DH was paid a lower wage? Or would you have thought "the greedy cow" like many on this thread do. (Or OK, me, to speak only for myself.)

Considering this whole financial mess was created by the greedy ingrates in the city, it is about time they actully contributed more to pay for the mess.

They will only be paying 51% tax on earnings over £150k. If that means they can only buy one house instead of several, have only 2 holidays per year instead of 6, reconsider buying a weekend retreat in areas where they have priced the locals out of the housing market and and have to consider sending their off-spring to a cheaper private school, well tough!

Pahhh..

I cant muster much sympathy for highearners paying tax, tax that ensures that everybody can benefit from services, such as NHS, etc...

pOINTY - My friend gets six weeks anual leave a year. For those of us who are self employed that seems a huge luxury and one which is funded by the tax payer.

agree with everyone who wishes people who feel the need to complain when earning such huge amounts of money should sod off and live elsewhere. I work with the homeless, some of whom are happy to get a meal a day, so quite frankly people who begrudge paying what I think a lot of us would feel are entirely appropriate rates of tax should go away.

If people on 150k plus being taxed 50% are not able to live comfortably then the education system (numeracy in particular) must be absolutely up the creek.

I did hope that the recession would make people re-evaluate their lives but it appears not in some cases. Refreshing to hear the more positive responses on this thread, especially from those who will be directly affected by this change.

Hedgiemum, not to be rude, but i think you should probably just be happy your DH still has a job, since most of his hedgie peers are begging to get back into the banks they left in pursuit of bigger pay packages. the industry is in a shambles, and taxation is likely the least of the worries for your DH's boss. (He also needs to reconsider his maths ability if he thinks the 50% tax rate means taking home half the gross pay, as others have eloquently pointed out!)

but I am no fan of high tax rates, and I do think they make business less competitive, particularly finance, which is global.

so YANBU.

and i know £150k sounds like a lot to people here, and most live on much less on London, but house prices are still so ridiculous that on 3x earnings that is only going to get you a pretty ordinary 2-bed flat, or at the very most a smallish 3-bed house in the darkest reaches of south London.

Gosh, aren't people aggressive towards high earners? I think it would be a great shame if our country (no. 2 on the export of services and no. 6 on export of goods in the world in absolute terms) lost its talent.

to OP Couldn't you get a p/t job to make up the shortfall?

Litchick - it's a common misperception that annual leave is 'free'. What's actually happening is that a deduction for time not worked - be it 4 weeks or 6 - is annualised across the payments to the employee. Hence teachers appear to have a lower salary than an equivalent in business, because they're having more time deducted.

As a self-employed person you can do this sum for yourself, and take the time off. I used to when I was self-employed.

what a bitter way to look at it, though. That we are funding the 6 week holidays of public sector workers. You could apply for a job in the public sector and then feel that you're getting your money's worth

"but house prices are still so ridiculous that on 3x earnings that is only going to get you a pretty ordinary 2-bed flat, or at the very most a smallish 3-bed house in the darkest reaches of south London"

What - you mean somewhere like Balham or Clapham?

You can buy a beautiful, massive flat with a garden in SE19, in one of the big old Victorian villas on the edge of Crystal Palace park for less than 300K. Be in central London in 25 minutes.

So unless you think it's your god given right to live in a hugely expensive area what is there to moan about?

Yes, I was thinking that standanddeliver - that multiple would buy you a bloody lovely house around where I live (SW suburbs).

"Gosh, aren't people aggressive towards high earners? I think it would be a great shame if our country (no. 2 on the export of services and no. 6 on export of goods in the world in absolute terms) lost its talent."

Lose the talent to where considering that we are in a finacial global meltdown?

What exactly is this talent anyway? They are just a bunch of overpaid gamblers.

My DH earns a very good wage. We at present do not have to pay for our housing as the company pays for it. We are facing a 20% wage cut this year as his company is, like many others, having to cut costs.

Do I complain?

Do I hell, I know that there are a hell of a lot of others doing much worse off and some would be doing cartwheels to get any job, not to mention one that pays as well as DHs.

DH is paid in Germany and so pays about 50% NI/Taxes already.

OP
To post this at a time when many MNetters or their DHs have lost their jobs or are likely to lose their jobs is incredibly insensitive. Wake up and smell the coffee. We are in a recession.

deepest darkest south london how very dare they expect us to live there!

Five to six weeks annual leave is fairly normal in the private sector too. In my last job leave started at 25 days and increased to 30 days after 10 years service.

I'm an American living in London for 10 years, and I'm appalled by some of the responses to this thread.

I mention I'm American because in my country it is not seen as a bad thing to work hard and earn a good living.

I wonder what warped sense of values have made some people believe that those better-off should suck it up and pay more to the government for that privilege. Last time I checked, the UK wasn't a socialist country.

In America, it is unconstitutional to impose a tax which is a penalty. That is exactly what this tax is - it is a penalty on those that earn more money (simple as that).

I'm willing to pay a higher tax rate than those who make less money than me. But I'm not willing to be singled out for my success and penalised for it. I didn't come from a wealthy background, but I worked damn hard to get where I am. I'm not saying that other people don't work hard, I'm just saying that I worked hard.

Most of you will tell me to bugger off home to the States if I don't like it. that is exactly the kind of attitude that will ensure that the UK slips back into a third-world country like the 70s. Enjoy it -you'd never see this in the US. Thank god my daughter has dual-citizenship.

Rant over...

"Last time I checked, the UK wasn't a socialist country."

Eh? We have a socialist government in power!

Socialism is not a dirty word you know.

thehuntress - you say you're willing to pay a higher tax rate than those who make less money, but suggest at the same time that doing so is being penalised? Don't understand...

some of these posts are making me laugh out loud. it's starting to sound like a monty python sketch

'we pay 100% tax but we don't mind - and we eat cardboard and live in a skip but we're still grateful.'

The Americans I know (my sister is married to one) will tell you their bank balance before they say how do you do. It's all about the money.
I agree we have tall poppy syndrome here, but you have soup kitchens opening in the USA because the capitalist dream has gone tits up.
Maybe some balance is needed ?

Not a socialist country????????