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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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

805 replies

hedgiemum · 22/04/2009 14:33

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.

OP posts:
brettgirl2 · 23/04/2009 17:56

Your DH might fill a niche job, so possibly has a rare qualification, but that doesn't mean he will make good money UNLESS HE MAKES GOOD MONEY FOR HIS EMPLOYER.

But cote, the banks have gone bust - so where is the value added there?

You wouldn't offer a footballer a 100k a week contract because he'd played well two years ago and been crap last season would you???

brettgirl2 · 23/04/2009 17:57

btw I have a cleaner too, £15 a week well spent. No need to be on 150k a year for that!

duchesse · 23/04/2009 17:57

Cote- you seem awfully touchy today. That's three personal and directed insults in one post. Is everything OK?

And as I pointed out, my husband's work and that of his colleagues will be extremely marketable and makes shedloads of money in about 20 or 30 years time. Re-read my posting on the subject.

You clearly have an internet connection- teach yourself to read for content! Twerp!!

CoteDAzur · 23/04/2009 17:58

goodnightmoon - I said "trader" as an example. It could be successful surgeon or head of corporate finance. The point was that someone earning high amount of money for his firm will always get a high salary. Much higher than those of us whose performance matter very little in what their employers earn (shop assistant, nurse, till clerk at Asda, etc.)

goodnightmoon · 23/04/2009 17:59

though i disagree on the skill involved in the example given of a trader, cote is correct. bankers have always made good money because they are closest to the money itself.

as i read one ex-banking IT type put it recently in an article "oyster farmers eat a lot of oysters, don't they?" (he is now an oyster farmer.)

hedgiemum · 23/04/2009 18:00

"Where has hedgiemum gone?
Is she busy scouring the newspapers for Foreign Currency Option jobs in the Far East?"

LOL! Talked to DH last night - we'll go (obviously) if his company relocates, but he's happy in his role so we won't actively try to pursue leaving by applying for other positions. Sorry - I know some of you were counting down the hours until my departure!

Seriously, sorry haven't been involved in very interesting debates today, but 2 yr old has horrible puking bug..... Would much rather be involved in the debate than clearing up vomit!

OP posts:
Sorrento · 23/04/2009 18:02

The key I think seriously is to be a complete tosser throughout your twenties and early thirties, clear your mortgage, fill your boots and then you are in a position to be as nice as you like for the rest of your life because you are now safe.
That was certainly my plan right up until Dh got made redundant, now it looks like I have to re enter the rat race.
I had another interview today and put my suit on an hour before heading out the door, DH said it was like watching the hulk morph into character the change is tangible because I know the persona they think is required to do the job and it's not fluffy mummy.

noddyholder · 23/04/2009 18:03

Thats what I did sorrento worked a treat

sarah293 · 23/04/2009 18:04

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pagwatch · 23/04/2009 18:06

God Sorrento -you poor thing - you should change field!
My DH is nothing like that. Although I do remember ( back in the day when I was a city type) that the women were alays expected to be uber- aggressive - I had hoped it had changed.

There are wankers in every feld. Dh is not and never has been a selfish tosser and it hasn't stopped him doing brilliantly in his field. He's lovely.

goodnightmoon · 23/04/2009 18:12

Riven, your DH sounds like the exception not the rule. the classic example in Cote's theory is a salesperson. they generate business for a firm and are paid accordingly (usually via commission).

brettgirl2 · 23/04/2009 18:14

The sales people where I work are not paid more than anyone else. If no-one developed products or developed poor products then they wouldn't have anything to sell

CoteDAzur · 23/04/2009 18:20

It's not my theory.

Riven - If your DH makes so much money for his company and is paid peanuts, he should work somewhere else, or freelancing. Or demand a pay increase, in view of his considerable contribution to the company's profits. (Does the company have any profits?) It sounds like his employer is taking him for a ride.

sarah293 · 23/04/2009 18:24

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CoteDAzur · 23/04/2009 18:24

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MrsFreud · 23/04/2009 18:25

Op your statement that your husbands colleagues will now reduce productivity pisses me off...lucky for you that nurses/teachers/shop staff and the majority of the population frankly bother to put any effort into their lower paid jobs at all. Others around you do a good job but now your poor husband et co seem to think they have an excuse not to work and you agree!!
So shocking, it says a LOT about screwed priorities.

Life is NOT just about money, and running away to tax exile shows how little you think of the rest of society. I bet if those colleagues got redundant they would be the first to run baxk to the UK and take advantage of the NHS, welfare state etc

selfish doesn't even begin to describe it!

sarah293 · 23/04/2009 18:26

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noddyholder · 23/04/2009 18:26

Riven I know someone in a similar field who is one of only a couple of people who can do what he does and yet his superiors who are office based earn a lot more and are forever ringing him on his days off asking questions.So unfair

CoteDAzur · 23/04/2009 18:27

I hear Pakistan is looking for freelancers in top secret businesses. Generous pay. Lots of free time.

Sorrento · 23/04/2009 18:30

Pag If I could find anything that pays so much for doing so little I'd consider it I don't expect sympathy I could go and be a nurse for personal fullfillment but I chose to do something boring awful for a short period of time and reap the rewards as fast as possible.

pagwatch · 23/04/2009 18:31

Am I the only one who really wants to challenge Cote about her theory just to see what will happen.....

brettgirl2 · 23/04/2009 18:33

Of course it does depend on the type of job, because the difference that can be made by one sales person will clearly have a heavy impact on the amount that they are paid.

I'm just making the point that I work in product development so perhaps I make no money for the company directly. However, without new products being developed the sales team would be essentially screwed. I work in qualifications FWIW.

pagwatch · 23/04/2009 18:34

at Sorrento choosing her poison.
Good luck with the interview

goodnightmoon · 23/04/2009 18:39

i know it's not your theory Cote - just a turn of a word as you brought up the point.

expatinscotland · 23/04/2009 18:52

'Am I the only one who really wants to challenge Cote about her theory just to see what will happen.....'

Wasting your breath just produces more CO2 emissions.

Better to meditate whilst watching paint dry.