Does anyone here pay 50p tax?

[Freakbro]

Easy saying it when you dont. Its a bit like saying tax everyone else more so long as it isnt you, or people earn too much money so long as you arent the one earning it.

I'm not saying that at all though. I have no jealousy towards people who earn lots of money, I personally know half a dozen millionaires - good on them.

I never look at my pay and rue the tax deducted, which in my employed work I pay BR, I'm happy to be earning enough money to pay the tax I do.

To put it another way I would LOVE to pay the 50p tax band because it would mean I earnt over £150,000 a year.

Bear is right; what so many people don't seem to realise is just how damaging this tax can be. Having to pay the additional rate is financially crippling, forcing many to flee the country in order to survive. The most shameful part of the whole thing is how few people even acknowledge the severity of the problem. I'm sick and tired of people standing up for "the little guy"; isn't it about time somebody stood up for the highly affluent as well?!

I know, terrible isn't it

 

[Dr House]

I don't pay it and would have absolutely no problem if I did.

I find it laughable that people would worry about paying an extra 10p in the pound on their earnings over £150,000

As Bear said you will feel differently when you are the one paying that much.

With NI it works out to 52% tax on all income over 150k it just feels unfair to pay more in tax then you get to take home on income over 150k.

 

[Freakbro]

As Bear said you will feel differently when you are the one paying that much.

With NI it works out to 52% tax on all income over 150k it just feels unfair to pay more in tax then you get to take home on income over 150k.

No, I really wouldn't. Just because you might, don't think the rest of us would. I'm not greedy

Will Self and the singer (can't remember his name) on QT the other week both admitted to paying the 50p tax band and both said they were more than happy to do so.

There is only so much money you 'need', the rest is superfluous.

 

[Alex_6n2]

As Bear said you will feel differently when you are the one paying that much.

With NI it works out to 52% tax on all income over 150k it just feels unfair to pay more in tax then you get to take home on income over 150k.

But you're still paying 12% NI on a whole load of your income too which means a lot more than just your earning above 150K are taxed at 52%

Quite ridiculous.

 

[Pug]

its not about greed, but worth.

If i worked hard (which you have to do to earn that sort of money) then i'd be pretty annoyed if i cam home with less than half of it.

40% really stings, when i get a big bonus payout the tax is eye-watering, and a little demoralising (though its a pretty ****y thing to be moaning about really when you think about it - effectively moaning about earning a lot of money). THats how it feels though, sadly.

 

[Hatter The Mad]

My old man would rather work 9 months a years (as a contractor) then pay 50% in tax. There is just something unfair about the government taking more of your pay then you do (after NI).

Have you explained to him that isn't very logical?

 

[Hatter The Mad]

No, I really wouldn't. Just because you might, don't think the rest of us would. I'm not greedy

It isn't about greed. Perhaps when you are earning that much and have a family and you start to question that for some part of the year, you are spending half of your working life earning nothing for it (and paying for things like NHS IT).

There is only so much money you 'need', the rest is superfluous.

Ok, given that you could support yourself on £12k a year net, would you be happy if we changed the base tax rate to reflect that (70%+)? After all, it is superfluous.

 

[KaHn]

I have done on some months but not normally.

KaHn

 

[Jokester]

Bear is right; what so many people don't seem to realise is just how damaging this tax can be. Having to pay the additional rate is financially crippling, forcing many to flee the country in order to survive. The most shameful part of the whole thing is how few people even acknowledge the severity of the problem. I'm sick and tired of people standing up for "the little guy"; isn't it about time somebody stood up for the highly affluent as well?!

When the highly affluent pay disproportionately more tax into the system than everyone else, everyone should care about it.

 

[PMKeates]

Easy saying it when you dont. Its a bit like saying tax everyone else more so long as it isnt you, or people earn too much money so long as you arent the one earning it.

In some respects he is right. I and millions of others are paying 42% after NI, and while I do begrudge it, I'm not exactly staging protests. If it were to go from 42% to 52% when my earnings tipped over £150,000, I'm not sure I'd resent it any much more. I think the switch to a 50% income tax rate at £150,000 isn't as 'bad' as the jump to 40% at £40,000 or whatever it is, even if you do drop from 12% to 2% NI at around the same time.

However, in general I'm against the 50% rate, as I am against most high tax rates. I think it just encourages those who earn more than £150,000 to find ways to hide their income. This means little if any net gain for the Treasury, yet another high tax rate to discourage investment etc.

 

[Hatter The Mad]

Before the 50p tax rate, I understand that the top one percent of earners accounted for 26-27% of the entire income tax take.

I wonder how the proportions changed since the introduction of the 50p rate - anyone know?

 

[PMKeates]

I wonder how the proportions changed since the introduction of the 50p rate - anyone know?

I'd imagine not, as I think we are waiting on figures from HMRC for 2010-2011. They have estimates here: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income_tax/table2-1.pdf.

It's a difficult thing to measure as the 50% rate changes behaviours, and so it's not really possible to know how much income would have been declared had the rate not existed, and thus calculate truly how much additional revenue it has generated.

 

[Duff-Man]

I don't pay the 50% income tax, but if you consider national insurance, student loan and council tax, then that takes well over 50% of my gross salary.

I was (almost) better off as a PhD student on 12.5k tax free.

 

[dowie]

I don't pay it and would have absolutely no problem if I did.

I find it laughable that people would worry about paying an extra 10p in the pound on their earnings over £150,000

It's not so much greed just the removal of an incentive - suddenly doing that extra overtime becomes less appealing for a GP who's already on circa 150k and knows that any extra time he now puts in on weekends/evenings will earn him a lower amount. Perhaps some of his patients then have to take time off during their working days to come and see him as he is less available in the evenings/Saturday mornings now.

 

[Freakbro]

It isn't about greed. Perhaps when you are earning that much and have a family and you start to question that for some part of the year, you are spending half of your working life earning nothing for it (and paying for things like NHS IT).

Your not spending half your working life earning nothing for it though are you. You only pay the 50p tax rate on the amount above the 150,000. Which looking at it simply if you earnt 175,000 the difference between the two bands means you take home 2,500 a year (208 a month) less...I'm sure that is not going to be a financial burden on anyone earning this level of money already.

Oh and I'm 41 and have a son, so not sure what the family bit has to do with it.

Ok, given that you could support yourself on £12k a year net, would you be happy if we changed the base tax rate to reflect that (70%+)? After all, it is superfluous.

Sure as long as the higher tax paid meant all the services are provided for, I have no problem with the Scandinavian model.

I have lived on far far less than 12k a year at some points and have earnt in the 40% tax band at others, and it did not bother me one jot to pay the higher tax band.

So since that happens at the £40k region, I can honestly say it would have absolutely no effect on me to pay another 10p in the pound on the excess of £150,000 if I ever hit that bracket.

 

[Bear]

I have lived on far far less than 12k a year at some points and have earnt in the 40% tax band at others, and it did not bother me one jot to pay the higher tax band.

So since that happens at the £40k region, I can honestly say it would have absolutely no effect on me to pay another 10p in the pound on the excess of £150,000 if I ever hit that bracket.

But in the main you have no choice to like it or not, it is taken at source. If you were in a different position and you had the opportunity to reduce your tax liabilities via legal means then would you take it ?

In reality not being in that position it would be easy to say you wouldnt but if it was a reality then things might be different and only then it would be really telling whether you minded or not.

 

[Bear]

In some respects he is right. I and millions of others are paying 42% after NI, and while I do begrudge it, I'm not exactly staging protests. If it were to go from 42% to 52% when my earnings tipped over £150,000, I'm not sure I'd resent it any much more. I think the switch to a 50% income tax rate at £150,000 isn't as 'bad' as the jump to 40% at £40,000 or whatever it is, even if you do drop from 12% to 2% NI at around the same time.

However, in general I'm against the 50% rate, as I am against most high tax rates. I think it just encourages those who earn more than £150,000 to find ways to hide their income. This means little if any net gain for the Treasury, yet another high tax rate to discourage investment etc.

As I just mentioned, as it is taken at source you get no choice in the matter, you just get what you get. The telling thing would be given the choice to avoid paying the tax or not then would the people saying they dont care about paying the tax take the avoidance route or not.

Due respect to the people that wont.

 

[PMKeates]

As I just mentioned, as it is taken at source you get no choice in the matter, you just get what you get. The telling thing would be given the choice to avoid paying the tax or not then would the people saying they dont care about paying the tax take the avoidance route or not.

Due respect to the people that wont.

Is your question whether if I had a choice to pay tax or not, even if I knew my tax was paying for public services, would I pay? If that's the question, I wouldn't hand over a penny.

 

[Freakbro]

But in the main you have no choice to like it or not, it is taken at source. If you were in a different position and you had the opportunity to reduce your tax liabilities via legal means then would you take it ?

Of course I have a choice to like it or not, that is what we are talking about I have no choice whether it is taken or not, but its up to me whether it bothers me or not, which it doesnt.

In reality not being in that position it would be easy to say you wouldnt but if it was a reality then things might be different and only then it would be really telling whether you minded or not.

A lot of my income is from self employment, so I do have an effect on this but still only claim what I am eligible for and pay my dues on the rest.

 

[Floogie]

However, in general I'm against the 50% rate, as I am against most high tax rates. I think it just encourages those who earn more than £150,000 to find ways to hide their income. This means little if any net gain for the Treasury, yet another high tax rate to discourage investment etc.

What does an increased personal tax rate have to do with business investment?