a tax too far?

[Drewster]

I would like to see a list of the manifesto pledges that these guys have actually kept

1)
2)
3)
4)
....
999)

HTH

[expat]

Given that less than 2 per cent of the pop earn more than 100k and less than 1 per cent ear more than 150 k I can hardly sympathise for the very well off having to cough up a few more bob in taxes - and they will probably find ways round this anyway - which is good news for tax consultants and the like.

Persoanlly Im surprised they didnt go for a more substantial 70 per cent target - tax em till their Pips squeak !

And I do wish people would give up with the rubbish about paying 50%: you know, 50% of 150k is 75k, wow! 75k taxes......

[TimberWolf]

50% tax is 100% of the money you receive. E.g. 50% of 100K is 50K, so the tax man gets as much of the (notional) 100K as you do.

[Not So Wise]

I'm just going to leave more dosh in the company to keep under the threshold until tax rates return to normal. I assume lots of other people will do the same.

You do know that is unlikely to be within the next 10 years...if ever?

Given that less than 2 per cent of the pop earn more than 100k and less than 1 per cent ear more than 150 k I can hardly sympathise for the very well off having to cough up a few more bob in taxes -

And that type of thinking is exactly why the top earners were targeted, they are a minority of the voting population and majority will think exactly like you do.

And when this tax fails to gather enough money and its next band down getting the hike the bands below them (a majority in comparison) will think the same and so on until everyone's tax's have gone up

It's an old tactic to divide the population to play them off each other and is one of the major reasons gov's don't like a single flat tax rate

[Menelaus]

What do we think of flat-tax economies?

[expat]

50% tax is 100% of the money you receive. E.g. 50% of 100K is 50K, so the tax man gets as much of the (notional) 100K as you do.

What I mean is, some people talk as if 50% tax from 150k means that a person earning 150k will pay 50% of all his income. In reality, someone earning 150k will not pay 50% tax on any of his income.

Someone earning 160k will pay 50% tax on only 10k of his income: i.e. only 10k of his income suffers a tax increase, from 4k tax to 5k tax, a rise of 1k; or 0.625% of his income.

Someone earning 200k will pay 50% tax on 50k of his income: i.e. only 50k of his income suffers a tax increase, from 20k tax to 25k tax, a rise of 5k; or 2.5% of his income.

You have to go quite a bit above 150k income before the tax increase becomes what you would call significant, however much some people try to imply that a person earning 150k will pay 75k tax: that's rubbish.

[expat]

You do know that is unlikely to be within the next 10 years...if ever?

I doubt if taxes will ever come back down so far. Cameron's public-school bullies will be scared to do without the income, and after a couple of terms of them Labour will get back in; and tax rates of less than 50% will be consigned to history along with the other excesses of the Thatcher years. Major kept up with them so as not to be vilified by his own party, and Labout kept up with them in order to be electable "New" Labour. In ten years' time all that will be forgotten.