What should the maximum Income Tax rate be?

DavidLaGuardia

BNT wrote: »

I think the logic is that the sources of unearned income are bought in the first place from earned income.

The original capital may have been after tax, but the original captial is not taxed - it's the addtional gain over and above that is taxed,

BNT wrote: »

People buy stocks and other investments with money that has already been taxed once.

Yes, but not all sources of wealth come from sources after tax. There are many examples, but you could inherit a sum from an individual in a territory where they do not pay tax.

BNT wrote: »

As for hard work, etc. I think people tend to forget that we get paid for adding value, not for working hard.

True, but this only emphasises the original point. Work can add value whereas some gains from capital are not proportionate to the value added from the input.

Derivative

N1AK wrote: »

I'd also like to see NI incorporated into Income tax and other simplifications of the tax system.

I have to wonder just how keen everyone who talks about a flat rate tax would be on the idea when they find out that you'd have to earning well over £100,000 a year to be better off and that people earning ~£20,000-£60,000 would be those hit hardest by it.

You do realise that not every system you vote for must make yourself personally better off?

When I give to charity, I'm not making myself personally better off, or when I give a friend a gift, and so on. Perhaps indirectly through happiness, but not directly.

People would think twice about expanding the remit of government and expecting them to take care of people from cradle to grave with no conditions if they had to actually pay for it, rather than pushing it off to "the rich".

palmersperry

Derivative wrote: »

You do realise that not every system you vote for must make yourself personally better off?

When I give to charity, I'm not making myself personally better off, or when I give a friend a gift, and so on. Perhaps indirectly through happiness, but not directly.

People would think twice about expanding the remit of government and expecting them to take care of people from cradle to grave with no conditions if they had to actually pay for it, rather than pushing it off to "the rich".

Plus why would moving to a flat rate income tax system inherently result in those people paid £20-60k/year being worse off? IIRC Slovakia, Lithuania and Hungary all have flat rate income tax with rates that are lower than the UK's basic 20%.