The budget - not quite live

BillJones

grizzly1911 wrote: »

Personal allowance increase in comparison is small beer.

That's the way that it has to be to be fair, though. Higher rate taxpayers pay the lion's share of income taxes, so when the tax burden drops it ought to drop, in absolute terms, by more for those who pay most in. For people who pay little to no income tax there is not much room to give them a huge reduction in absolute terms. For a fair few people, though, the rise inn personal allowance will be quite a decent change in relative terms.

We (top rate tax payers) are still paying a marginal rate of 47% on income under this government compared to 40% for the vast majority of Labour's term, so it's not right to try to suggest (as some have) that we are being treated more "gently" under the coalition than we were under Labour.

I'm one of those who think that the 47% is more about punishment than it is about revenue raising, so who'd prefer to see us return to Labour's rate of 40%.

michaels

Wasn't it 41.5% under Labour?

PaulF81

Worth pointing out hpc'ers and other hardcore savers can't whine about low rates now....cas ey have a 15k per annum shares allowance! That's pretty sweet, whatever way you look at it. I don't think I could save 15k per annum until the mortgage is cleared (6 years to go...) once I return to the uk....

Any idea if I can invest in isas whilst living as an expat abroad? (I have continued to pay ni)

BillJones

michaels wrote: »

Wasn't it 41.5% under Labour?

I think that for most of their term national insurance stopped being charged on income over something around £50,000, so above that it was only the headline income tax rate.

I'm not certain, though. An interesting psychological effect of high rates is that you find yourself not keen to examine how much is being taken each month in your normal pay packet.

It is far more noticeable in the performance related pay. When we got out £1k "upfront" payment last year, for example, that translated to £480 hitting the bank account.

grizzly1911

BillJones wrote: »

That's the way that it has to be to be fair, though. Higher rate taxpayers pay the lion's share of income taxes, so when the tax burden drops it ought to drop, in absolute terms, by more for those who pay most in. For people who pay little to no income tax there is not much room to give them a huge reduction in absolute terms. For a fair few people, though, the rise inn personal allowance will be quite a decent change in relative terms.

We (top rate tax payers) are still paying a marginal rate of 47% on income under this government compared to 40% for the vast majority of Labour's term, so it's not right to try to suggest (as some have) that we are being treated more "gently" under the coalition than we were under Labour.

I'm one of those who think that the 47% is more about punishment than it is about revenue raising, so who'd prefer to see us return to Labour's rate of 40%.

Many people would happily swap places with you if the burden is too much for you. New Maserati or heat or eat?

People can lose perspective and lose awareness of reality. Perhaps you should be grateful you are in a position to be eligible to be taxed so highly?

Fella

mystic_trev wrote: »

I seem to remember one of the first things New Labour did in 1997 was to raid Pensions.

http://www.independent.co.uk/money/budget-97-pension-funds-in-uproar-over-abolition-of-tax-credit-1248706.html

Of course, but that was done in a way that the average person simply did not understand the significance of.

That's in direct contrast to what would happen if they suddenly announced that retirees could no longer have a chunk of tax-free cash, something that applies to a huge amount of voters, even the least economically aware of whom would understand that they'd just been robbed of x thousand pounds.

Fella

grizzly1911 wrote: »

Many people would happily swap places with you if the burden is too much for you. New Maserati or heat or eat?

People can lose perspective and lose awareness of reality. Perhaps you should be grateful you are in a position to be eligible to be taxed so highly?

Of course many of those people had exactly that choice to swap places, but the effort & work involved in doing so didn't appeal to them.

Not all, but many.

mayonnaise

grizzly1911 wrote: »

...if you only pick up a living wage...

grizzly1911 wrote: »

...higher living costs for many...

grizzly1911 wrote: »

New Maserati or heat or eat?

You are Ed Miliband's soundbite generator. Don't even try to deny it.

AndyGuil

BillJones wrote: »

That's the way that it has to be to be fair, though. Higher rate taxpayers pay the lion's share of income taxes, so when the tax burden drops it ought to drop, in absolute terms, by more for those who pay most in. For people who pay little to no income tax there is not much room to give them a huge reduction in absolute terms. For a fair few people, though, the rise inn personal allowance will be quite a decent change in relative terms.

We (top rate tax payers) are still paying a marginal rate of 47% on income under this government compared to 40% for the vast majority of Labour's term, so it's not right to try to suggest (as some have) that we are being treated more "gently" under the coalition than we were under Labour.

I'm one of those who think that the 47% is more about punishment than it is about revenue raising, so who'd prefer to see us return to Labour's rate of 40%.

By the end of labour's term it was 52% and with a lower tax free allowance.

BillJones

grizzly1911 wrote: »

Many people would happily swap places with you if the burden is too much for you. New Maserati or heat or eat?

Yes, of course they would. That doesn't really address the point under contention, though, does it?

The suggestion that I've lost touch with reality is not only pointlessly insulting, by the way, it's also wrong. It's because I am profoundly aware of reality that I made decisions at school, university, and since, that have brought me to where I am now.

I think that it'd be fairer to say that you have lost touch with reality if you think that you get to make the same decisions that you have made, end up where you are, and then talk about swapping places with me. You had the choice to do what I do, you chose not to. You don't get to not out in the effort but then receive the benefits that accrue from them.