MSE Poll: Should the higher 40% tax band start at £50,000?

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Comments

  • ruperts
    ruperts Posts: 3,673 Forumite
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    zagfles wrote: »
    I think it reveals how out of touch some journalists, politicians and pressure groups are with ordinary people. It's quite revealing that a majority of those earning under £50k want a rise to the threshold, ie a cut not to their own taxes, but to the taxes of those richer than them! Especially amongst women, 67% of women earning under £50k want the threshold raised, and 59% of men.

    Or, a cut not to their own taxes, but to the taxes of their future selves. Since a lot of people will be thinking their wages will go up in the future, they don't want that higher rate tax level coming down too much. I would imagine in reality almost everyone will have voted to make the higher rate bracket start £5k or £10k above what they ultimately see themselves earning at their peak.
  • dodgy
    dodgy Posts: 162 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    I think the most enlightning thing this poll is highlighting is that

    23% of females responding earn > £50k
    52% of males responding earn > £50k

    Although I don't suspect that the readership of this site is really a representative slice of the UK population.
  • newatc
    newatc Posts: 845 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    edited 7 November 2019 at 11:38PM
    I'm retired and my income is a lot less than £50k so not personally affected. It does however seem to be that someone earning 50k (with likely mortgage costs and perhaps children) .can not be classified as rich.
    So the 40% should start at much higher level but progressively increase as we get into the megasums of the Director's Club.
  • Gavin83
    Gavin83 Posts: 8,746 Forumite
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    One-Eye wrote: »
    I am amazed at what this poll is revealing. With a massive and growing national debt, but also massive and growing complaints about austerity, only 8.6% think income tax for the "rich" should be increased. The 68.4% who think income tax for the "rich" should be reduced should perhaps say whether they favour more public spending cuts, increased budget deficit and national debt or increasing other taxes.

    I'm not at all surprised at what it's revealing. People feel that they shouldn't pay more tax but others should, therefore reaping all the benefits while suffering none of the negatives.

    How good £50k is will depend a lot on your circumstances as well. In some northern village you could live like a king. Living in London you'd probably just about get by, it's not a great salary. Assuming you were single you probably wouldn't even be able to afford your own flat on that, you'd have to house share. Not exactly the hallmarks of a rich person.
  • Cormedy
    Cormedy Posts: 3 Newbie
    Pleasantly surprised to see that Non-Binary readers are more than twice as likely to earn above £50k as male readers. Wasn't expecting that.

    Anyone else unsure which bracket they are in? My annual salary is £51k but because I salary sacrifice 16% towards pension savings, my actual salary is considered closer to £42k. Thus, I don't pay higher rate of tax. Perhaps the categories should be amended so that they divide the readers into categories such as "I am female and do not pay higher rate"..."I am female and pay higher rate" etc as I assume this will be closer to what they are asking. Also, I would be interested in the views people have about the 2% bracket for NI for those paying higher rate. I imagine there would be appetite across the board to ditch that and have everyone pay the normal NI rate.
  • Cormedy
    Cormedy Posts: 3 Newbie
    I see some benefits on this. We need to tax consumption rather than earning because that is ultimately what destroys our planet more. However, most people seem to be convinced that the only thing driving the economy is foolish spending by the consumer so they'd fight against this.

    In actuality, people lowering their consumption and investing it would power an economy better so a sales tax might encourage this too.
  • MastG
    MastG Posts: 77 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker Mortgage-free Glee!
    I earn over £50k but £12k is non taxable (pension and charity GAYE).
    I voted to lower to £45K, but wouldn't mind national insurance being raised in the higher band …. say 4% from current 2% if it was to fund NHS, pensions or education.
  • davestretty
    davestretty Posts: 62 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    disappointed to see that MSE, along with many other comparisons, conveniently forget to include the other income tax that is National Insurance. Including NI the basic rate of tax is 32% (not 20%) and those earning >£50K pay 42%. The differnce between basic and higher rate is, for most people, not 20% but actually only 10%. The question needs asking is why is NI not a progressive tax.
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