Fairness

[Chippy_boy]

Because as I don't earn 100 million a year and the state doesn't Feed and house my family it wouldn't work out, I don't think in any of your examples or in any country in the western world anyone Pays close to that even at the serious extremes of top rates of 90 you would have to earn many many millions to get close

That's not the point. Your argument is that rich people should pay more. Well they already do pay more. A LOT more already. But you say no, it needs to be more still. How much more?

When? Not that I am arguing with the sentiment some of the tax levels paid by very rich businessmen is awful, plenty of billionaires paying less than 5%

If there's anyone on huge incomes paying 5% tax then that's surely wrong, I would agree. Clamping down on this is certainly the right thing to do and I don't think anyone has a problem witht that. In fact Cameron has been leading the way on it, domestically and on the world stage.

But what about people on say £120k a year? These aren't necessarily "rich" people and yet today they already pay many times more tax than people on somewhat less. Not marginally more tax, many times more. Someone on £120k pays about 5 or 6 times as much as someone on £30k.

It is not "more fair" to make them pay even more.

 

[EalingBlue2]

That's not the point. Your argument is that rich people should pay more. Well they already do pay more. A LOT more already. But you say no, it needs to be more still. How much more?

When? Not that I am arguing with the sentiment some of the tax levels paid by very rich businessmen is awful, plenty of billionaires paying less than 5%

If there's anyone on huge incomes paying 5% tax then that's surely wrong, I would agree. Clamping down on this is certainly the right thing to do and I don't think anyone has a problem witht that. In fact Cameron has been leading the way on it, domestically and on the world stage.

But what about people on say £120k a year? These aren't necessarily "rich" people and yet today they already pay many times more tax than people on somewhat less. Not marginally more tax, many times more. Someone on £120k pays about 5 or 6 times as much as someone on £30k.

It is not "more fair" to make them pay even more.

Tax on salaries is plenty high enough in the UK but tax on the wealthy is far wider than this, in many ways wealthy salary earners are taxed unfairly compared to many others who have their income from different means or earn in different ways.

Course people pay more tax if they earn a lot it is fair enough those who benefit the most from society pay the most to society

 

[Citizen of Legoland]

That's not the point. Your argument is that rich people should pay more. Well they already do pay more. A LOT more already. But you say no, it needs to be more still. How much more?

When? Not that I am arguing with the sentiment some of the tax levels paid by very rich businessmen is awful, plenty of billionaires paying less than 5%

If there's anyone on huge incomes paying 5% tax then that's surely wrong, I would agree. Clamping down on this is certainly the right thing to do and I don't think anyone has a problem witht that. In fact Cameron has been leading the way on it, domestically and on the world stage.

But what about people on say £120k a year? These aren't necessarily "rich" people and yet today they already pay many times more tax than people on somewhat less. Not marginally more tax, many times more. Someone on £120k pays about 5 or 6 times as much as someone on £30k.

It is not "more fair" to make them pay even more.

If someone on £120k a year doesn't think they're rich then they're either a moron or have some dirty habits.

The tax systems in EVERY democratic country have the same method whereby tax rates increase at set levels of incomes and this is what causes the "easily-misunderstood" percentage comparisons often quoted. Actually you could easily turn it round the other way and say a low earner pays just 1/5th or 1/6th tax that a comparative high earner would to demonstrate an economy that supports the majority of workers.

 

[blueinsa]

Simple answer is id love to pay £76,000 a year income tax, fucking love it and id guess the vast majority would too!

 

[che_don_john]

Course people pay more tax if they earn a lot it is fair enough those who benefit the most from society pay the most to society

That implies though that 'society' has handed them a decent living, which isn't necessarily the case (in fact, it's rarely the case at all). What if they just knuckled down in school and got better grades? Or what if they just work that little bit harder than us?

I don't earn a lot because I'm not prepared to work long hours, I don't want to commute to London and I don't want too much responsibility; but some people do, so it's only fair that they get paid more. But if taxation is engineered to the point where such people's financial gain is reduced and things are levelled off, then there'll be absolutely no incentive to work harder and earn more.

The government (or whichever party aspires to be it) needs to worry less about squeezing even more money out of hard working high-earning people who already pay tax, and start focusing on getting money from those who have already avoided paying what they were supposed to pay.

 

[Chippy_boy]

Course people pay more tax if they earn a lot it is fair enough those who benefit the most from society pay the most to society

That implies though that 'society' has handed them a decent living, which isn't necessarily the case (in fact, it's rarely the case at all). What if they just knuckled down in school and got better grades? Or what if they just work that little bit harder than us?

I don't earn a lot because I'm not prepared to work long hours, I don't want to commute to London and I don't want too much responsibility; but some people do, so it's only fair that they get paid more. But if taxation is engineered to the point where such people's financial gain is reduced and things are levelled off, then there'll be absolutely no incentive to work harder and earn more.

The government (or whichever party aspires to be it) needs to worry less about squeezing even more money out of hard working high-earning people who already pay tax, and start focusing on getting money from those who have already avoided paying what they were supposed to pay.

You picked up on something I was about to comment on too.

Ealing is implying that anyone who got rich, became so because of the leg up other people have given them and for no other reason. What if they got rich because they worked damned hard and that was the main reason.

And regards your last sentence, couldn't agree more.

 

[EalingBlue2]

Course people pay more tax if they earn a lot it is fair enough those who benefit the most from society pay the most to society

That implies though that 'society' has handed them a decent living, which isn't necessarily the case (in fact, it's rarely the case at all). What if they just knuckled down in school and got better grades? Or what if they just work that little bit harder than us?

I don't earn a lot because I'm not prepared to work long hours, I don't want to commute to London and I don't want too much responsibility; but some people do, so it's only fair that they get paid more. But if taxation is engineered to the point where such people's financial gain is reduced and things are levelled off, then there'll be absolutely no incentive to work harder and earn more.

The government (or whichever party aspires to be it) needs to worry less about squeezing even more money out of hard working high-earning people who already pay tax, and start focusing on getting money from those who have already avoided paying what they were supposed to pay.

who has avoided what they are supposed to have paid?

 

[Chippy_boy]

Simple answer is id love to pay £76,000 a year income tax, fucking love it and id guess the vast majority would too!

Course you would. But just because you would "fucking love it" doesn't mean its automatically "fair". I'd love it if someone gave me all their savings.

 

[blueinsa]

Course people pay more tax if they earn a lot it is fair enough those who benefit the most from society pay the most to society

That implies though that 'society' has handed them a decent living, which isn't necessarily the case (in fact, it's rarely the case at all). What if they just knuckled down in school and got better grades? Or what if they just work that little bit harder than us?

I don't earn a lot because I'm not prepared to work long hours, I don't want to commute to London and I don't want too much responsibility; but some people do, so it's only fair that they get paid more. But if taxation is engineered to the point where such people's financial gain is reduced and things are levelled off, then there'll be absolutely no incentive to work harder and earn more.

The government (or whichever party aspires to be it) needs to worry less about squeezing even more money out of hard working high-earning people who already pay tax, and start focusing on getting money from those who have already avoided paying what they were supposed to pay.

Indeed. Unpaid/uncollected tax runs into the £Billions and dwarfs the amounts of so called benefit fraud, not that im in any way condoning it.

 

[blueinsa]

Simple answer is id love to pay £76,000 a year income tax, fucking love it and id guess the vast majority would too!

Course you would. But just because you would "fucking love it" doesn't mean its automatically "fair". I'd love it if someone gave me all their savings.