Higher rate tax :(

[Uridium]

Is it just me or does anyone else think that the Higher rate tax band is too low nowadays?

I'm not mega rich or anything just getting by the same as most and hovering just under the higher rate tax band.

Trouble is as soon as I do a bit of overtime or anything it takes me over for the month and I pay 40% tax on it.

[Ethics Gradient]

Originally Posted by uridium

Is it just me or does anyone else think that the Higher rate tax band is too low nowadays?

I'm not mega rich or anything just getting by the same as most and hovering just under the higher rate tax band.

Trouble is as soon as I do a bit of overtime or anything it takes me over for the month and I pay 40% tax on it.

I don't know what you are whinging about, it's not like you need to earn 40k what with the cost of living being so cheap.
I mean, it's not like the cheapest flat near where I work is 180,000, or that council tax is 1,000+..... and what with utility bills being so cheap along with the value for money petrol prices.

..... you're just obviously greedy

[Uridium]

Yes I think your right, maybe I'm just being greedy. As you say the cost of living here in the UK is so low :-)

Come to think of it by the time you add VAT onto everything you buy and Car tax/council tax etc.. I think I'm probably paying nearer 60% tax nowadays.

good old rip off britain eh!

40% income tax rate is lower than many seem to think; only £33,300 so watch your payslips!

[mickrick]

I didn't realise I was sailing so close to the wind until my brother, who is an auditor (an a typically tight-arsed one at that) told me to cut back on my OT. The problem with higher-rate tax in this country is that it is deliberately aimed at a low-point earnings bracket so as not to anger the real high earners in the country, who in turn will switch their voting allegiances or, worse still,take their loot with them to tax-haven countries.

[DJT75]

Why would you cut back on over-time? You'd still be earning money for doing it, just paying slightly higher tax for the part that takes you over the edge, not the whole income..

[JohnG]

40% income tax rate is lower than many seem to think; only £33,300 so watch your payslips!

Well I'll be OK for a good few years yet then

[Mac Man]

The higher rate banding is one of Gordon Browns greatest sleights of hand. Millions more people now pay 40% tax and it's nothing to do with their overall real wealth increasing in that time.

The 40% tax bracket was something like £26K nearly 20 years ago.
When you look at how much other items have gone up since, I think the true rate should be over £40K in real terms, compared to the 1980s

We have all been royally turned over without most of us even realising it.

[DJT75]

Originally Posted by sean5302

What greater need is there than for somewhere to live?
If you buy a house costing £125k there is no tax. £125,001 and you pay 1% or £1250. How is that fair? That extra pound on the sale price has cost you an extra £1250 in tax.
Or £250k costs you £2500 tax, but a house sold for £250,001 costs you £7500 tax. Ridiculous.

At least income tax is banded. Stamp duty seems grossly unfair, especially as bog-standard houses cost so much now.

Stamp duty really bugs me, my 2 bed house is worth £240K, I need to move to a larger house in the next 2 years & I'm gonna get stung big time, it'll cost about £15k in stamp duty & other fees just to move, that's another £100-£150 a month on my mortgage

[~Kev H~]

Originally Posted by Chris Lamle

We have all been royally turned over without most of us even realising it.

That's exactly what just dawned on me! Surely the point at which the 40% kicks in should be raised by the rate of inflation every year! to my knowledge inflation is about 3% these days isnt it?, that's how much the Student loans company are charging me in interest the last time I heard from them anyway.

I'm now looking for work as I graduated this year, and one of my friends has just landed himself a job starting on £28k, won't be long until he hits it! and he's only just left education!

[the whistler]

What really annoys me is that when you do hit the 40% rate, then it affects any other income you may have e.g interest on savings then becomes liable to 40% tax.

[Mac Man]

Originally Posted by ~Kev H~

That's exactly what just dawned on me! Surely the point at which the 40% kicks in should be raised by the rate of inflation every year! to my knowledge inflation is about 3% these days isnt it?, that's how much the Student loans company are charging me in interest the last time I heard from them anyway.

I'm now looking for work as I graduated this year, and one of my friends has just landed himself a job starting on £28k, won't be long until he hits it! and he's only just left education!

It's worse thasn that mate.

The rate should rise (theoretically) in line with earnings which are generally higher than the rate of inflation. So the limit should have been rising by at least 4% every year.

Stamp duty should have risen by the rate of house price inflation. So the min rate should be at least £150K by my reckoning. Just another way the govt can tax us without a peep from the voters. It was £60K in the days when you could buy whole streets in East Lancs for £60K.

When we look back, Gordon brown will surely go down as the sneakiest Chancellor in history. Personal taxation is now at its highest rate since the 1970s.

[KillerOfThreads]

Originally Posted by Chris Lamle

We have all been royally turned over without most of us even realising it.

Unfortunately I feel that way about everything these days. I love this country but it is getting just too expensive. And the news has just said power bills are going up yet again. I just find it so hard to believe.

[Ultima]

Originally Posted by uridium

40% income tax rate is lower than many seem to think; only £33,300 so watch your payslips!

The 40% rate applies to earnings above £38335 (£5035+£33300), not £33300.

Regards
Martin

[Shady]

...moving house in October - and we are facing an 8 grand stamp duty bill.

What exactly do I get out of this ? This will be the largest single outlay I have ever made and nothing is ****ing me off more than having to shell out this cash which I could use to reduce my mortgage further.

It grieves me that it will go towards paying for some layabout chav to spawn further litters or to put asylum seekers up in hotels...

...it's not as if the house is some grand mansion, just somewhere larger to spend our future years in.

I would quite happily vote for the Opposition (whoever they may be), whilst the present government does nothing about it this tax, however if someone does have the balls to change the policy - it will be too late, I am sure there is no chance of a rebate if the stamp duty policy is reviewed...

It makes me so angry.

[madcyril]

I have understood tax,why cant everyone have the same rate of tax,say for example 25%.The more you earn the more you pay anyway,25% of £50k is obviously more than 25% of £25k.