Sharpe's Opinion
Thursday, 23rd Apr, 2009
A devastating collapse in the nation’s face
From The Daily Mash:
As chancellor Alistair Darling read out a series of enormous and terrifying numbers, people across the country, who until now had assumed it was not their problem, curled up into a ball and let out a faint, pathetic squeak.
Roy Hobbs, a plumber from Doncaster, said: ‘Oh sweet Jesus f**king Christ almighty on a tricycle.’
My thoughts exactly.
Comments
The thing is, the 50% tax bracket will only affect those earning more than £150 000 a year: in other words, fat cat executives and overpaid celebrities. Most people in this country will never, ever be earning anything like that much; and a lot of people have to get by on a tenth of that or less. Certainly nobody needs that much to live on, and as my grandad was fond of saying, there are no pockets in a burial shroud.
Tax avoidance and offshoring of wealth are serious problems, though. It doesn’t matter what proportion of their obscene wages are eligible for tax, if they aren’t actually paying it.
How about introducing some sort of programme where the rich are encouraged to invest in certain projects which are socially desirable and expensive, but which will show a return in the long run? Sort of like an old-fashioned sponsorship. The idea of not having to pay any tax on any eventual returns might encourage them before they realise that they would, in fact, be helping other people …..
For your information, AJS, those of us in that bracket form 1% of the population, yet contribute 23% of all taxes. For me, one year the combination of income tax, stamp duty, CGT, and HMRC’s decision to adopt a definition of “earnings” that was rather more optimistic than mine* meant that my effective tax rate peaked that year at 82%. No bullshit, no spin. 82%. In a typical year, it will be 60-65%.
So, I have to ask; exactly what level do you think is reasonable for people like me? Because I often ask that question before telling them what I actually pay, and the answer is usually rather less than I in fact pay.
In addition, I get that money as a result of 25 years of study, work and risk. I have put all my worldy assets on the line in order to get where I am today; fortunately it paid off and I was not bankrupted. And this is the thanks I get from HMG.
Quite frankly, sometimes I feel like closing the business and f***ing off to a country that might just appreciate the taxes I have been paying so liberally for the last decade instead of forever whinging that I need to make a “proper contribution”. Only 30 people would lose their jobs, after all. And you will be here to pay for their dole money.
One final thought. Before Lawson dropped the top rate to 40%, the top 1% of earners contributed 14% of taxes. After he reduced it from 50%, that went up to 23%. So when this 50p rate takes effect, who do you think is going to have to pick up that shortfall?
*mine being “how much cash came in?”. Theirs being “How much has patently asked people to pay him during that year, if they would be so kind as to get around to doing it some time?”
“The thing is, the 50% tax bracket will only affect those earning more than £150 000 a year: in other words, fat cat executives and overpaid celebrities.”
And, increasingly, local council chief executives, senior surgeons and consultants, Quango chiefs, etc, etc…
“The idea of not having to pay any tax on any eventual returns might encourage them before they realise that they would, in fact, be helping other people …..”
Because that’s what motivates people to go into business, isn’t it? The idea of ‘helping people’.
Why, if they weren’t paid, they’d all do it for free anyway!
Well said, patently. I missed the last boat out by six months.
I, too, get frustrated by ill-informed commentary. Apparently, the fact that I own a business means owning up to to running a Ferrari when the truth is I could take advantage of the poor and grab £2K for trading in our one perfectly serviceable car.
Small businesses are the first to be tapped up for money, time, and expertise. This ranges from giving a talk to the Girl Guides, money for the proverbial church roof, work experience, sponsorship, etc. While Sainbury’s get the kudos for presenting a cheque for £1m to Comic Relief, which is great, not many realise the amount of ‘community’ stuff undertaken by local businesses. Everyone I know in my position do so out of a sense of community, not for getting their name on a massive billboard. And we do it for free.
Perhaps I should take advantage of the tax exemptions awarded to so-called charities, and obtain Lottery money, since I seem to do at least as much as them.
Now that would be something to moan about.
Yes, I liked that too. Also well-written was:
In what will, surely to God, be his last Budget Mr Darling confirmed…
and
BRITAIN’S tax accountants were last night gleefully flicking through brochures for the Bentley Continental GT after chancellor Alistair Darling unveiled radical plans to take more money from rich people.
patently
April 23, 2009 at 1:49 pm