Here in the UK, the taxman has steadily been vampirically sucking the blood out of people who don’t particularly fancy fooling around with their taxes.
The very rich are just too hard to catch, their advisors too clever. Like anywhere really.
I don’t have a beef with tax - if the revenue is well spent … which it never really will be - but this comment caught my eye:
The Financial Times has estimated that if the higher-rate threshold [40% tax rate] had kept pace with the growth of wages over the past 36 years it would now kick in at an annual income of £75,700.
Budget 2014: So what do we know? - BBC News
That rate now kicks in at around £40,000 - what, US$70 G’s. Remember, life in the UK has generally higher prices than the US! We get much less bang for our buck. So if you’re lucky enough to earn say £76k, the taxman is pulling in, today, £14,500 more than (s)he would have. Of cold, hard, cash. £76k is, by the way, a damn good amount of cash in the UK, especially if you’re not in London.
Point being - successive governments in the UK have just about halved the level at which you get caught by that higher rate (and it’s not the highest, although the top rate and I aren’t acquainted).
There are, in the last four years, more than 1 million extra people in that 40% marginal band. Under a supposedly free market government. During a recession.
My income varies - dry and wet periods as an independent. Not getting rich, but boy, I feel like the taxman is helping me get poor.
I’m not banging a political drum here - I don’t believe the alternative politicians would have done any different really - but wondering - when on earth does everyone stand up and fight this?!
So I’m a halfway capable individual, open to offers on the Brain Drain Train. Bring it on!
