Higher Taxes for Higher Earners

[sbs]

Good or bad thing, Peter Hain caused some palpitations last week by suggesting higher earners should pay more, so what do you think?

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Peter Hain's tax bombshell landed last Friday morning and by lunchtime it had been defused by a team of explosives experts from No 10 and the Treasury. By the evening, the leader of the house had already been through his compulsory re-education class and had made a public recantation of his call for higher taxes.
The speed with which Labour's two most powerful men swooped on Mr Hain's fledgling tax rebellion is a clear sign of the party's lingering terror. So scarred are the inner circle by the experience of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in 1992 that the "grown-up" debate Mr Hain was seeking is still not possible.

While the government can duck the issue now, it cannot do so for ever. Most independent experts are warning that Gordon Brown faces a black hole in his balance sheet if he wants to keep investing in public services at the current rate. The crunch will come next year when Mr Brown unveils the next three-year spending programme that starts in 2005.

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Full story here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,983695,00.html

[Alexkid]

I think that its only fair that higher earners pay higher taxs. There also needs to be serious reform in the way that taxes are calculated. I used to work with people who earned very low wages, and it wasnt fair, the amount of taxes that they were forced to pay. Also the council tax system is completely unfair, and disadvantages poorer people.

Just call me robin hood ;)

NB. Peter hain can bugger off though. I still remember the newsnight where he was defending blairs decision on the war

[maradona]

He's right on the tax issue and i dont see how anyone can say it would be unfair. Middle income earners (£35000 - £45000) would benefit from it, whereas the only people who would be hit financially is those earning upwards of £100'000 a year. Tax at earnings over that level at 52% or whatever is being proposed is not going to cause any financial hardships and would be significantly less than what it is in some other European countries.


Actually come to think of it:

He was right to back Blair on the Iraq war

He had a good record in anti-apartheid campaigning before it was fashionable

The Daily Mail hates him

And he's a Manics fan

Thats enough for me - Hain for PM!

[Alexkid]

Originally posted by maradona
He had a good record in anti-apartheid campaigning before it was fashionable

The Daily Mail hates him

And he's a Manics fan

Thats enough for me - Hain for PM! [/B]

Fair dos on the anti apartheid campaigning. I read a book called White reaction which he was mentioned a lot and he did a lot of good. Its the the Newsnight thing really annoyed me. It wasnt that he was supporting the war, that I can deal with. It was the fact that he was re-itterating EXACTLY what Blair had said about 2 days previously. It seemed like sycophancy.

Its strange but cool that hes a manics fan tho :D he was backstage at cardiff. Nicky seems to like him. Cant imagine Pete in a dress tho :eek:

[Ammo]

Originally posted by Alexkid
Its strange but cool that hes a manics fan tho :D he was backstage at cardiff. Nicky seems to like him. Cant imagine Pete in a dress tho :eek:

I didn't think he was a fan, I thought he was an ex-tutor of Nicky's from his time at Swansea Uni :confused:

[Alexkid]

Yeah he was nickys tutor at swansea. But he must be sort of a fan if he came along. Or maybe he was just being polite.

I hope he liked nickys santas little whore outfit :D

[maradona]

He helped set up the Cuba gig i think as well

[Tim]

I couldn't even begin to back up my opinion with statistics but I definitely think this is a fair deal. Whether the government will act on this though, doesn't look like it reading that article. :confused:

[Sven945]

surely isnt the point of paying a percentage in taxes so that poorer people dont pay as much, and richer people pay more?

jack

[Lover of Outrage]

If it makes sense it probably means it'll get blown out of the water.:rolleyes:

[Terminal Young Thing]

I agree with the tax changes, the rich end of the spectrum are hardly going to be hitting the poverty line are they?
But as whoever said, it being a remotely sensible idea means that it hasn't got a chance.

[gofes]

Originally posted by Terminal Young Thing
I agree with the tax changes, the rich end of the spectrum are hardly going to be hitting the poverty line are they?
But as whoever said, it being a remotely sensible idea means that it hasn't got a chance.

Course not too many middle classes voted in Labour, and increasing thier tax level would upset them

[Terminal Young Thing]

I'm middle class.
I'd vote Labour.
Though I'd rather it were 'old' Labour

[maradona]

a large section of the middle classes would either benefit financially from the raising of the tax band (those in the £35'000 - £45'000 band) and those in the bracket £45'000 - £99'999 would have no change in their tax rates.

If someone is earning upwards of £100'000 that is alot of money (well d'uh) outwith the earning capacity of most people in this country and that includes most middle class people...

[Alexkid]

Originally posted by Sven945
surely isnt the point of paying a percentage in taxes so that poorer people dont pay as much, and richer people pay more?

jack

But shouldnt the % that you pay, become increasingly higher the richer you are? The way it is now, theres very little difference between the % that less well off people pay and rich people pay

[Sven945]

Originally posted by Alexkid
But shouldnt the % that you pay, become increasingly higher the richer you are? The way it is now, theres very little difference between the % that less well off people pay and rich people pay

i think the basic rate for paying taxes for the average pay in the UK is 25% (i may be wrong there, but thats what i think it is), and i think it goes down for people who earn less than the average. i think 40% is the maximum that people pay. thats quite a large difference...

jack

[Alexkid]

Im trying to remember what the amount is when you dont pay any tax at all. I think its if you earn less than 6 thousand a year

[deadstars]

Originally posted by maradona
Middle income earners (£35000 - £45000) would benefit from it,

That's middle income??

bloody hell :eek:

i missed something didnt i?

my mum and dad together don't earn that much, and i thought we were middle income/middle class.

i'm re-evaluating ;)

people who earn that much cannot miss their taxes as they will have so much left anyway!!! i miss my taxes... they'd pay my rent for uni nicely...

my friend on her work placement earns barely £6000 for the year and she gets taxed exactly the same rate as someone on almost three times that... it's very unfair...

unfortunately the people wh earn the most money also have the most sway politically so i doubt there will be any change to the rich people's pocket linings.


bah!

[maradona]

Originally posted by dead_stars_for_dead_eyes
That's middle income??

bloody hell :eek:

i missed something didnt i?

my mum and dad together don't earn that much, and i thought we were middle income/middle class.

i'm re-evaluating ;)

people who earn that much cannot miss their taxes as they will have so much left anyway!!! i miss my taxes... they'd pay my rent for uni nicely...

my friend on her work placement earns barely £6000 for the year and she gets taxed exactly the same rate as someone on almost three times that... it's very unfair...

unfortunately the people wh earn the most money also have the most sway politically so i doubt there will be any change to the rich people's pocket linings.




Well i wouldn't consider it to be "middle income" as such either i only mentioned it because thats what they were considering changing the upper level tax bands from. £35'000 is more than the average income (considerably more than average) but the figure is roughly accurate for the income of 'middle' England and unfortunately that the only part of the electorate that matters... :rolleyes:

btw the tax rate for those earning over £100000 was at 60% up until the late 80s....that brought in about £6billion a year back then and probably considerably more than that now. Tax the rich!