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I absolutely agree but my biggest fear is that socialists don't give a shit and will push "progressive taxes". I live in Scotland and they love the fact that t

I absolutely agree but my biggest fear is that socialists don't give a shit and will push "progressive taxes". I live in Scotland and they love the fact that they can raise taxes here now... they openly talk about it and very few people I know bat an eyelid! But it's the curse of socialism imo: As long as you tax people earning more than me then I am fine with it. Sadly, something I have heard too often Edit: Spelling

gjm11 10y ago
There are some sorts of political proposal it's reasonable to be shocked at people talking openly about. For me, they're things like: Reintroducing slavery. Switching to communism. Putting people in prison for having the wrong religion. Expelling all black people from the country. ... Do I understand correctly that you consider raising taxes to be in this category?
- _Understated_ 10y ago
  I absolutely don't believe they are in the same category: How the hell did you equate them? Who honestly wants to pay more tax? Really? I ask you in all seriousness. I am well-off but up until recently I earned enough to keep my head above water. I had a disposable income after all bills were paid of around £100 a month: One burst tyre in my car and that was it but I had no debt (apart from my mortgage) as I lived within my means. I work hard, I get up early and study and so on and I am a contractor now, earning good money. That being said: I have no issue with taxation. I believe in taxation but I do not believe in constantly increasing it nor do I believe that it is a moral issue like it has been made recently. For as long as I can remember, no Government has decreased taxes in the UK. None. They shuffle them around but they never decrease them. I read something a year or so ago (can't remember the reference, maybe Taxpayers Alliance) that showed over 60% of my money is taxed now through income tax, stealth taxes etc. Enough is enough!
  - gjm11 10y ago
    I equated them because you said: > they love the fact that they can raise taxes here now... they openly talk about it and very few people I know bat an eyelid! which looked to me (and still does) as if you were expressing surprise that people openly talk about raising taxes and that others aren't surprised they're doing so. > Who honestly wants to pay more tax? Me. More precisely: all else being equal I prefer to pay less tax, but all else is not equal and I think increasing the taxes paid by people like me and using the resulting revenue to increase funding for (e.g.) the national health service or benefits for disabled people would, overall, make the country I live in a better place. > no Government has decreased taxes in the UK Well, according to the graph here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_taxation_in_the_United_Kingdom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_taxation_in_the_Uni... tax revenue in the UK was a smaller fraction of GDP in 2005 than in 2000. It's a little under 40% (which already makes it quite implausible that 60% of your income gets taken in tax). Finer-grained comparison is really difficult because the tax system is complicated (income tax, National Insurance, VAT, capital gains, ...); over the last few decades income tax has decreased substantially for most people but other taxes have increased. > over 60% of my money is taxed now This is not something you should be believing or disbelieving on the basis of something you read from an anti-tax campaigning organization. You should have all the information you need to work it out. I don't know whether I'm paid better or worse than you are (I would guess fairly similarly) but I do not pay anywhere near 60% of my earnings in tax. Adding up all the taxes I can think of, I reckon I pay either about 30% or about 40% in tax; the lower figure is if I count capital gains (largely untaxed because most of my assets are in tax-efficient things like ISAs and pension funds) as "income" and the higher figure is if I look only at salary. (Maybe the numbers look worse for contractors than for salaried employees? I am not counting, e.g., corporation tax paid by my employer; neither do I see any reason why I should.)
cmdkeen 10y ago
Very few people bat an eyelid because the upcoming election is a guaranteed SNP win, and they aren't planning on raising taxes - despite claiming to be a more progressive party. If Scotland was really keen for tax rises the SNP would implement them given they are currently focusing on nothing but winning sufficient support for a second Independence Referendum.
arethuza 10y ago
"they openly talk about it" Neither the SNP (by far the most powerful political party in Scotland) or the Conservatives (who look likely to be the 2nd most powerful party) are advocating tax rises. Of course, there are people advocating tax rises - Labour, Lib Dems and the Socialists - but they are, of course, quite free to do this and the public will no doubt be just as free to not to vote for them.

gjm11 10y ago

There are some sorts of political proposal it's reasonable to be shocked at people talking openly about. For me, they're things like: Reintroducing slavery. Switching to communism. Putting people in prison for having the wrong religion. Expelling all black people from the country. ... Do I understand correctly that you consider raising taxes to be in this category?

_Understated_ 10y ago
I absolutely don't believe they are in the same category: How the hell did you equate them? Who honestly wants to pay more tax? Really? I ask you in all seriousness. I am well-off but up until recently I earned enough to keep my head above water. I had a disposable income after all bills were paid of around £100 a month: One burst tyre in my car and that was it but I had no debt (apart from my mortgage) as I lived within my means. I work hard, I get up early and study and so on and I am a contractor now, earning good money. That being said: I have no issue with taxation. I believe in taxation but I do not believe in constantly increasing it nor do I believe that it is a moral issue like it has been made recently. For as long as I can remember, no Government has decreased taxes in the UK. None. They shuffle them around but they never decrease them. I read something a year or so ago (can't remember the reference, maybe Taxpayers Alliance) that showed over 60% of my money is taxed now through income tax, stealth taxes etc. Enough is enough!
- gjm11 10y ago
  I equated them because you said: > they love the fact that they can raise taxes here now... they openly talk about it and very few people I know bat an eyelid! which looked to me (and still does) as if you were expressing surprise that people openly talk about raising taxes and that others aren't surprised they're doing so. > Who honestly wants to pay more tax? Me. More precisely: all else being equal I prefer to pay less tax, but all else is not equal and I think increasing the taxes paid by people like me and using the resulting revenue to increase funding for (e.g.) the national health service or benefits for disabled people would, overall, make the country I live in a better place. > no Government has decreased taxes in the UK Well, according to the graph here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_taxation_in_the_United_Kingdom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_taxation_in_the_Uni... tax revenue in the UK was a smaller fraction of GDP in 2005 than in 2000. It's a little under 40% (which already makes it quite implausible that 60% of your income gets taken in tax). Finer-grained comparison is really difficult because the tax system is complicated (income tax, National Insurance, VAT, capital gains, ...); over the last few decades income tax has decreased substantially for most people but other taxes have increased. > over 60% of my money is taxed now This is not something you should be believing or disbelieving on the basis of something you read from an anti-tax campaigning organization. You should have all the information you need to work it out. I don't know whether I'm paid better or worse than you are (I would guess fairly similarly) but I do not pay anywhere near 60% of my earnings in tax. Adding up all the taxes I can think of, I reckon I pay either about 30% or about 40% in tax; the lower figure is if I count capital gains (largely untaxed because most of my assets are in tax-efficient things like ISAs and pension funds) as "income" and the higher figure is if I look only at salary. (Maybe the numbers look worse for contractors than for salaried employees? I am not counting, e.g., corporation tax paid by my employer; neither do I see any reason why I should.)

cmdkeen 10y ago

Very few people bat an eyelid because the upcoming election is a guaranteed SNP win, and they aren't planning on raising taxes - despite claiming to be a more progressive party. If Scotland was really keen for tax rises the SNP would implement them given they are currently focusing on nothing but winning sufficient support for a second Independence Referendum.

arethuza 10y ago

"they openly talk about it" Neither the SNP (by far the most powerful political party in Scotland) or the Conservatives (who look likely to be the 2nd most powerful party) are advocating tax rises. Of course, there are people advocating tax rises - Labour, Lib Dems and the Socialists - but they are, of course, quite free to do this and the public will no doubt be just as free to not to vote for them.