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The ultra-rich certainly have tax minimisation schemes in place, but by saying that middle-class bears the brunt of taxation, I suspect you're falling victim to

The ultra-rich certainly have tax minimisation schemes in place, but by saying that middle-class bears the brunt of taxation, I suspect you're falling victim to the fallacy that rich people don't think of themselves as rich[1]. In the UK at least, the tax burden is fairly progressive: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8513/ https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-... The top 1% of earners pay roughly 30% of all income tax. The top 10% pay roughly 50% of all income tax. Meanwhile, the bottom 50% pay roughly 10% of income tax. That leaves to 50-90th percentile, who you might call "middle class" (although it's debatable whether someone in the 80-90 range is truly middle class) who pay approximately 30% of all income tax. So the whole middle class only pays as much tax in total as the 90-99 range, although their total of pre-tax income is double. [1] https://www.businessinsider.com/most-millionaires-dont-think-they-are-rich-2019-8?r=US&IR=T https://www.businessinsider.com/most-millionaires-dont-think...

austinjp 4y ago
While this may all be true, a more sobering perspective comes from considering the impact on the individuals paying the taxes: "the poorest fifth of people paid 22.9% on indirect taxes such as Value Added Tax (VAT) compared with 9.1% for the richest fifth" [0]. "As it stands, there is set to be both an Income Tax rise and Income Tax cut in 2024-25, and a further tax rise in 2025-26, with a net transfer from lower- to higher-income individuals" [1]. To return to parent comment's point, trickle-down economics have demonstrably failed. Taxes are avoided by the rich while punishing the poor - surely absolutely not what should be happening. [0] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/personalandhouseholdfinances/incomeandwealth/bulletins/theeffectsoftaxesandbenefitsonhouseholdincome/financialyearending2021 https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/personal... [1] https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/happy-new-tax-year/ https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/happy-new-...

austinjp 4y ago

While this may all be true, a more sobering perspective comes from considering the impact on the individuals paying the taxes: "the poorest fifth of people paid 22.9% on indirect taxes such as Value Added Tax (VAT) compared with 9.1% for the richest fifth" [0]. "As it stands, there is set to be both an Income Tax rise and Income Tax cut in 2024-25, and a further tax rise in 2025-26, with a net transfer from lower- to higher-income individuals" [1]. To return to parent comment's point, trickle-down economics have demonstrably failed. Taxes are avoided by the rich while punishing the poor - surely absolutely not what should be happening. [0] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/personalandhouseholdfinances/incomeandwealth/bulletins/theeffectsoftaxesandbenefitsonhouseholdincome/financialyearending2021 https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/personal... [1] https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/happy-new-tax-year/ https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/happy-new-...