fifteen percent is the lowest its allowed to go by european law

The proposed 45% tax bracket won't come in until 2011 apparently...

Tax?

We had a 'surprise' visit from Gordon Brown here in Qatar...he asked one of the Brits here what he liked most about living in Qatar (Bearing in mind we are in the middle of the desert with f**k all to do!)...the reply..."So you can't get your hands on our earnings!"...needless to say he wasn't impressed.

Not as unimpressed as we were when we were told he was coming, someone tried to start a round of applause when he arrived, this was greeted with an uncomfortable silence...

Any man that leans forward on his tiptoes to speak to people can't be trusted!

The 45% increase will only encourage to keep what little skilled labourforce we have left out of the UK.

I agree that top earners do have a social duty to help support those who are less well off, as we all do (Isn't that how a civilised society works?) but when you see the money wasted it really does make you lose confidence in your duty to others. Especially the free-loading types!

it's a free world (supposedly), and you shouldn't feel duty bound to pay taxes to a country you happened to have been born in.....I've never felt so detatched from being British (whatever that means) so I wouldn't have any qualms about debunking to elsewhere and keeping my hard earned all to myself - and bollocks to everything left behind!! Every man for himself - what is a boundary anyway? There were no boundaries when the world was formed - so why should we put up with them now?
Too right matey!!

If they try to take 45% from me I'll just up sticks again.
Sorry but I don't want to give anyone such a big lump of my earnings.
They already get plenty.

I got fook all off anyone when the situation was reversed so fook 'em all. Live with it.

exactly

wow labour government in socialist policy shock!!

They still haven't gone far enough though. Those people on the very lowest wage shouldn't pay any tax on their earnings. I think this country taxes its lower earners at a higher rate than almost any other in the world...

and it would have been even higher if they hadn't backtracked on the lowest earner income tax proposals

It's done me no favours!

£156 a year worse off on income tax.
Fags more expensive.
Lots more no doubt but I don't feel particularly warm about it tonight. Think I'll opt out.

if the super rich bailed out, who would foot the bill for what they had been paying? They have got to be careful not to piss all them off, which is why they didn't hammer the rich non-nationals who reside here - although it had crossed their minds. It's always the masses who get hammered because they can't generally afford to bail out and move abroad

I agree about folks dodging tax altogether - they should be jailed booted out in any case for taking the piss!!!!! It's the ones who already pay a shitload but will bail out if you hit them with any more

it's nowt new though, but those who are paying next to nowt should indeed be come down on like a tonne of bricks

couldn't agree more with that, like.

if i was earning 150k a year i wouldnt worry about how much tax i was paying, id be too busy having a good fooking time.


Not if you where stuck on an oil rig or ship for months on end or in the middle of some poxy desert, only for Her masjesty's Government to take half your fooking wages.

Of course nobody is forcing me chip and i have a decent living thankyou, but my point is, is it fair that some guys living on these death trap, potential bombs, (because thats what they are) living away from family and friends, no beer, social life etc. 15 hours a day graft. (i admit that when they get home for a week or two its bloody party time and why not) but they earn every penny in my opinion, yes they get well paid and so they should ! to have the tax man take 50% is obscene in my opinion.
a serious question, would your wife and loved ones be happy with you going to work in some of these places, of course not, but the money's good .so..........................

Well said sir. It's typical Labour party policies though. It'll only change when we get rid of this Government.

it depends what you do with it..... you could squander it along with the equivalent of the next five years net take home pay on a bas-tard pub for instance

Me and the wife bring in an annual basic gross wage of about 55 grand -that'swithout overtime and bonuses - but believe me (ask Mutley) we were perilously close to bankruptcy,
After re-mortgaging and taking out loans to pay off creditors we are up to our neck in debt, to the point that if one of us lost our jobs we would lose the lot, and we don't have a lot of money left over each month..we really don't. Put it this way, I can only afford an away game occasionally now, and we certainly can't afford to go on holiday for a long time in the future yet. That might give you an idea of how much debt we are repaying.

It doesn't take much to push you over the edge either.

Our next door neighbours, who we took an instant dislike to when they moved in 3 years ago because they were Boro supporters, have moved out, and now live in a council flat. When they first moved in they converted the back garden into a 'decking' wonderland, bought themselves a caravan, and had a jukebox installed in the living room. But recently the husband lost his job, and it looks like the house has been repossessed. They had been trying to sell it for over a year, and the price has recently dropped from 120k to 90k.

I've even found myself feeling sorry for them.

and loads of them end up getting divorced like our kid.......cos the wives enjoy the lifestyle so much without the husbands being there, they start to resent them being around every day when they get back home!!!!

Couldn't really say, as I only ever saw it through the window, and heard it blaring out 70's songs through the wall.

this was the 'look' of the one they had.

Rumour has it that the tax burden in the UK is somewhere about 67%. Most fascist dictatorships stop at about 60% for fear of revolution in the streets.

The other thing is, in the small print, they propose to increase the duty on booze, petrol and tobacco to make up for the cut in VAT.

Allagevver now: 'The working class can kiss my arse, I've got the foreman's job at last......'

"The legal right of an individual to decrease the amount of what would otherwise be his taxes or altogether avoid them, by means which the law permits, cannot be doubted." (US supreme court)

There's avoidance and evasion.

Evasion NEVER goes unpunished when detected (ask Lester Piggott).
Avoidance always goes unpunished because it's not a crime, and it's not limited to the rich.

Bet you won't find any figures on how much the less-than-super-rich avoid.