It may not seem like it but Income Tax rates in the UK are the lowest since I became a tax payer.
In England, Wales and N Ireland there is a 20% levy on income up to about £45,000 and then a higher rate (40%) on income up to £150,000. Above that there is a 45% rate. There are a few complications. Income in the £100 – £120 thousand bracket gets charged at just above 60%, taxpayers in Scotland now pay more than those in the UK and rules for “unearned” income are different. Nevertheless it’s a pretty benign regime compared to even Margaret Thatcher’s top rate of 65% – although she did manage to reduce this. Harold Wilson got the top rate above 100% which took some doing. Pause for thought before voting Labour.
What depresses me is the tax I pay after I have paid Income Tax. Tax on money that has already been taxed. VAT (20%) is levied on almost all goods and services. Should you want to fill your car up with petrol or yourself with alcohol there are further duties to pay; 58p a litre on the former, and £2.88 on a litre of wine. Perhaps take a holiday somewhere that sells cheaper booze? Then pay Aviation Passenger Tax; £26 for short-haul flights, £156 for long-haul.
Then pay Road Tax, Insurance Premium Tax, Council Tax, Stamp Duty and, if you must, betting tax. Now you see why I have become addicted to walking up the towpath to Richmond. When I get there I take the tube back to Barons Court. An annual Oyster card for travel in zones 1 and 2 costs £1,364 but extraordinarily I get mine free for being over sixty. This is a Boris Bribe dating back to his 2012 re-election campaign. Most 60 year-old Londoners are still working so it’s hard to justify this mayoral munificence.
’Tis impossible to be sure of any thing but Death and Taxes. (The Cobbler of Preston by Christopher Bullock, 1716)