Michael Marra “ridiculous” for criticising Scottish higher taxes, say SNP | The SNP have branded a Labour MSP “ridiculous” after he criticised Scotland for having higher taxes for the wealthy
by 1DarkStarryNight
Michael Marra “ridiculous” for criticising Scottish higher taxes, say SNP | The SNP have branded a Labour MSP “ridiculous” after he criticised Scotland for having higher taxes for the wealthy
by 1DarkStarryNight
13 comments
Thank goodness high-earning SNP MSPs aren’t using private companies to get around paying higher taxes on their other earnings. They would sure look silly if they did that.
If the higher taxes have seen a reduction in revenue, what is the point of them?
Isn’t the problem with the higher tax rate the fact it is so easy to get around by either setting up an ltd or relocating? I could be wrong but I don’t think the main criticisms of the higher tax rate from Labour is about having a higher tax rate but more than it is untenable in its current form with how easy to avoid it is
It’s a bit ridiculous to defend a tax rate which isn’t achieving its aim of raising more revenue!
How dare they question the SNP?
The issue with higher taxes isn’t so much people leaving as people not coming.
Am I the only person in Scotland moving here knowing I’d be paying the higher rate and not having a problem with it?
I mean if it’s not bringing in the money it should and we’ve got a brain drain as a result then fine, fix it! I’ll happily accept a tax cut!
But on the basis I’ve been paying it for 9 years and got better services and better health provision than I did in England, I don’t want to lose that just to get a tax cut!
We do pay higher taxes but at least you can see where that money is going. For starters free tuition fees means thousands of young people don’t have to go into debt for the rest of their life.
It’s not just for “the wealthy”, those in the middle get shafted as well.
As someone else has said, I’m also OK to pay the current tax rates because we get some decent services for it.
But let’s not pretend it’s just the rich arseholes this is impacting.
Unsurprising that the laffer curve also applies in Scotland.
Scotrish rates don’t just punish the wealthy though. If anything they disproportionately punish middle earners
The maximum rate band is “£125,140 and over” which is 48%.
I would have exactly nil issues with Scotland imposing a new band.
Say change it from £125,140 – £150,000 – 48%
And a new band of
£150,000 and over at 50%.
Even if doing so ends up generating fuck all increased revenue if would at least be a genuine tax on the obscenely wealthy cunts that I feel should be the actual target of the income tax being higher in Scotland debacle.
A poster below put a £75,000 salary into a tax calculator for North America; I did the same for Norway and France (where I now live), using tax calculators that took into full deductions but also included social security payments.
Scotland: Net take home pay per annum: £**51,964.87**
Norway: Net take home pay per annum: £50,580.39 (converted into GBP at today’s rates)
France: Net take home pay per annum: £45,338.40 (converted at today’s rates, I’m not sure this takes into account France’s income tax deduction of part of your costs for travelling to work, which employers pay back into employee’s pay packets.
But bear in mind that council tax in Scotland for a family sized home might be £2000 or more per year. In France, I pay 435 euros for the equivalent, while in Norway it can be even less (in remote northerly regions it might not be levied at all). If you add in council tax or its equivalents, then Scotland likely comes out the highest taxed.
Norway’s marginal rate of tax is also 46.4%. I think Scotland’s is over 50%? This is the tax calculator I used as I found it most accurate: [Salary Calculator France – Salary After Tax](https://salaryaftertax.com/fr/salary-calculator) except for Scotland I used the HMRC one.
Conclusion: Tax in Scotland is high for what you get in return. Norway’s taxes are lower than I thought, although there are extra charges in both for certain roads (although in Scotland you might have to buy a whole new car to enter the low emissions zones).
I’m honestly amazed at people suggesting they get a lot for their tax in Scotland. I can only assume they have been conditioned to have very low expectations. When I left Aberdeen last year, libraries and swimming pools were being closed to save money, next on the list is closing more schools, cutting heating in public buildings and possibly cutting the school day and after hours clubs. Its depressing. I couldn’t get a GP appointment and if I’d needed a specialist I would have had to travel to Glasgow after a lengthy wait. My father-in-law has been waiting nearly a year to see a specialist about peripheral artery disease causing an ulcer that won’t heal in his foot, then there will be another wait for an actual appointment for surgery. My an cousin hasn’t had a French teacher for over a year, another teacher simply gives the class handouts but theres no actual teaching.
Here in France, I can book a same day or next day appointment with any GP of my choosing online. The roads are superb, I don’t need to use the toll roads because they are in better condition than the motorways in Scotland, everything is tidy and neat. True, there is a lot of wastage – our local athletics stadium and football pitch are bathed in floodlights every night of the week throughout winter even when not in use and our tiny village’s Christmas decorations are lit up well into February, and they are extensive. We get free village events with free food and wine quite often in the local salles des fetes (village hall) all paid for by the budget from central Government.
But salaries are quite low in France, well probably on a par to Scotland really, whereas in Norway they are high. Turns out Norway is the place to be! (but we have better weather here in France).
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