http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8289295.stm

Tracey Emin may leave the UK in protest at the high taxes. She said: "So much here is simply not working now. The taxes are too high, there aren't enough incentives to work hard, and our politicians have put me off. We're paying through the nose for everything."

Well, I won't miss her. I'd be happier for people to actually stay and help sort it out. It just sounds like she's being a bit petty, complaining that she's earned vast sums for her rubbish art and objects to paying a fair amount of tax in return.

She's got a point, it is slightly ridiculous that you lose more than half of your income (over the tax threshold) to the Treasury.

True. Then again, why shouldn't people who earn that kind of money pay more tax?

If people who succeed in the business world are punished too severely, the whole country will lose the incentive to work hard. Why succeed, if 500% more/harder work only gives you a 10% net increase in reward?

All the entrepeneurs who would start up businesses and contribute to the economy, will leave and do it in another country, or not bother. We need these people to create businesses and jobs! Let them have some reward for their efforts.

I'm not sure the same applies to artists though...

I guess she won't be coming to Germany, the taxes are even higher here... On the other hand the services generally work.

I agree with paying more, but losing more than half? Seems a little unfair.

Don't let the door etc... Like she knows anything about 'working hard'. I think we should possibly be thinking about doing more for the people on minimum wage and etc before we worry about the poor lambs who are earning so much they fall into the 50% tax bracket. It's something like £150,000 a years isn't it? In other words about 10 times what the minimum wage is. So even if the state does take 50% of it, you're still on five times more than what society considers to be enough to live on.

Jon

another reason for a complete overhaul of the tax system
i am a great believer in a flat rate tax system based on a max of 20% and a taxation starting point of £20,000 for individuals and £200,000 for any business

if people earn there money they should be allowed to keep there money after paying a fair amount of tax
the same applies to business, they create work which creates employment which creates profit

a flat rate tax system is about the fairest system that there is and would enable the lower paid to be moved out of taxation completely
as with a flat rate tax system it is also levied on goods and services at a max of 20%

the whole taxation system at this time only encourages avoidance …

Taxation by definition encourages avoidance. And indeed evasion. The only alternative to direct taxation (i.e. income tax) is indirect taxation (i.e. the likes of VAT) and it has been shown that high levels of indirect taxation are unfair because you end up taking a bigger portion of the lower paid's money than the higher paid's money.

Fo a while the liberals had a 'flat rate' policy - I think it was set at 24%. Basically, everyone pays 24% of their income. No differing levels by income, no allowances. Just send the taxman a quarter of your earnings, however much that is. And businesses pay 25% of the profits stated in their annual report to companies house (in which being dishonest is a crime). It wouldn't equal the current tax take on it's own, but the fact you could effectively dismantle the enormous bureaucracy we have that is simply there to administer the utterly arcane tax system we've ended up being lumbered with would mean it would more or less have the same 'profit margin' as the current system.

I suppose it should go without saying that the current administration has managed to make the taxation system even more impenetrable and open to abuse, all while claiming they were doing the opposite.

Jon

Ah but you're forgetting that bureaucracy = employment. You'd put loads of people out of work by making things simpler.

I agree with her, 50% rate is not a tax, it is a racket run by the government.

There is no excuse for this amount of extortion. And people who say that those who earn more should pay more don't realise that even if there was a flat rate of tax (let's say 20%), they would paying more. 20% from 100k is more than 20% from 20k. Or will higher earners get better health care, better services from the govermnent? No, they are more likely to have private medical arrangements and such...

The whole point of tax is (in theory) to re-distribute wealth

The Rich pay more tax than the poor – this is part of the social contract of a civilised country

Bye Bye

Al

Tracy who???? Some jumped-up scribbler who made a lot of money wants to leave becuase paying 50% of her earnings to support Schools, NHS, the Police etc is too burdensome? She has never worked in her life and I'm happy to see her and all the other parasites go forth & multiply forthwith!

Nobody "likes" taxes, but if we are all to live in a peaceful decent country they are necessary. I won't tediously enumerate why: its simply obvious.
As to the "burdens" on the rich, 40% of a million that you keep is rather more than the 80% of £20-30k that most people get to keep. Personally the thought of having an extra £380,000 per year would "incentivize" me quite a bit.....

So if you work your arse off to set up a company, work at it day and night to make it successful and then when finally it's pulling in millions you 'won't mind' when the government takes more than half of what you're earning?

Pull the other one.

These are the people who have the money to up sticks and leave at a moment's notice. If we piss them off and they leave then the tax burden on the rest of us poor sods is only going to increase to make up for the shortfall.