this post was submitted on 21 Oct 2023
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[–] WaltJRimmer@lemmy.world 73 points 2 years ago (5 children)

Wait, wait, wait... The average middle-class voter who is struggling to get by is starting to turn away from the Tories and their leader's suggestion is to reduce taxes on the wealthiest people? Not to improve services or perhaps address the issues that drove former conservative party voters to Labour. No. Cutting the taxes of the elite, further reducing funding for services that the majority of voters use or rely on is the obvious answer.

[–] beebarfbadger@lemmy.world 32 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Smash&Grab tactics with... do I smell a hint of Scorched Earth in the mix there?

[–] CantSt0pPoppin@lemmy.world 0 points 2 years ago

Person 1: Smash n Grab with a side of Scorched Earth?

Person 2: Sounds like a recipe for destruction.

Person 1: but the heat would be so intense

Person 2: (Whispers) I'm a fire starter.

Person 1: (Laughs) I know.

[–] CantSt0pPoppin@lemmy.world 10 points 2 years ago

The Tories are out of touch. Middle class only exists on paper anymore, and the Tories' answer is to cut taxes for the rich?

[–] LastSprinkles@lemmy.world 5 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

He wants to increase the threshold of where you start paying 40%. The title of this article makes it sound like it's 45% but it's not. Currently this threshold is at about £50k. So this would make the biggest difference to exactly the middle classes.

[–] jonne@infosec.pub 4 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

It's probably more to stave off a rebellion from Tory MPs and to keep donations flowing, not as an electoral strategy.

[–] dumdum666@kbin.social 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I am not from the UK do allow me a question: From what yearly income on, do you guys have to pay the „top tax“ and how high is it at the moment?

[–] Person264@lemmings.world 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (2 children)

£125,140 a year you pay 45% income tax. But it's not quite that simple because you don't pay 45% on everything, just whatever is earned above that and the other thresholds https://www.gov.uk/income-tax-rates

[–] dumdum666@kbin.social 1 points 2 years ago (3 children)

Interesting- compared to my country Germany where you have to pay 42% for everything you earn above (!) 62.810 €

Guess Germany hates its middle class even more than the UK…

[–] Person264@lemmings.world 4 points 2 years ago

We also have national insurance and a tax free allowance, so the effective rate for someone at say £54k (about €62k) would be about 25% https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/tax-calculator/ I think I've worked that out right.

[–] PCurd@feddit.uk 2 points 2 years ago

Per the article it’s not the top rate he plans to edit but the middle 40% rate which currently starts at £50,270. It’s a little more complex because there is also National Insurance to pay which drops when you hit the 40% tax rate so effectively you go from paying 32% total below £50,270 to 42% above £50,270 (for income above that level). There is a tax free band below £12,570 as well.

I’m simplifying because tax is complicated but roughly that’s how it works. As you move up tax bands you also lose amounts of other allowances like free dividend interest. Above £100k income it gets more complex because even more allowances are removed, especially the tax free band gets reduced.

[–] Nefrayu@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

In Ireland it’s about 48% on everything above €40k, then 52% above €70k.

That by itself could be misleading though, the overall effective tax rate for someone on €40k is 18%, around 30% at €70k. The thresholds will rise next year.

[–] Squizzy@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

What is the break down of this? Is it the higher USC band? I'm not familiar with a 52% tax rate.

[–] Nefrayu@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago

Yeah after about €70k there is a higher rate of USC. The 52% includes PAYE, PRSI and USC at the highest bands for a regular employee.

[–] killeronthecorner@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Depends how you look at it. You lose £1 of PA for every £2 earned over £100k, which is an effective 50% tax rate.

Plus it adds the irritation of having to file a tax return even though you're on PAYE

[–] lennier@kbin.social 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

You also lose £2k worth of tax free childcare instantly as soon as you earn £100k, a rare instance of it actually being possible to earn less money by getting a payrise

[–] killeronthecorner@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

It's worth fiddling with your pension contributions to avoid that.

Also I'm not sure how the new childcare policy factors into it. I really need to look into it.

[–] Person264@lemmings.world 1 points 2 years ago

Yeah it's not quite as simple as I put in my comment

[–] jantin@lemmy.world 33 points 2 years ago

Blah blah blah

Rats know they're losing so they want to give farewell gifts to their cronies before leaving and punish the poors for not voting Tory.

Also helps to harm economy and national redources as much as possible so that the next administration fails to do anything and Tories can return in a further election cycle.

[–] TwoGems@lemmy.world 33 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Do the UK old people have lead in their brains too? Stop voting for Tory shitbags.

[–] Worx@lemmynsfw.com 8 points 2 years ago

We don't need lead to hate foreigners, it's our God-given right as rulers of the Empire!

Uh.. I mean.. "we value our traditions" or something..

[–] gmtom@lemmy.world 6 points 2 years ago
[–] Hello_there@kbin.social 31 points 2 years ago (1 children)

How do you look at an election defeat and think: "That's what we need. More of exactly the same."

[–] nicetriangle@kbin.social 2 points 2 years ago

Easy conclusion to reach when you weren't there to help common people in the first place

[–] Ghyste@sh.itjust.works 19 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Tax cuts for votes. They're not even trying to hide it anymore.

[–] rockSlayer@lemmy.world 18 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (3 children)

When tf is there supposed to be another election in the UK? It almost feels like a strategy from the Tories to continually have their PMs resign so they stay in power. It would be nice for the UK to have some sanity again

[–] FlowVoid@lemmy.world 9 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

The last election was in 2019, so the next one must be no later than 2024.

[–] Why9@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Jan 2025 is the latest they can hold it, if I remember correctly.

Though it would be beneficial to evict Starmer from the red Seat before that happens too.

[–] buzziebee@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago

It absolutely wouldn't be. What are you on about? A big part of why Labour are polling well because they look like a safe pair of hands. Starting an interparty factional war over who the new leader should be will completely damage that and possibly lose there election.

Half of the Tory base are either indifferent to a Labour victory or would actively vote for them. If you throw another Corbyn in the mix that will change and the base will come out again. It's simple electoral math. Please stop advocating for more Tory rule.

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 3 points 2 years ago

January 1st 2025 assuming they don't call an earlier election.

Waiting until January would be a mistake though because it would mean that your campaigning over Christmas which is a terrible time to be doing campaigning. Everyone's busy with other things and no one wants to be thinking about politics.

There's 5 years between elections unless the ruling party calls one early so a pm resigning doesn't help but calling an election early and winning does. We're still on the clock from Johnson's 2019 landslide win - which he called 3 years early because they were way ahead in the polls. Truss and Sunak didn't call early elections because they already had a big majority and would probably lose seats.

[–] IntergalacticZombie@feddit.uk 16 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Maybe one day I will be making lots of money and will want to pay less tax. I better start voting tory... Is that how they think people think? Or even worse, are there people who really think like that?

[–] bobs_monkey@lemm.ee 15 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

I mean, that's the US GOP in a nutshell, that whole "temporarily embarrassed ~~millionaires~~ billionaires" bit.

[–] Zahille7@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I ~~hate~~ love that you had to strike through "millionaires"...

[–] jonne@infosec.pub 5 points 2 years ago

It works on enough people, unfortunately.

[–] spacecowboy@sh.itjust.works 8 points 2 years ago

What a ghoul.

[–] MrSilkworm@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago

Because this way, the Tories will definitely take the struggling middle class on their side during the next elections.

[–] Grant_M@lemmy.ca 4 points 2 years ago

Figured it was The Onion for sure...

[–] sirico@feddit.uk 4 points 2 years ago

60% of the time it works every time

[–] autotldr@lemmings.world 3 points 2 years ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:


Rishi Sunak is considering a tax cut for the 5 million highest earners and reducing stamp duty in an attempt to ease the pressure on his leadership after two historic byelection defeats, it has been reported.

The Conservatives may raise the 40% income tax threshold after Labour’s victory in Mid Bedfordshire, Nadine Dorries’ former seat.

The Daily Telegraph reported that surveys have been carried out by Downing Street to ascertain which tax reduction could give the party the biggest political pre-election boost with the 2024 spring budget considered the earliest it could be announced.

The Conservatives are also planning to reduce stamp duty for their general election manifesto next year if the economy has strengthened, the Times reported.

A senior Tory told the Times that reducing stamp duty would be “aspirational” and improve the economy in addition to attracting middle-class voters who had left the party.

Official figures showed that public sector net borrowing was £14.3bn last month, lower than the £20.5bn that had been forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility.


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