The taxes you pay

[barnabas1969]

[Moved to new topic by STC]

On an unrelated note... you guys on the other side of the pond have to pay 20% VAT on your products??? Wow... and most Americans think they are over-taxed.

Just out of curiosity, what percent of income does the average worker pay in income taxes in the UK?

[peeky1323]

Being an American/UK dual citizen living in the UK this topic is something close to my heart. I have the daily quesiton "Shall I move back to the states"

About 30% of my salary goes to income tax and national health contributions
Gas is about $9 a gallon
My property tax works out as $290 a MONTH
I have to pay $200 a year to have a TV licesne

But after 20 years I am still here so I guess there is something keeping me here....... oh yeah my wife

[barnabas1969]

Wow. Well, as you know, local and state sales/property/income taxes vary from one place to the next in the U.S., but here where I live in Florida...

We have a 6% sales tax on most items. Non-prepared food and drugs are tax free. "Prepared" foods include food in a restaurant, cooked food from a delicatessen, and certain items like carbonated beverages and candy. There's a separate tax on liquor, beer and wine that is included in the sale price of those items, but I don't know what percentage that is. I would guess that about 50% of the price of alcoholic beverages is tax. One interesting thing about sales taxes on items that can be purchased online... if the seller does not have a physical presence in Florida, I pay no sales tax on items that I purchase from that seller.

We have no state or local income tax. Federal income tax works out to be about 10% for me (and I earn quite a bit more than the median income in the U.S.), plus I pay 6.375% tax for Social Security and Medicare (totaling approximately 16.375% for me).

My health/dental/vision insurance premiums work out to about 3.5% of my income.

Gasoline is about $3.75/gallon. I don't know the exact part of the price of fuel that is tax, but it's less than $1.00/gallon.

My property tax is about $1000 per YEAR.

And I never heard of having to pay for a license to receive television broadcasts!

[LuckyDay]

We have no state or local income tax.

That's definitely not the norm in the U.S. though. Only a handful of states don't have income tax and most cities do.

You are just one of the lucky ones, lol.

[rantanamo]

as a citizen of a state without a local income tax I can assure that they try their best to make it up in property taxes.

[Fleadh]

In ireland,

Here is our income tax brackets

Single Taxpayers
Personal tax credits of €1,650
PAYE tax credit of €1650
Income Tax Rate : 20% on the first €32,800 ; 41% on the balance

Married Taxpayers (two incomes)
Personal tax credits of €3,300
PAYE tax credit of €1650
Income Tax Rate: 20% on the first €65,600 ; 41% on the balance

Married Taxpayers (single income)
Personal tax credits of €3,300
PAYE tax credit of €1650
Income Tax Rate : 20% on the first €41,800 and 41% on the balance

On top of that we pay A income levy call ed teh USC in these brackets
Rate of USC Charged on income between
2% €0 to €10,036
4% €10,036.01 to €16,016
7% above €16,016

and on top of that we all pay PRSI (pay related social insurance) which funds social welfare, I dont have figurs but its loads of money

We also pay 160 euro a year tv licence.

Theyre introducing a property tax and water charge TBD on how much still.


Gas is euro 1:50 a liter, online thingy puts it at $4.78 a gallon. http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/ ... gasprices/

VAT is 21%. on pretty much everything.

[WarrenH]

UK, averages around 32%, rising to 40% over around £50,000, we also have 20% VAT.
I end up paying around 68% combined with national medical, property and council tax.
We also have of the highest sin taxes on alcohol and cigarettes, air travel, and don't get me started on public transport.

[StumpyBloke]

I think the cost of living in the UK is extortionate when you consider how poor the services are!! We are too busy paying for scutters, prisoners and illegal immigrants!!!

And warrenh is right about public transport...some of the most expensive in the Europe but also the worst!!! We really have got it wrong in the UK!!

[STC]

Grocery store food in the UK is actually cheaper then in Canada now pound for dollar.

Even so, I'm so glad I jumped ship from Blighty, sorry fellow Brits...

[Chuzzwuzza]

No I will happily pay the uk tax rate although the VAT rate is exesive at the moment and the supermarket lobby is too strong (cheap booze) as opposed to the pub lobby, because it is 1 of the greatest democracy's in the world although PC is a little rampant at the moment, only thing I wish is that we could ditch europe like a bad rash.

Rant over

Regards

[StumpyBloke]

only thing I wish is that we could ditch europe like a bad rash.

So do I! Am fed up with being dictated to by those obsessive politically correct freaks who put the rights of scum above those of the good-guys!!

[dduk]

...and don't get me started on public transport.

In Bristol we have some of the highest public transport prices in the UK.

A recent report discovered that if the council was to bring the running of the buses in-house (rather than to a private company) and make the tickets free for everyone, they'd actually save money compared to the subsidisation they currently have to pay.

What's more, with all the other UK major cities getting rid of 'bendy buses', Bristol is going to be implementing them soon.

[sorethumbs]

Britain sucks. We get shafted left right and centre. Petrol costs are just a joke that has gone on for so long that its just not funny. We (as a family) not been abroad for a good few years so thought we'd try and go - need 5 new passports @ £77.50 x 4 and £49.50 for the little un.
£359.50 to pay just for the privilege of being allowed to leave the country.

I might go abroad illegally and be deported home that would work out cheaper, maybe pretend not to speak english and i might get put on benefits instead of having to work

[WarrenH]

That's what happens when under 40% of the country earns a salary, and proportionately, corporation tax is minimal.

[Danno100]

In Canada, at the top tax rate we pay about 43% income tax. My property taxes are $7,500/year (house is valued at 4 times the city average). Sales tax (like VAT) is 13%. Hospital care and doctor visits are free (funded through income tax) and available for everyone (kids, working, unemployed, retired). My employer insurance pays for drugs and dental. Gas cost here is 1/2 of Europe, 15% more than the US. Canada is a net exporter of oil and gas. We work longer hours in Canada than Europe and therefore play less! It costs me the same to fly across our country than fly to Europe (so I travel to Europe every year).

Compared to our Southern neighbours (United States) our debt per capita is 1/3 of the US. Unemployment is 2% less in Canada than the US. Life expectancy is 2 years longer than the US. Five years ago our dollar used to be worth 25% less than the US, now it is 5% more. We have no banking or housing crisis. My brother in the US seems to complain a lot about income tax, state tax, city tax, etc. His house value (Kentucky) has gone nowhere in 10 years, while in Toronto mine increased 75% (good for retirement when I move to a less expensive city). Capital appreciation on primary house is not income and is tax free. Gaming winnings (e.g. lottery) are tax free.

The tax rate we pay may be irrelevant compared to our overall standard of living and quality of life. On that basis, I'd say European's have it good.....

Sooner or later, a government needs to spend what it receives, or it'll likely end up bankrupt and owing a third world country a lot of money!

[StumpyBloke]

Personally I wouldn't mind paying all the taxes etc etc if I could see what I get for it...BUT...we have rising crime, crap roads, crap (and incredibly expensive) public transport, an imploding NHS, prisons like hotels, and prisoners treated better than our pensioners! Where's the justice and fairness??

[barnabas1969]

Wow, I guess I sparked quite a topic. I haven't been receiving the e-mail notifications since the topic was split off into it's own thread.

Gas is euro 1:50 a liter, online thingy puts it at $4.78 a gallon.

I have to disagree with your online thingy. One US Gallon is 3.78541178 Liters. One Euro = 1.4366 Dollars.

So....
1.50 (euros per liter)
x3.78541178 (liters per gallon)
x1.4366 (dollars per euro)
=8.16 dollars per gallon

[barnabas1969]

Now that I've read through the whole thread, I have to make sure that you all understand that I am not complaining about how much I pay in taxes. I make double the national median income, and my total tax is only about 20%, including real estate taxes, sales taxes, income taxes, social security taxes, and medicare taxes. I pay an additional 3.5% for health/dental/vision insurance, and pay the first $3300.00 of medical expenses before the medical insurance kicks in (which really sucks, but that's all my employer offers these days).

Our country is going broke by fighting two (now three) needless wars. Medicare is the 2nd biggest part of our national budget deficit, and any attempt to fix it becomes a political stalemate because nobody wants to lose their next election because they did something that was unpopular. Social security comes in at a distant #3 contributor to our national deficit... and could easily be fixed by removing the income cap (only the first $106,800.00 of income is taxed at 6.375%, the rest is tax free). But all our politicians can do is bicker and fight.

Most people I know don't bother to research the issues on their own... instead they believe what the media wants them to believe.

Basically, our country is going to hell in a hand-basket, and the majority of people believe the Republican rant that lowering taxes will solve the problem! I believe that people just want lower taxes for selfish reasons... even though more than half of adult Americans pay no federal income taxes at all.

From what you are saying, you folks on the east side of the pond seem to have the opposite problem. I've never read about your issues, so I don't know if they're based in fact or not... but your tax rates seem awfully high to me.

[barnabas1969]

Personally I wouldn't mind paying all the taxes etc etc if I could see what I get for it...BUT...we have rising crime, crap roads, crap (and incredibly expensive) public transport, an imploding NHS, prisons like hotels, and prisoners treated better than our pensioners! Where's the justice and fairness??

When you are ready to retire, go rob a bank! Then, you will either live in luxury in some South American country, or... you'll check into one of those luxury prison hotels!

[richard1980]

Sooner or later, a government needs to spend what it receives, or it'll likely end up bankrupt and owing a third world country a lot of money!

Hell, here in the US we can't get the government to stop spending. Spend spend spend, that's all they know how to do. I guess it wouldn't be bad if they spent money on the right things. But I remember being stationed in Afghanistan for about a year, and the lady putting lunch on my plate was earning a little over $100k per year as a government contractor....and it wasn't like she was the only one. We had contractors everywhere. Cooks, electricians, construction workers, etc. All of the contractors making way more money there than they ever could back home, and making way more money that the actual soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines that were there to fight a war.

And of course, there's always the classic $80 hammer and $200 toilet seat. Spend spend spend, that's all we know how to do around here.

Sorry for the rant! I'm all better now.