We would say we are surprised. But we aren't.
Alistair Darling has announced a new top tax rate of 50% for those earning more than £150,000 from next April.The chancellor unveiled the measure after delivering a stark Budget report on the state of the UK economy.
He said debt would hit a record £175bn this year and the economy shrink 3.5% - its worst performance since 1945.
This isn't just some punish the bankers spanking tax, mind you, but a broad sweep. Imagine working for the government until the summer solstice. (You people in California and New York can skip this assignment). Then imagine gasoline is $9.00 per gallon and over 80% of that is tax.
How much of this do we think the UK can take?
Darling Unveils 50% Top Tax Rate [BBC News]
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 10:22AM
You work half the year for the govt then fork over 9% for national insurance as well. Fucking A.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 10:24AM
RIP London, financial capital of the world
Mind you, people here have an option of skipping town to Geneva or Monaco. Your Yank asses are fucked anywhere in the world.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 10:25AM
Britain doesn't even have an elected leader at the moment.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 10:26AM
Your wife is a sasquatch, Gus.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 10:30AM
They can take a monarchy. What happened to all the loot from the old colonial days?
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 10:30AM
I want what's comintome
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 10:31AM
@1 - "You work half the year for the govt then fork over 9% for national insurance as well. Fucking A."
Add in the 14% that goes to Social Security, various excise taxes, states taxes, real estate taxes and ad valorem taxes and THEN stop and think that government deficits are out of control because governments can't stop spending like drunken idiots.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 10:31AM
Great, Susan Boyle finally strikes it big and now they want to take her loot away. Guess she'll have to put off that eyebrow wax until next year.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 10:32AM
He's also cut pension contribution relief for those earning 150k+ so you can't even avoid tax by saving for your pension!
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 10:33AM
And he cut personal exemptions for those earning over 100K.
I sense...an election. Or (politically) dead people. Or both.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 10:33AM
And he cut personal exemptions for those earning over 100K.
I see...an election. Or (politically) dead people. Or both.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 10:34AM
Well, when the best and brightest fuck the financial world, what should one expect? If you want to keep taxes where they are, don't fuck the financial world beyond recognition.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 10:35AM
I think I just saw the GBP jump off the building.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 10:35AM
@2, our economy will have been growing for at least a year and a half before you and yours (ex France and Germany) see any glimmer of an upturn.
BTW, Geneva and Monaco? Are you serious? Take a siesta and get back to me when your head is right.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 10:36AM
And this is why Britain was wasting away with no growth and no one wanting to be entrepreneurial until Thatcher cut taxes. Who is John Galt?
Posted by Lowly Assistant , Apr 22, 2009 10:37AM
12,
Jesus fucking christ. For the love of humanity, please shut your television off.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 10:39AM
This will only get worse- for employees.
The answer is simple, start your own firm. Even if that means as a contractor. The reality is that when expected bonuses are less than 100%, your biggest arb is tax at 50%.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 10:40AM
And he cut personal exemptions for those earning over 100K.
I see...an election. Or (politically) dead people. Or both.
Posted by sugardaddy , Apr 22, 2009 10:41AM
I still don't understand it. If they want the economy to grow why are they raising taxes 10%? Perhaps they shouldn't give people £1000 to get rid of their old cars.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 10:42AM
Lowly...didn't your therapist tell you that if you get your Ben-Gay and Preparation H mixed up that your shoulder would shrink and your asshole would.....oh, never mind, you can take that up at your next sexual addiction group meeting.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 10:43AM
At least the UK has hot chicks.
Hahahahahaha.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 10:45AM
@21 is Susan Boyle.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 10:46AM
And he cut personal exemptions for those earning over 100K.
I see...an election. Or (politically) dead people. Or both.
Posted by Lowly Assistant , Apr 22, 2009 10:46AM
20,
What does that have to do with anything?
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 10:47AM
It's only 50% of income over £150k, it was already 40% over £36k or so. Way to Fox News the numbers everybody.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 10:47AM
I see...someone who went crazy with the Post Comment button.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 10:48AM
And he cut personal exemptions for those earning over 100K.
I see...an election. Or (politically) dead people. Or both.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 10:50AM
Why did no one mention this?
Alcohol duties will go up by 2% - about 1p a pint - from midnight. There will be an increase in tobacco duty of 2% from 6pm - adding about 7p to a packet of 20 cigarettes. Mr Darling said these measures will raise more than £6bn by 2012.
WTF?
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 10:51AM
@ 25 -- Oh I see, it's only half of what you earn over GBP150k -- that's fair.
Legalizing theft doesn't make it right.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 10:52AM
I wonder is someone sees an election...or possibly politically dead people.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 10:53AM
@21, what do you call an attractive girl in London?
A tourist
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 10:53AM
GO LABOUR!!!!!!!!!
CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN!
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 10:54AM
There is no financial crisis and we'll all be OK after taxes are lowered.
~Cleavon Schrumm
Padded Cell #12
State Hospital
Clouded View, MN
Posted by Anal_yst , Apr 22, 2009 10:55AM
@28
Saw that (and cried, seriously, my sympathies to my cross-pond cohorts), and couldn't help but think of the enormous opportunities it presents for "underground" type places. Anyone with local experience/knowledge wanna make moves?
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 10:57AM
Most of the Mayfair hedge funds don't use Monaco and Switzerland. They use Jersey and the Channel Islands. At the HF where I worked, the annual bonus was 100% TAX FREE for non-American citizens. So don't feel too sorry for your UK counterpart. They will do just fine.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 10:57AM
Natives now soliciting American colonists to come over and dump some lager and fags into the Thames near Westminster Bridge and send the ruling party packing.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 10:57AM
@28
By that time all the fools who are in the bar are too drunk to understand and smoking in good ol' Europa is much more prevalent than America. Can't say I care if you can't control your drinking habits
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 10:57AM
Did he cut personal exemptions for those earning over 100K? Does anyone see an election? Or (politically) dead people? Or both? Anyone? Anyone at all?
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 11:00AM
Bernie Madoff justed off'd himself - punk
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 11:02AM
12 Your ignorance is astoundingly impressive in its vastness and quantity.
~the Muleskinner~
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 11:02AM
@30 Maybe both?
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 11:03AM
25 = 12
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 11:04AM
Idiots. All they know how to do is tax and spend. Brown is a fool. Look at the idiot talk here. Disgusting.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1172303/The-bizarre-Brown-video-PM-wants-replace-MPs-expenses--25-000-year-just-turning-up.html
Posted by Anal_yst , Apr 22, 2009 11:05AM
@37
In what language was that comment, because it certainly doesn't make any sense in English.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 11:05AM
At what you call "Stonehenge" ( we called it "Lorcymruuught") my Lord would tax the bereaved attendees at the Summer's High Point over the 8th arch, a skull cap of fermented beverage we called "shyllis" and require a maiden to exchange a "favor" (you call it a "rub and tug") to learn the way of the Shyboth (you call him a "trader" or "banker") and, truth be told, all my Lord really said was, "Acquire at a lower price than you would sell..." Later we'd sit around and piss ourselves laughing as hard as possible at our tricks and from time to time some wind was broken much to my Lord's dismay.
~Clarth, Son of Ryllicth
4th Seer in Training
Stonehenge
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 11:09AM
I hear if you're fed up with taxes from the king you can just refuse to pay them, dump a bunch of goods in the water, start a war and then you become awesome. If memory serves, I think there's a precedent for that.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 11:12AM
@46 The British don't have it in them to do anything that drastic anymore.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 11:17AM
I AM NOT GAY.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 11:18AM
It's time to colonize a new planet.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 11:22AM
@ 46 -- That's nice and all, until the State regrows itself into an even larger leviathan.
http://www.mises.org/store/Left-The-Right-and-The-State-The-P550.aspx?AFID=14
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 11:22AM
@12 your inability to pay your fucking mortgage is what has fucked the system you stupid shit.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 11:27AM
This is particularly infuriating coming from Labour, who spent the last 10 years turning the UK into a ridiculous tax haven for hyper wealthy foreigners. Had they adopted reasonable rules re: non-doms years ago, they would have had more than sufficient funds to weather the crisis.
@35, your claim of 100% white income sounds a little spurious and, irrespective of the structure, not without significant tax risk (just ask the loads of bank employees who found themselves making payments to the Inland Revenue for the plethora of non-dom schemes that didn't work). Would be curious as to exactly how it was structured.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 11:32AM
@45 - Easy on the shylliss there big guy
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 11:34AM
They are just going to make up jobs for under 25s and pay them?!?! What is this, Vietcong redux!?!?
from the "Daily Mail"
"Employment
An extra £1.7billion will be poured into the Jobcentre Plus network on top of £1.3billion already announced.
From January, everyone under the age of 25 who has been out of work for 12 months will be offered a job or a place in training and those in work will receive a wage.
Some 250,000 jobs will be created or supported as part of these measures, Mr Darling said. "
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 11:34AM
Gasoline SHOULD be $9 per gallon. It makes up for the negative externalities associated with driving and funding all those highways.
Take mass transit, don't live in the suburbs. Simple solutions.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 11:37AM
@50 - Wow, Debbie Downer, it was a joke, way to ruin it. Do you also enjoy telling children Santa doesn't exist?
<3
46
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 11:43AM
Guest@#51...
The inability to pay mortgages is just the faint breeze that blew the f'n house of cards down.
You (not 12) are the one who is the "stupid shit".
The Guy from Delaware
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 11:48AM
Shock horror, Darling is incompetent and stupid piece of dog turd. I'm unlikely to earn 150k ever but when my offspring (following fornication with an intellgient chick) grow up they'll be screwed. YEAH taxes.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 11:48AM
@55 - Totally agree, big cities aren't nearly crowded enough, I could definitely use another 5 million people in New York...
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 11:49AM
I see a BNP seat increase at the next election cycle.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 11:49AM
Best news for NYC in a long time.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 11:50AM
@2 dual citizenship biatch
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 11:53AM
@57
TGFD you never worked in finance and you live (at 60 years old, yes) still in your mothers basement and wouldn't recognized a mortgage if it was giving you a blowjob..
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 11:53AM
@57 backoffice
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 11:54AM
this a really bad idea - london, with property prices 2x NY, isnt such an attractive place to live in the first place..
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 11:55AM
@52
It was structured so that the London employees all officially worked for a Bahamas holding company that provided professional services back to the Mayfair hedge fund. Annual bonuses were paid out of Jersey and were 100% TAX FREE for non-Americans. Human Resources (the Wideclops) were based out of Jersey. Employee orientation was out of Jersey. Human resources would fly into London to fire or discipline employees. My boss claimed Irish ancestry 2 or 3 generations back and worked under an Irish passport. The British hedge fund guys know all the tricks. So don't weep for them.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 11:55AM
@64
he wish
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 11:58AM
@59
stories like yours make tears well up in my eyes. apparently the lower class is still strugling...
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 12:00PM
then maybe property prices will no longer be 2x NY. You might also consider that the strength of the pound has historically been a large part of the reason for that. And that the recent weakening has eroded the differential in property prices significantly.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 12:00PM
@66
uhh at what kind of hedge fund does a professional get disciplined or fired by HR? HR is support staff - you, are hopefully not...
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 12:01PM
Guest@#63...
Your lame attempt at insulting TGFD makes you sound even dumber than your friend @#51. Maybe you are #51.
The Guy from Delaware
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 12:02PM
@69 probably - how many sq feet do you get at a nice location in NY for $3k/month these days?
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 12:02PM
59 Or maybe improve regional transit. Part of the reason why houses are so expensive in Bronxville is that the commute is a breeze. Opposite is true in many parts of NJ, which are actually closer to NYC but not as accessible.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 12:04PM
what came first.. the government or the worker?
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 12:05PM
I love how no one else is catching the Eddie Murphy references. Well played Bess. Well played #4
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 12:06PM
@71
you are right i'm sorry. So,how many sq feet do you get at a nice location in your mother's basement for $3k/month these days?
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 12:08PM
Guests@#64 & #67...
TGFD doesn't want to be backoffice or f'n front office either, for that matter.
The Guy from Delaware
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 12:08PM
UMFUFU!!!
But naked on a zebra, bone through her nose, with the biggest fucked up afro you have ever seen!
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 12:10PM
@70
I think it was the tax structure, everything had to go through HR outside the UK. When my co-worker sent a sexist e-mail insulting the office girls, HR flew in just to give him a warning.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 12:12PM
@79
that's wideclopse paradise right there..
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 12:16PM
I love how no one else is catching the Eddie Murphy references. Well played Bess. Well played #4
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 12:17PM
@2: And we STILL make more than you ever will post-taxes!
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 12:26PM
At this point, even the Queen has probably dusted off her German passport to declare herself a non-dom.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 12:38PM
I'm a wage arbitrageur. What's a TCS?
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 12:47PM
@ 12 die you idiot
--------
Atlas is shrugging across the pond
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 12:51PM
@68 - uhh wasn't really a story...did you mean @58? Good thing your job doesn't revolve around numbers or small details....
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 1:01PM
@86
no i meant 59 retard. Good thing your job doesn't revolve around having an IQ over 50
Posted by Bulging Bracket , Apr 22, 2009 1:01PM
@35/66/79
I'm rather surprised about the Mayfair fund using Jersey since you're not supposed to be able to escape from Inland Revenue using the local tax havens. Same reason why you don't see the French in Monaco - their Serene Highnesses tell Paris about bank accounts.
Jersey/Channel Islands are targeted to Euros and Americans while Monaco focuses on the UK and Northern Europe. Nice little division of labor on the part of L'Entente Cordiale.
The good news about this whole tax announcement is that there will be an election next year just as/just after the rate goes into effect and the current government is in unimaginable trouble. They're looking at annihilation and putting their last kicks in rather than governing responsibly.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 1:13PM
@87 oh because for a second there I thought I was actually smart...so you enjoy paying ridiculous rent for a place the size of a shoebox? cause putting a lot more people into a small area is GREAT for the environment...construction of new buildings (meaning lots of heavy machinery and the killing of more wildlife), more waste that gets harder and harder to remove properly...but none of that really matters because if we get rid of suburbs all of our environmental problems vanish.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 1:17PM
@87 I mean Beijing is a model example of what no suburbs and millions of people in small areas...smog masks are so hot right now
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 1:33PM
@89/90 yeah reall sorry you took all that effort to reply but at second glance i guess i did mean 58. hope i didn't distract you from creating all that value at your work...loser.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 1:42PM
@62 dual citizenship doesnt work in this case, moron
try renouncing your citizenship and paying taxes 10 years in advance, and you are almost a free person
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 1:46PM
@91 don't worry it wasn't too distracting, I had to look away from my lunch for about a minute, but I'll just skip my post-lunch dump and it should cancel it out
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 1:51PM
For 20 years I've paid every p of my taxes. This year, I'm fudging it. This is mad.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 2:26PM
Oh this government is just longing for the glory days of the 1970's. Sigh.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 5:44PM
eddieeeeeee! i am amarikan woman now!
half!!!!!
Posted by KevinB , Apr 26, 2009 12:57PM
Let me tell you how it will be,
There’s one for you, nineteen for me,
‘Cos I’m the Taxman,
Yeah, I’m the Taxman.
Should five per cent appear too small,
Be thankful I don’t take it all.
‘Cos I’m the Taxman,
Yeah yeah, I’m the Taxman.
(If you drive a car car), I’ll tax the street,
(If you try to sit sit), I’ll tax your seat,
(If you get too cold cold), I’ll tax the heat,
(If you take a walk walk), I’ll tax your feet.
Taxman.
‘Cos I’m the Taxman,
Yeah, I’m the Taxman.
Don’t ask me what I want it for
(Ah Ah! Mister Wilson!)
If you don’t want to pay some more
(Ah Ah! Mister Heath!),
‘Cos I’m the Taxman,
Yeeeah, I’m the Taxman.
Now my advice for those who die, (Taxman!)
Declare the pennies on your eyes, (Taxman!)
‘Cos I’m the Taxman,
Yeah, I’m the Taxman.
And you’re working for no-one but me,
(Taxman).