I would like to see alist showing the nuber of state emploied people in each of the areas on the list
Rating 53+ Frank Morris, Brisbane Australia, 20/4/2009 4:40

Seems like stating the obvious to me, the more you earn the more you pay, as it should be.
- Dereck Smith, Insch United Kingdom

Perhaps you haven't quite understood this article. Of course logically the more you earn the more you pay, but surely the percentage should be the same? How is it right that people in St Albans pay 25% tax, whilst those in Hull pay only 14%? What happens to those people who work hard to make £43,000 a year, and get their pay rise which takes their earnings to £43,874? Their tax doubles, and they end up taking home less than they did before their pay rise!

Classic stealth tax, by a very clever government who could foresee that the average rise in wages would quickly bring many 'average' workers into the 40% tax band!
Rating +37 Claire (ex-pat), California, USA, 20/4/2009 9:11

Why is it people think the more you earn the more right people have to take your money. The people with the most money are in fact the so called 'poor' who take everthing they can in benefits and housing and pay nothing back to society. It sickens me that decent hard working individuals who have always worked and paid whats fair, who would be ashamed to go on the dole if they were jobless despite paying into it, are the ones that are always targeted for tax hikes. If people honestly think £40,000 is a high wage think again. Factor in mortgages, pension contributions, NI, food prices, fuel prices and normally looking after a family on top of the ridiculus amount of tax they have to pay and what you find is a class of people with very little disposable income. It is disgusting, something has gone seriously wrong in this country and it needs to be sorted out.
Click to rate Rating 12- Jessica, Poole, Dorset, 20/4/2009 9:44

The people with the most money are in fact the so called 'poor'

Typical Mclabour and Mcbaldrick.
Where are all these cities?
England, of course - WHERE ELSE?
Mcbaldrick loathes and detests us hard working thrifty ENGLISH taxpayers and savers.
No votes from us to him - AND HE KNOWS IT.
ROGER, brighton, in the USSR - Union of Scottish Socialist Regulators, 20/4/2009 10:18

If people honestly think £40,000 is a high wage think again.

An historical fact: in the 1950's under the Tory McMillan the working class and low paid paid almost NO TAX, the tax burden was on the middle classes. The result was that many more poor people worked as no tax was taken from them. It was worth taking low paid jobs.

Cameron should consider this again, a decent minimum wage with a much higher tax threshold and even then a 15% tax bracket between 10K and 18K. The result would be that he could get rid of working families tax credit (Brown's abysmal idea), family credit (Maggies necessity because of no minimum wage) and its bureaucracy and the poor could see a reason to leave benefits and work. As it is we tax the low paid to then given it back as in work benefits which are not included in the calculations above.

As a middle class person I want to see happy rubbish collectors, waiting staff, cleaners, admin etc. They make my life better. Stop being snobs.
Click to rate Rating 166

- Freewheelin, Sheffield, 20/4/2009 10:34

The US must have sent out a invitation to dullards.

Has Claire ever paid tax? Surely she doesn't really think that's how the banding system works!

And if you honestly think that you're hard-done-by on £40k a year, then go live in a fucking ditch, you blinkered, selfish bitch.

The thing is, would a single one of these complainers actually move to Hull and take a £17k job? They all sit around complaining about how the lower end of society has it made (prisoners, immigrants, people on unemployment benefit), but surely deep down they know that it's still the case that £40k is a pretty fucking good wage?

There's gotta be a lot of Mail readers on £20k or less, I wonder how they feel seeing comments from people who earn double what they earn complaining about their terrible tax burden?

Confession time, I earn over £40k a year (ooh, get me!) and I am very happy to pay the amount of tax I do, because I believe in a fair and equitable society, and because I spent long enough on the dole that I took plenty from the taxpayer and really appreciate now that this is a lot to be earning. Also I am able to save loads cos my spending habits haven't changed much from when I was on £18K. I am bloody lucky tbh and I can well imagine how annoyed a Mail reader on say £20K would be, reading idiots whinging about how much they're paying.

Nah good luck to you....I'm not against people earning a decent wage, I'm against these people moaning how little they have, whilst usually at the same time moaning how much us Unemployed are getting (which is fuck all)