What percentage of all TAX do we pay from our income & spending (UK)?

Question

Income tax,VAT,TV licence ,council tax,fuel tax and so it goes on
Money from income ,my point is after all that tax what percentage is left that actually buys goods and service ?

Answer 1

I know your feeling! Government is a very expensive beast! The actual proportion will vary (depending on your level of income and what you buy, of course).

Think of it this way, though. Your taxes actually pay for a lot of services which we take for granted. Medical bills and sick pay, roads, police, national security, your pension (and mine!), the eventuality that you might need to claim unemployment benefit (God forbid!) ... the list is long. Some of them we may not choose to pay for, and that is irksome, but others, as I say, we mostly take for granted and if we were suddenly deprived of them we would find ourselves in a state of shock!

I by no means advocate complacency! We need people like you to keep asking and agitating for better value for our money!

I'd estimate that even less than 40% doesn't eventually find its way into the government's pocket. After all, you buy a loaf of bread. Someone has to be paid to grow the wheat (with subsidies, of course, for which we pay), grind the flour, make the bread, transport it and to sell it to you. They are also taxed, so part of what you pay for anything involves an element of tax, albeit indirect! Suppose that 60% of your earnings goes in more or less direct tax, then 60% of the 40% remaining must go on first level indirect taxation, 60% of what remains of that goes on second level indirect taxation ... even what you save must eventually be taxed in some way.

Money, as they say, makes the world go round. We are paid in order to be taxed and we are taxed (in a sense) so that we can enjoy being paid - since the existence of government seeks to foster capitalism (and therefore 'work for all') or, in other words, a 'prosperous economy'. Capitalist and socialist governments both need money to exist. How they get it may vary somewhat, but, in the end it has to be from the sweat of someone's brow.

Answer 2

The answer is 100% less the country's annual productivity. Everything is taxed over and over again. The tax is paid by many different individuals and corporate bodies. Tax is a means of managing the circulation (and provision) of goods and services and the distribution of funds without devaluing a country's currency and it's incentive to be productive and self sufficient. Otherwise the Govt. would simply tell the mint to print all the money it needs for the year, and not charge taxes at all. The more productive you are, the less tax you pay overall. Sounds silly, but it is true.

Answer 3

Obama is making it worst....you cannot spend your way out of this mess...especially when you have no money to begin with. The best thing we can do about this situation is to get the federal government out of it. The last thing we need is to be under the control of those clowns in Washington D.C.

Answer 4

i would guess about 40% of what you earn actually doesnt go to the govt. bastards! cant even die without paying inheritance tax, and for what so bloody hook can pay for a house in cash even though he's in prison

Answer 5

100%