Income Tax 2024 Flashcards
What proportion of the population pay no income tax?
40 per cent
(Not all poor)
What was the basic rate of income tax in 1979?
33 per cent
What is the rate of income tax for those earning more than £50,000 p.a. and how many people are in this category?
40 per cent income tax - with about a quarter of all income learners in this category.
What is the top rate of income tax, when does it kick in, and how many people pay it?
The top rate is 45 per cent for those earning over £125,000 (about 2 million people or fewer than 5 per cent of tax payers) l
What proportion of all income tax revenue is paid by the top 1 per cent of earners?
30 per cent is paid by the top 1 per cent of earners - those earning over£200,000 p.a.
What proportion of all income tax revenue is paid by the top 5 per cent of earners?
50 per cent is paid by the top 5 per cent of earners.
What proportion of total income tax revenue is paid by the top third and the bottom two thirds of the population?
The top third pay 90% and the bottom two thirds pay 10%
(This is extreme because pre tax income inequality is extreme)
When and why did inequality surge?
Inequality fell steadily after WW2. Then surged in the 1980s as old industry died, unions were weakened, globalisation and higher markets happened, technological change favoured capital, and Britain’s financial sector went mad following the big bang of deregulation.
Inequality in the UK has not changed much since 1990.
Why is inequality in the UK greater than in many other countries?
The dominance of the financial sector is one reason why the UK has higher inequality than many countries.
Why are we dependant on the top 1% staying here to pay taxes?
Because nowadays they pay not 10% of all income tax revenue (as in the 1980s) but 30% - and about a third of them were born abroad and could easily leave.
