Uber Drivers are real people - Court Rules

[LittleMate]

Better to do away with NI and include it all in income tax (i.e. increase income tax). That way earning through PAYE and earning through dividends in your own company (or anyone else's) would be taxed the same.

It may serve to simplify the tax system, but don't the public like the idea of knowing how much health insurance is paid? Probably make it easy for the tories to float the NHS private too...

[Thor]

Boris has stopped any further privatisation of the NHS which started under Blair which the lefties seem to forget.

[StillSpike]

Better to do away with NI and include it all in income tax (i.e. increase income tax). That way earning through PAYE and earning through dividends in your own company (or anyone else's) would be taxed the same.

It may serve to simplify the tax system, but don't the public like the idea of knowing how much health insurance is paid? Probably make it easy for the tories to float the NHS private too...

The problem with having Income Tax and NI separate is that income from working for someone else (PAYE) is taxed, in the whole, at a higher rate than income from Share Dividends, other investments, pensions, buy-to-let income etc etc. Who, I wonder, would prefer to keep those latter forms of income taxed lower than mere workers income?

It'd be a tricky one to perform from a PR perspective, because the headline would be that the Govt is raising Income Tax (even though they'd be dropping NI) - this would be spun in such a way as it'd be hurting good old John Q Taxpayer - where in reality the ordinary working Joe would be no worse off, whereas those who get their income from other (perhaps "unearned") sources would see their tax burden increase.

[Sid Bishop]

Better to do away with NI and include it all in income tax (i.e. increase income tax). That way earning through PAYE and earning through dividends in your own company (or anyone else's) would be taxed the same.

It may serve to simplify the tax system, but don't the public like the idea of knowing how much health insurance is paid? Probably make it easy for the tories to float the NHS private too...

The problem with having Income Tax and NI separate is that income from working for someone else (PAYE) is taxed, in the whole, at a higher rate than income from Share Dividends, other investments, pensions, buy-to-let income etc etc. Who, I wonder, would prefer to keep those latter forms of income taxed lower than mere workers income?

It'd be a tricky one to perform from a PR perspective, because the headline would be that the Govt is raising Income Tax (even though they'd be dropping NI) - this would be spun in such a way as it'd be hurting good old John Q Taxpayer - where in reality the ordinary working Joe would be no worse off, whereas those who get their income from other (perhaps "unearned") sources would see their tax burden increase.

When you get to pension age, no NI paid on old age pensions, you only pay income tax on the money you get from your pensions, so if you merged the NI into the income tax, you would be taking away a lot of pensioners income.

[StillSpike]

Yes that's true - although I'd disagree with "a lot". You'd also be putting more of the taxation burden on other people who are better able to afford it too, and as stated above the pandemic expenditure needs paid for somehow - and taxation based on income (whatever one's age, income is income) seems a fair way to do it.