£60,000p/a Not that much....

[teamsaint]

Logic? How about 'we raise tax now and then, when we want to have a 'proper' war, or something else of similar importance. Otherwise, everyone takes home all their pay'.

Sometimes I astound myself, with my own logic.

that at least is easy to believe !! friendlymateysmileything !!

Can't we have a revolution in the meantime?

[Dave2002]

I don't think that income tax is based on age. I think it's based on income!

Income tax is not the only tax, and not all that might be considered as an income (i.e money to live on) has to be based on work. An older person might - I don't say will - have an effective income from investments, which if in an ISA, and with capital gains could for some possibly provide around £10k per year. Further, an older person might decide to downsize a property, for example, and use the proceeds of the sale to live on. It is fairly easy to see how this could give an effective tax free income of £30k. On the the other hand someone who is still in employment, or who has income from pensions would have to pay the tax on such an amount, which would reduce it to around £25k. Some older people would also not have to pay National Insurance. In my post I was referring to £30k, either with no tax to pay, or after tax has been paid. As mentioned earlier, the number of people to support is also a factor. I'd agree that £30k is not terrible for one person in the SE - perhaps even if 20% tax has to be paid, but that's only a bit more than £2k per month, and rents and travel can easily eat into that in many areas. I was perhaps being over generous, but I'm pretty sure that less than £20k per annum does get tough, and many young people are facing that.

I no longer know much about living in the north - and as in the south there are expensive and cheaper areas. People without jobs in the north would probably find life as difficult as anywhere, but someone with a steady job (that might be hard now, with cuts etc.) could find that they have relatively more disposable income than similar people in the south. Moving round the country is, of course, almost impossible - able and skilled people from the north will probably not be able to, or be unwilling to, take up jobs in the south, because the cost of housing makes it prohibitive, while people from the south will probably not wish to move to the north, because they realise that they'd probably never get back to the south if they wanted to. There are, admittedly, other factors - proximity of family and friends etc., but the very significant disparities in housing costs and other factors do make it hard for many in the south to live on what those who still live north of Birmingham might consider rather generous incomes.

Other factors may come in - what kind of lifestyles do people want, or find acceptable. People who like music and theatre might want to live in different parts of the country from others who might prefer hunting, fishing and other perhaps quieter pursuits - maybe country walks and water colour painting.