I am studying Accountancy (ACCA)as a older person (50 next year) I have become fascinated by the taxation system. It is so heavily weighted towards taxing income as opposed to assets and wealth. Top rate income tax 45%. 20% Capital gains (28% on property). The 7 yr rule on transfer of assets means the financially educated are able pay minimal tax on their assets. I have never seen any one discuss this imbalance on the news. This should be taught in schools!! So people grow up understanding finance. Every time I try and talk to people about it, they roll their eyes and say it’s boring. Please keep making these videos.
You can educate yourself as much as you want, if you are a working /middle class odds are against you as you play rigged game devised by the rich. The vehicles and methods rich use not to pay taxes will never be available for ordinary folks.
you have answered so many questions for me with this comment. thank you for doing the research and I'm very grateful you find an interest in finance, you're helping everyone in one way or another 💚
@@edenbreckhousethe system allows it indeed. There were good reasons for some of that mainly to keep money moving around but with money comes loopholes and ways to avoid tax legally but not evasion which is illegal. The system needs reform that won’t impact business.
@@edenbreckhousethe super wealthy “unionize” with politicians to adjust tax laws to suit them. As Peter (OP) made a good point, what’s the bet the politicians will add wealth-style taxes but it’ll effect the middle class by lowering the thresholds to a £1m home or something similar. But the super wealthy will have loopholes.
The problem in many respects is that many of the working class simply cannot visualise the concept of income from wealth. Their whole life is geared towards the concept of working for money. As a result they believe that these people are just in incredibly well paid jobs and as such they pay tax like the rest of us. The government plays on this with the propaganda that a low tax economy will benefit us all equally when it is specifically aimed at taxes the rich pay.
Thats a rather stupid answer not all working class are thick. I have known since the 70s my brother was an economics graduate told me back then that 1% had 90% of the wealth of this country like the Royal family. These people have never paid hardly any tax!! So where do they have their money in offshore accounts land property abroad shares etc. So dont be patronising
you nailed it on the head when you referenced the medieval system. The rich chaps never got over how they lost that model, and slowly but surely, are nudging society to go back to that model of regulation.
yanis varoufakis' idea of "techno-feudalism" puts forth that capitalism is over and we're basically living in a modern version of that medieval system already.
the public school brain farts like Mogg, would like VERY much to be the "go to" for history, calling anyone a communist or whatever who talks about "progressive" taxation... but the thing is, it ISNT EVEN PROGRESSIVE. what has happened over the last 100 years is that the OPPOSITE has occured. do you ever wonder WHY the National Trust owns so many mansions? or WHY, if you go to the National Gallery, say, and bother to look at the labels on the paintings, most say something like "Donated by the estate of so-and-so in lieu of...".
We came off feudalism and into capitalism in 1688 and the “Glorious Revolution” where merchant bankers came over from Holland with William of Orange, usurped the king, incorporated the city of London and set up the Bank of England in 1694 cementing the central banking system which is basically supplies the ultra-wealthy with an unlimited money supply based on usury and speculation and eventually this led to fake “fiat” money. And now there is more debt than any of the wealth ever created in human history. This is a huge mound of fake money that the rich sit on top of while working people work and provide value at a rate that allows confidence in the markets that no one notices that the global economy is a house of cards built on sand. Which is why when you get blips like covid and 2008 the money printers go brrrrrrr....... I would actually prefer to live under feudalism because although the workers were subdued, they knew who ruled them and they also had this solidified class structure that was impossible to get out of so people were far more communitarian and not in a rat race all the time where people are just looking after themselves.
That's because the super wealthy people Gary describes are those very people that own the BBC (or more commonly known as the 'Establishment'). The BBC is not your cuddly wubbly friend unless you're on £150,000+ per annum... It would be a very sad day if ordinary working people thought the BBC was working in their interest in this context.
Never, ever. Makes you wonder who's financial pocket they are in doesn't it? Everyone behaves the way they do for a reason, sometimes that reason is staring us in the face.
Wish I could agree with you but there are so many info holes/audience assumptions in this - again. I like Gary and his motivation, and I want him to succeed here, however he keeps leaving out key information for the economically illiterate like myself. If Gary believes his audience already understand how the rich avoid Capital Gains Tax when they dispose of assets then why is he bothering to make these? If he believes we all understand how the rich avoid inheritance tax on billions of pounds then again why is here? I would appreciate it if he stood back and asked himself whether he was actually providing the information needed - because I feel sure he wants to - and I want him to too - please :).
@@EarthPoets To what level of detail did you think Gary should have gone to? I'm not here to gain a degree in tax affairs of anybody, just an understanding to a level that the ordinary person wants to get to. What I took from this is that the super rich have ways of avoiding paying tax that workers do not. And it's the taxation system that is designed this way that is the root cause. Perhaps one of Gary's previous videos goes into the detail you want; I don't know as I've not viewed them all, being a recent subscriber. Perhaps you can ask Gary to do a video on the specific topics you want rather than negatively criticise what he has provided here. Perhaps you didn't mean it to be taken in a negative way, but using language such as ".. then why is he bothering to make these? " came across to me as quite negative.
@@kelvinfaulkner3183 Hi Kelvin. I think you just made my case for me. "What I took from this is that the super rich have ways of avoiding paying tax that workers do not. And it's the taxation system that is designed this way that is the root cause." - you got all that from eleven minutes and forty one seconds. You must be time rich my friend :).
@@EarthPoets I didn't get just that, but that was my executive summary, so to speak. Just like any informative document a good summary helps the reader (or viewer in this case) know what the document is about and whether to read the full text. How Gary gets that message across is the interesting part. Now that you know Gary's style perhaps you should find another youtuber who gives the info you want in a style that suits you. I hope you're not too time poor to read this, my friend?
All those right wing culture wars are designed to keep as many people as possible focused away from the bigger picture and issues. It quite obviously works.
I love these videos, completely honest and clearly explained. We need to get this message out and get people listening. The younger generation need to wake up and get a bit angry about all of this, they are the ones to make the change.
No, it’s not fair to pass all the political buck into us. Everyone has to deal with this. Protest is hard when it is increasingly criminalised. There are situations where your livelihood is at risk if you truly express yourself through politics. We are happy to play our part, but everyone needs to be acting in this stuff, not just us.
@@rosstatham439 you're right, everyone needs to do their part. I'm going to share this with my middle aged coworkers who were happy with the scraps Sunak threw at them the last time but clearly didn't see the bigger picture.
The younger generation are much more informed about this. Its the older generation who allowed us to get to this point. Take the last 12 years of tory power as an example. It wasn’t youth voting them in.
@@rosstatham439 "No, it’s not fair to pass all the political buck into us" It isn't fair, but to be honest it is realistic. I'm pushing 50 and most of my peer group are happy with the status quo because they own property or whatever, they aren't going to buck a system which benefits them. I cannot emphasize how much Gen X and Boomers prop up this broken system even if they pay lip service to changing it.
I gave up studying economics at A level because I thought it was boring. Now, many years later, it totally fascinates me. I have tried to explain taxation to my elderly in-laws who firmly believe everyone is paying the same taxes, and it is our duty to society to do so. They can not understand that inequality exists and will not use any means available to them to save on taxes. It does drive me mad!
the 99% organisation has some very useful explainers about macro economics. Shared them with a friend who started quoting Thatcher... we can't borrow more than we earn... we have to manage our finances like a household budget.. all nonsense of course. They are worth looking up.
I have been trying to explain this to people for years. All I received was to be shouted down and laughed at. They all knew better. Felt like the character in the Kristy MacColl sung about in her song "Free World" ( Great track, give it a listen ) . I could chat to you for hours. Glad I've found you on here. I'm not the only one who sees it all. Great work mate. All the best Mo . From a council flat in North London
Cheers for the reply . I watched that Jeremy Hunt ( Rhyming slang) Oh mate, all we're gonna get on Thursday is just gonna be their usual ideology.. Tax rises with spending cuts?? What rises N.I or VAT ? Their peak was in the 1850s . That's where it's heading.. Look forward your reaction and the countries too on Thursday...My prediction..Further decline. . With catch ya up again. Mo.
Your explanations are great, but if you used a whiteboard with pictures it would be even clearer and more accessible (just a suggestion from a teacher!). ♥
I think the way he does it this way is that he speaks from the heart. There's a lot of UA-cam channels that use whiteboards, flowing slides but you lose the connection behind the theory. But thats just me 😊
It's like a teacher gives a big bag of sweets to a classroom of kids and tells them to divide it amongst themselves. One of the kids thinks he's exceptional and superior to the rest who he looks down on, so he decides that he'll divide the bag up: he gives all the other kids half a sweet each - and takes the rest for himself! The parents of the kids given so little would be up in arms! Yet that's what millionaires and billionaires are effectively doing all the time- and the rest of us like docile idiots accept it!
If you want to describe the UK system, then the teacher knows what is happening but is colluding with the selfish kid and lying to the rest that it's a fair system.
@Bercilak de hautdesert I am nor seeing any entrepreneurialism or craftsmanship here - just someone who has snatched the bag of sweets and thinks giving a tiny handful to everyone else counts as 'sharing'
Another wonderfully cogent video which explains in a down-to-earth way exactly how the owning class make, retain and grow ‘their’ money. I’ve shown some of your videos to my son,who has a 1st in economics and he has become a fan saying yours is the clearest explanation of what is truly going on that he has ever heard.
But "yours is the clearest explanation of what is truly going on that he has ever heard." doesn't mean that the message is clear does it, perhaps your son should get out more.
Christ this is good. If you had a company working towards these goals (lobbying for and achieving a fairer tax system and a wealth/LVT) I'd wanna work for you! Keep it up mate. This is essential
Thanks boss, the way this is growing, we will probably have to professionalise and make a company and hire some staff at some point. No time for that until I've finished writing the book though unfortunately!
Your videos are brilliant and explain things so clearly. The net result is that I now feel strongly like leaving the uk. I earn a comparatively high salary and still can’t buy a house
Also they are currently waiving the immigration is the devil flag to deflect what this election should be about….the rise of inequality and reduction in living standards. Simply the parties don’t want to discuss this as it will effect their chums - bar the Greens who seem to have adopted a tax on super wealth and not earnings.
I'm on a week's ban from Twitter at the moment for using a bad word, but as soon as I can, I will share this, Gary! Excellent as usual, but incredibly depressing for us plebs too of course.
Wow that is such a clear argument for change, delivered sincerely by someone who knows what theyre talking about. Thanks for putting this out there🙏 and hope this goes some way to triggering bigger discussions!!
Thanks for this video Gary. I'll keep engaging as long as you keep making them. We've gotta get this message out and save this generation somehow. Personally I won't be voting for another politician that doesn't have equality of taxation/wealth tax on the agenda.
@@garyseconomics Hello Gary, I’m planning to stand as a candidate in the next GE for a new national left wing party that’s in the process of being established. I happened upon your videos recently and have been absorbing as much as I can from them to better understand wealth inequality. I intend to make this one of the central issues in my campaign. I shall also advise the Party to make contact with you to formulate the part of their manifesto that relates to wealth inequality as the redistribution of wealth is one of their founding principles. What’s the best way for either me or the Party to make contact with you directly as I feel your input would be invaluable? I’m extremely glad to have found your channel, pal, and give you huge credit for the work you’re doing to simplify the message and how you’re working for the benefit of others and help improve their quality of life. Keep up your excellent work, Gary. You’re dynamite, buddy! Johnno 😀
@@dizzyrosecal Sounds to me like you hear what you want to rather than what is actually said, and then you call it clear and concise. Why? Perhaps a hearing aid for xmas? Or maybe shill out a bit Diz? How about this part at 2:46? "Then once you see people who are earning above £200,000, what we actually see is that the rates of tax paid start to fall significantly." As far as I am aware the highest income tax rate of 45% starts at £125,140 and rates definitely do not decrease above an income of £200,000. But perhaps the world is different in Dizzy & Gaz's caravan? He goes on "and the reason for this is that our current tax system is very well designed for taxing working people." But he just said that above £2000,000 the system falls apart! Please enlighten me as to how you can describe that as "explaining things clearly and concisely".
@@LucyClaridge, whoosh! I think you completely missed the point of Dizzy's comment. They were suggesting that you were openly admitting to being thick... or was that not clear and concise enough for you?
@@peasweet6460 she then went on a hilarious rant about how she didn’t know how to use Google and instead prefers to get her information from random people in the comments. There’s no point engaging with someone so blatantly acting in bad faith. Funny to watch though 😂
I would love to see more of the argument for levelling the playing field with true equal opportunity irrespective of background for the benefit of all income and wealth brackets. Decreasing inequality does not mean the wealthy get poorer, but often increasing inequality impedes wealth creation
The solution is to remove the CAUSE of this problem: policies to get the power of big money out of politics, so they are only mere equals, who can argue their case only as equals.
@@pebblepod30 There is no mechanism within the system to achieve this. Look at what happened to Corbyn, who merely tried to enact moderate change within the system. It is naïve to think that any serious redistributive policy will even be given voice or debate. The establishment prefers fascism to social democracy.
@@elpirata2685 I cannot agree - and Corbyn was the perfect example. He was unelectable bc him & his supporters expected all other voters to be far left on EVERYTHING. Bernie Sanders even called himself a "Socialist", yet he was not "woke" or doing culture war (he was against Open Borders/Forced Entry & Settlement (FEAS) in 2016). And he was more popular than Donald Trump. Imagine if Corbyn had chosen to focus on changing fundamental economic issues we all mostly agree on, like "money out of politics"?
Garry thankyou for your time you are creating ripples having become self employed , recently now I earn in sat morning what it took a week to earn before , even stepping out of employee tax I pay less
Very good points. May I also add a comment concerning the super rich? Their wealth is tied up in trust funds, they invest in art treasures. Just two examples of investments. They are also non doms who flit from country to country whilst their wealth is also kept in off shore holdings. There is absolutely no comparison between us mortals and them as you point out. Many thanks for a very simple explanation of a very complicated topic.
Hi Gary, thank you so much for the work you are doing. It is so very necessary. I have heard on some of your contributions you saying that it is possible to tax at source, which would alleviate/ avoid the current problems of tax avoidance by the big companies and other very rich entities. I think this is crucial, given that we are always told that due to globalisation there isn't that much that governments can do to address the problems of inequality. I think your arguments about taxing at source are key to addressing these issues. This is why I would like to ask you to elaborate on how exactly this idea can be applied in practice. I hope what I'm trying to say makes sense. If it doesn't, I'll be happy to try to make my point again. Thank you so much!
Subscribed. Thank you Gary. This has to be the best overview of the philosophy and current state of our Tax system i have come across. Will be going through your previous videos. Cheers
Thank you, Gary! I've been saying that we are paying for their £50blns finance Hole mishandled with fraudulent furlough the unused PPEs the Trace&Test shambles. They used taxpayers money, mishandled and now they will make us pay... as a pensioner started counting the pennies for my food shopping already
Good grief! What a wonderfully clear and transparent overview of a tax system which has up to this point been impenetrable for me. I knew it was wrong but couldn’t articulate how. This short video is potentially game changing if enough of us can use the knowledge to effect change. Questions arising - how much revenue is likely to be raised by a 1% tax on wealth above £100 million? And what percentage rise would be necessary to achieve returning levels of wealth to pre covid and therefore reclaiming as Government revenue all the money paid out to finance the furlough scheme which ended up with the rich? I am not asking about whether that is politically viable - just, for illustrative purposes, what the rough figures might be. Any chance you can answer those two Gary?
Hello Gary I have been bleating about exactly this subject for what seems like for ever. It seems that our opposition parties are incapable of putting this succinctly. A researcher producing an accurate breakdown of the specifics of exactly the data to clearly support these arguments in any conversation. Mark Blythe has been very clear on a lot of these subjects, I appreciate you have not been a fan of some economists, however I think if you haven't you may appreciate his work, primarily because he is correct in the vast majority of his assertions.
"It seems that our opposition parties are incapable of putting this succinctly." They don't care. They are part of the same broken system. Keir Starmer is not going to change this.
@@archvaldor it's probably more likely that they don't think it possible to win an election proposing such policies rather than they don't care.... Being part of the system doesn't automatically result in endorsement of every aspect of it the green party certainly couldn't be considered in favour of significant portions of the status quo. Kier Starmer could well not be the best candidate for the job however he will be the most likely to have an opportunity to become prime minister and would definitely be more amenable to such a policy than an actual billionaire whose own wife availed herself of tax avoidance opportunities.... So although less than ideal lobbying the opposition parties to adopt such rhetoric and policies succinctly would seem a reasonable course of action, if the alternative is indeed ever increasingly right wing ideologically dogmatic government.
Simple, no sidewinding bullshit, straight up, concise explanation. Really well articulated. Bless you Gary. This video for complete tax dummies & the many ill informed simple folk in general is gold! 👊
Great video, legendary. I particularly liked how you highlight how statistics are used to mislead us, e.g "being in the top 10% of earners" as if that means rich and being in top 10% of all income and wealth.
Awesome work bloke. Australian Greens have a proposal (ERC533) which would levy a 6% wealth tax on billionaires (both foreign (with AU assets) and domestic), which is estimated to increase the fiscal balance by $50 B AU Dollars a year, even after all the tax write offs. I reckon it's either that, or we 'eat' them (metaphorically of course......).
Thanks for putting your head above the parapet, Gary. I hope you get more and more support for what you are suggesting. I have never understood the economics of our economy where poorer people are penalised because surely if we had more money, we more than the wealthiest, would spend that money in the real economy and thus help economic growth?
Great summary and presentation, would just changing the tax system on "income from" be enough, do we need capital controls because the black hole effect of ownership wont improve without working people on lower incomes having more access to disposable funds to acquire capital/wealth which is also kept at rates that become more and more inaccessible to working people..
legend - first saw Gary on Novara Media being interviewed by Aaron Bastani (another legend). Now i’m watching Gary’s channel and really enjoy the bite size style of video. thanks mate.
Important to also note that taxes do not fund spending, spending comes first (money is spent into existence by the state) and then tax destroys money - money is a tax credit (you can pay tax with your tax credit pounds instead of having to give actual goods and gold coins etc to the state)
This is the best channel on UA-cam. The way Gary explains this is so clear, it's amazing. Unfortunately, I think we need some sort of uprising to bring about significant change in this country. That could happen, as it's the minority holding all the wealth. It's actually shocking that this has been allowed to happen. The Duke of Westminster example is beyond belief. Apparently, years of "careful planning" went into his avoiding paying inheritance tax!
Gary, the solution is to renove the CAUSE of this problem: policies to get the power of big money out of politics, so they are only mere equals, who can argue their case only as equals.
An important point to make clear is that you do not own a property if you have a mortgage on it. This really annoys me when I see BBC etc commenting on the housing housing market and they interview "property owners". Nonsense. The houses are at least in part owned by a bank. It's all part of the con - making people believe they own a house when they clearly don't. And more encouragement for people to own their own property by getting a fantastical and increasing amount of debt behind them. Cons like help to buy.
These are both good points and are especially relevant since the size of mortgages has grown enormously over the last 20/30 years. I've been thinking of doing a video on debt, in general, in fact, and I'm sure I will do one when I'm back
@@garyseconomics I definitely think this is a good idea and especially to call out mainstream media on how they label ppl who pay mortgages. Their current descriptor ("homeowners") is both inaccurate and misleading and perpetuates the con. Gov policies over the years have created increasing debt via the property market as a means of maintaining so called economic growth. It's the biggest con ever. Now they are talking lifelong mortgages. And while commentators keep going on about the price of food, that perpetuates the con, deflecting the narrative away from the property issue. It is the price of property (rent, mortgage) that is the biggest pressure on household spend. In the meantime the relative price of food has gone down down down. And the cheap price of food is threatening the future for small farms and has driven environmental degradation. River health, soil, nature loss, ammonia emissions, etc. Eg chicken farming in Wye catchment. This is my subject btw. @suesustainable on Twitter.
What really struck me is what you said about national insurance. I live and work in Spain. All self-employed, irrespective of what they earn, pay 300 flat rate every month. Some will pay 20%vat 15%income tax 300 flat rate NI 2000monthly gross= 1000net! That's a 50% rate of tax on 24k/yr. It's feudal. Always suspected it's to pay off the deficit created by the 2008 crisis. Now imagine working self employed for a delivery service. €600/month. They still take 300! It's brutal.
Hi GaryEconomics, this has of course been a topic of interest to me for quite a while!, from the day I started work nearly sixty years ago it was clear that some of my income would go in taxes, in addition I was expected to pay National insurance contributions which are also a tax on income, but this is only part of the story! there was when I was young an established system of purchase taxes most of which got rolled into VAT. This was applied to almost everything that one dad to spend money on, the few basic essentials for life that were exempted still incurred some taxation inside the supply chain, this means that effectively every commercial transaction would be taxed at least twice, the only way to avoid paying tax twice was to put the money aside, called savings, this takes that money out of the system and could be thought to reduce inflation but otherwise simply starves the system of that currency. There is one other significant factor and that is that those who manage to get hold of enough cash to purchase outright all the property and consumer durables that they need no longer have to pay any tax on the money they don't have to spend, poorer people on the other hand are constantly paying as they go in rents and payments for everything over and over again out of taxed earnings. There is at least one other way of finding the funds needed to pay for essential infrastructure, we could apply turnover tax, so that absolutely every financial transaction incurs exactly the same levy, it would of course be a very small percentage of the total in order to generate the same total revenue, it would apply in exactly the same way to income and expenditure, the whole thing could be completely automated through the banking system, it would create a completely level playing field but would have a dramatic effect on the productivity found by vertical integration, any primary producer who so chose could start by manufacturing the raw materials, processing them, transporting the fully finished products direct to the customers!, in doing so only pay the tax once. In total contrast the current business model where one business, say a farmer, produces the crops which they sell to a merchant who then sells it to a wholesaler who then passes it on to a processor then to a transport company, on and on and on until in the end a customer has to go to a shop to buy it, everyone of them at the moment only pays tax on their profits my way all of them would have to pay some tax at every step, the same farmer is producing the same crops and the same customers are eating the same food, the only differences are in the supply chain infrastructure!, you tell me which one is easier to regulate and control. Cheers, Richard.
Yes, indeed, UK tax system is a "class system" derivative. Heavy progressive tax for those who actually works, and optional or no tax for the oligarchy.
@GarysEconomics I've come across this new book " The Capital Order" by Clara E Mattei I thought you would have enlightening conversations with author. I saw an interview were she talked about what the purpose of austerity is.
Brilliant exposé. I am 60, and when I talk to the generation above me, I find that back in the day they lived in really nice bits of London, but that would just be a dream these days now for ordinary people. You couldn’t possibly afford to live in central London, unless you’re a banker you’ve got a massive amount of money or you come from overseas. This is how the middle class has been squeezed out of society since the Thatcher era. You are now condemned to be rich if you want a nice life. That didn’t used to be true.
People actually hate when this is brought up and totally ignore it in favor of "trickle down economics" type arguments. Im gonna have to do entire classes on capitalism and free market economy before having any chance of explaining all this
I was talking to a coworker the other day who put forth the argument that Sunak is too rich to need to steal, whereas all the other politicians want to get in power to steal and give to their mates. Somehow the fact that Sunak wants to continue the status quo that keeps him rich hasn't gotten through. Or how really out of touch with the rest of us the top rich are, so the idea that they want to help is preposterous.
@@bogdiworksV2 Too rich to steal is such a bizarre concept... I just work off of a harsh realist perspective and idk why it's not the default expectation. Sociopaths are inevitably going to rise above and exploit all weakness regardless, they'll even justify their behavior as a moral good. Instead of crippling them like communists, Capitalism anticipates and exploits ultra wealthy people. Of course now the gov. is friendly with them and our singular line of defense is broken. Seems like conservatives think loving billionaires=Pro capitalism and having any issue with huge wealth transfers is somehow pro-socialist
This could be changed by 1) all property must be owned by a UK individual or company 2) abolish council tax and make it a percentage based on the property value 3) make all sources of income the same level of income tax e.g. dividends, capital gains etc. 4) put an exit tax in place so that any individual who plans to move their wealth from the UK has to pay a penalty 5) remove non Dom statuses 6) make it illegal and with heavy fines if a company or individual is found to hide assets and money 7) remove trust fund structures 8) ban politicians from 2nd jobs and have jail time for lobbying
@MoneyApe, It's easy to get caught up in this very one-sided and incomplete view of things. #2, yes abolish council tax, but no, the replacement should "not" be based on the value of the property (bought with after tax money!), but should be based on your ability to pay instead, which means a local income/sales tax instead. The less you earn the less you pay, the more you earn the more you pay. If you are retired, council tax can become a real burden especially if you are only just above the benefits threshold. People £10 a week worse off than you who are claiming benefits can suddenly be £200 a month better off simply by not paying council tax. Plus, for working people, are you taking mortgages or other financing in to account? If you have (say) a 95% mortgage and need to pay 1% tax on the entire property value, you are effectively paying a 20% tax on your net assets. There are surely better alternatives.
Taxes need to be seen as a membership fee for living in a country (or at least having it as your tax residence). Every person should be looking at their tax bill every year and deciding whether it makes sense to continue to be part of the club or should they move to another club that offers better value for money. The wealthier you are the more likely you will have better options and therefore you are more likely to move to a club that better suits your needs if your existing club puts its membership fee up too high. Im not hugely wealthy but realised many years ago that the club that I was born into provided me very little in return for the large tax bill I paid. I have since moved to a better value club and have been far better off for doing so.
There is a legal principle called the law against perpetuities which for over a century has recognised that inherited wealth from one generation to the next ad infinitum is terrible for an economy and general population because it results in permanent alienation of wealth from the majority and stifles opportunity and merit. That rule, however, has been avoided by the device of the Trust, which is how the estates of the likes of the Duke of Westminster pay little or no heritance tax.
the right is trying to make 'wealth tax' a toxic term (to somebody who doesn't understand the whole system, this might suggest just chipping away at their mountain of rightfully owned 'stuff') do you think it would help if we tried to position it as 'proper income tax' instead - as in seeking to 'tax income from wealth (as well)' ?
Totally agree. A wealth tax is the way forward. Also, whilst I agree that “tax the rich” sounds toxic, you could add “because they currently don’t pay their equal share” to the end.
It used to be referred to as ‘unearned income’ taxes, which I think is the most accurate. You should pay less tax on money you EARN and more on money you just receive for owning assets.
Don't worry. The right will just raise VAT and simply call it a wealth tax. That's the Tory way. Just like they renamed the minimum wage, the living wage. Tories lie repeatedly but they're not afraid to split the opposition by stealing their terminology wherever they can.
Good work Gary, I've recommended your channel to many people. Ordinary people must take a coordinated fight to the ruling elite. Don't Pay UK and the Enough is Enough Campaign are gaining some traction. Would love to know your thoughts on these movements and if you have any practical ideas on how you would go about it. #wealthinequality #taxtherich
Hi Gary, another great video. A wealth tax to address some of the inequality is practically essential, however, if we look for a tax on net assets, that can always be avoided through the rich increasing leverage in order to avoid earning more income - never actually earning income but getting debt to finance their lives on the back of capital growth. If they never sell their assets, surely the only way around this is just closing loopholes around Inheritance tax?
Gary, I would love to know what you think a taxation system would look like, what an economic structure would look like, if it was broadly accepted that people shouldn't be earning money just because they own something. This is something I've been wracking my brain about for years, and I lack the understanding necessary to come up with a structure that would work, but am sure that such a structure must be possible and produce a better economy and better outcomes for people living as a part of it. If you find yourself with some time to do so, I'd love to see what you come up with.
Greetings family eye just want to say that brother Gary is the absolute truth ! He has an economic consciousness like none else, when have we as a human race EVER seen economic transparency taught to us in such a way ? Some of us may just simply think that although what he’s teaching is true, what’s the point of making an effort to apply any kind of remedy when the problem seems to be so insurmountable, however eye say suppose we all turned away from everything that initially looked unfixable , would we have made any of the progress that we as an human family have made this far ……..??? 🤷🏾♂️ Brother Garry eye wish you all the peace , love and prosperity in the universe !!! 💙🌍🤲🏾
This is completely true. But I always think….what can we do about it? You hold the ‘wealth’ you probably hold the power, because you are in a position where a government will rely on the wealth you control. I also always laugh when people claim we have a progressive tax….just work from the top down and not the bottom up and we could solve this. Great video though mate 👍
Interesting video as usual Gary. What are your thoughts on a land value tax as a means of actually taxing real wealth rather than taxing the income of working people?
Whilst most of what He says has some validation, its not entirely true . Example.. saying thr Duke of Westminster paid no Inheritence tax.. In fact; When the third Duke of Westminster died in 1953, the estimated value of his estate was between £40 million and £60 million. This attracted an inheritance tax liability of £11 million which at the time was the largest death duty liability ever paid to HMRC.
In the US it’s Medicare and social security. It’s only on employment income and it’s capped, so is only applied to the first 150-200k, after that it drops off. Also long term capital gains/dividends, is taxed at 0% on the first 94k, has no social security tax or Medicare added.
In the US it’s Medicare and social security. It’s only on employment income and it’s capped, so is only applied to the first 150-200k, after that it drops off.
As you suggested Gary, I'm thinking about my Dad's home... He has worked hard ALL of his adult life, paying his taxes, saving hard and has never had to "Take Out" of the system ... He's now 89yrs old and requiring 24/7 care. His care is costing him £2.400 per week... He is determined to stay in his own home.. He says " I would rather die now in my own home, than live in a council run care home" !! It's actually quite difficult to find a bed in a care home now... many homes closing down because they can't afford energy prices and so many are massively under staffed, so a high risk of falls and neglect ... Because he has saved hard and still (Just) has savings and owns his own home, he's not entitled to any "Help" so he must pay for his care himself.. If we did find him a very nice care home that did have a vacant bed... He would be required to pay the "Top Up" fees... So owning your own home, is NO longer about passing it on to your children, but so you can pay for your care! The dilemma we have now is, Will he OUTLAST his savings ??!!! It's truly heart-breaking ... What will become of him... Will we be forced to move him (and I'm not sure we're legally allowed to actually force him to leave his home against his wishes) into a "Good" care home , if we can find one, so that we can either sell or rent out his home to cover the "Top Up" fees.... What are people supposed to do who don't own their own home?? They will be forced into poorly run, understaffed council run homes ....... Sorry Gary, but you did say... think about your parents home !! Many thanks for all you're doing...It helps on so many levels having someone explain clearly and concisely 🙂
SunnhSue, I think you maybe meant 2,400 per month?, but even so - and I often wonder about this - why don't you work as your dad's carer for say 1500 a month, and you all maybe be the better for it? (unless if, of course, there are medical technicalities to the care needs).
Gary about truss’s tax plan, I want to say we really dodged a bullet there. It would have worsened inequality a lot and we got it revoked thanks to the financial markets!
Then consider for working people that have paid into the system for decades and have just about managed to pay of their mortgage in the hopes of passing this on to their kids. Then they are hit with illness and have to sell most or all of their home/assets to afford the worst possible 'care' in a 'care' home.
I am studying Accountancy (ACCA)as a older person (50 next year) I have become fascinated by the taxation system. It is so heavily weighted towards taxing income as opposed to assets and wealth. Top rate income tax 45%. 20% Capital gains (28% on property). The 7 yr rule on transfer of assets means the financially educated are able pay minimal tax on their assets. I have never seen any one discuss this imbalance on the news. This should be taught in schools!! So people grow up understanding finance. Every time I try and talk to people about it, they roll their eyes and say it’s boring. Please keep making these videos.
You can educate yourself as much as you want, if you are a working /middle class odds are against you as you play rigged game devised by the rich. The vehicles and methods rich use not to pay taxes will never be available for ordinary folks.
you have answered so many questions for me with this comment. thank you for doing the research and I'm very grateful you find an interest in finance, you're helping everyone in one way or another 💚
@@80sknightrider you mean the rich simply use the legal methods available to them? So what's the problem with that?
@@edenbreckhousethe system allows it indeed. There were good reasons for some of that mainly to keep money moving around but with money comes loopholes and ways to avoid tax legally but not evasion which is illegal. The system needs reform that won’t impact business.
@@edenbreckhousethe super wealthy “unionize” with politicians to adjust tax laws to suit them.
As Peter (OP) made a good point, what’s the bet the politicians will add wealth-style taxes but it’ll effect the middle class by lowering the thresholds to a £1m home or something similar. But the super wealthy will have loopholes.
The problem in many respects is that many of the working class simply cannot visualise the concept of income from wealth. Their whole life is geared towards the concept of working for money. As a result they believe that these people are just in incredibly well paid jobs and as such they pay tax like the rest of us. The government plays on this with the propaganda that a low tax economy will benefit us all equally when it is specifically aimed at taxes the rich pay.
No the rich dont pay tax like the Royal family
@@deborahcoveney8846 how is this relevant to my comment?
You sayin' we stooped mate? Are ya?
Also, you're dead right.
@@paulgill2042 do you mean stupid? If so, then many in the UK really are.
Thats a rather stupid answer not all working class are thick. I have known since the 70s my brother was an economics graduate told me back then that 1% had 90% of the wealth of this country like the Royal family. These people have never paid hardly any tax!! So where do they have their money in offshore accounts land property abroad shares etc. So dont be patronising
you nailed it on the head when you referenced the medieval system. The rich chaps never got over how they lost that model, and slowly but surely, are nudging society to go back to that model of regulation.
yanis varoufakis' idea of "techno-feudalism" puts forth that capitalism is over and we're basically living in a modern version of that medieval system already.
@@ince55ant haha see my answer on this page. I haven’t heard his arguments lately, but I rate him.
I don't think we ever left it. There was a slight blip with the boomer generation. That was swiftly put to a stop.
the public school brain farts like Mogg, would like VERY much to be the "go to" for history, calling anyone a communist or whatever who talks about "progressive" taxation... but the thing is, it ISNT EVEN PROGRESSIVE. what has happened over the last 100 years is that the OPPOSITE has occured. do you ever wonder WHY the National Trust owns so many mansions? or WHY, if you go to the National Gallery, say, and bother to look at the labels on the paintings, most say something like "Donated by the estate of so-and-so in lieu of...".
We came off feudalism and into capitalism in 1688 and the “Glorious Revolution” where merchant bankers came over from Holland with William of Orange, usurped the king, incorporated the city of London and set up the Bank of England in 1694 cementing the central banking system which is basically supplies the ultra-wealthy with an unlimited money supply based on usury and speculation and eventually this led to fake “fiat” money.
And now there is more debt than any of the wealth ever created in human history.
This is a huge mound of fake money that the rich sit on top of while working people work and provide value at a rate that allows confidence in the markets that no one notices that the global economy is a house of cards built on sand.
Which is why when you get blips like covid and 2008 the money printers go brrrrrrr.......
I would actually prefer to live under feudalism because although the workers were subdued, they knew who ruled them and they also had this solidified class structure that was impossible to get out of so people were far more communitarian and not in a rat race all the time where people are just looking after themselves.
If only everyone could hear this Gary. All the “experts” that the BBC et al interview never talk about this stuff do they?
That's because the super wealthy people Gary describes are those very people that own the BBC (or more commonly known as the 'Establishment').
The BBC is not your cuddly wubbly friend unless you're on £150,000+ per annum...
It would be a very sad day if ordinary working people thought the BBC was working in their interest in this context.
BBC owned by government
@@mazharul And government owned by said Establishment (super wealthy).
It's because tax is complex and very easy for the journalists to trip up.
Never, ever. Makes you wonder who's financial pocket they are in doesn't it? Everyone behaves the way they do for a reason, sometimes that reason is staring us in the face.
A clear explanation of the inequality of our country! Thanks Gary
Wish I could agree with you but there are so many info holes/audience assumptions in this - again. I like Gary and his motivation, and I want him to succeed here, however he keeps leaving out key information for the economically illiterate like myself. If Gary believes his audience already understand how the rich avoid Capital Gains Tax when they dispose of assets then why is he bothering to make these? If he believes we all understand how the rich avoid inheritance tax on billions of pounds then again why is here? I would appreciate it if he stood back and asked himself whether he was actually providing the information needed - because I feel sure he wants to - and I want him to too - please :).
@@EarthPoets To what level of detail did you think Gary should have gone to? I'm not here to gain a degree in tax affairs of anybody, just an understanding to a level that the ordinary person wants to get to. What I took from this is that the super rich have ways of avoiding paying tax that workers do not. And it's the taxation system that is designed this way that is the root cause. Perhaps one of Gary's previous videos goes into the detail you want; I don't know as I've not viewed them all, being a recent subscriber. Perhaps you can ask Gary to do a video on the specific topics you want rather than negatively criticise what he has provided here. Perhaps you didn't mean it to be taken in a negative way, but using language such as ".. then why is he bothering to make these? " came across to me as quite negative.
@@kelvinfaulkner3183 Hi Kelvin. I think you just made my case for me.
"What I took from this is that the super rich have ways of avoiding paying tax that workers do not. And it's the taxation system that is designed this way that is the root cause." - you got all that from eleven minutes and forty one seconds. You must be time rich my friend :).
@@EarthPoets I didn't get just that, but that was my executive summary, so to speak. Just like any informative document a good summary helps the reader (or viewer in this case) know what the document is about and whether to read the full text. How Gary gets that message across is the interesting part. Now that you know Gary's style perhaps you should find another youtuber who gives the info you want in a style that suits you. I hope you're not too time poor to read this, my friend?
You must not remove your trousers in a KFC.
why is this video, this channel not blowing up, everyone else is in the dark talking immigration and trans rights
All those right wing culture wars are designed to keep as many people as possible focused away from the bigger picture and issues. It quite obviously works.
I love these videos, completely honest and clearly explained. We need to get this message out and get people listening.
The younger generation need to wake up and get a bit angry about all of this, they are the ones to make the change.
No, it’s not fair to pass all the political buck into us. Everyone has to deal with this. Protest is hard when it is increasingly criminalised. There are situations where your livelihood is at risk if you truly express yourself through politics. We are happy to play our part, but everyone needs to be acting in this stuff, not just us.
@@rosstatham439 you're right, everyone needs to do their part. I'm going to share this with my middle aged coworkers who were happy with the scraps Sunak threw at them the last time but clearly didn't see the bigger picture.
The younger generation are much more informed about this. Its the older generation who allowed us to get to this point. Take the last 12 years of tory power as an example. It wasn’t youth voting them in.
@@rosstatham439 "No, it’s not fair to pass all the political buck into us" It isn't fair, but to be honest it is realistic. I'm pushing 50 and most of my peer group are happy with the status quo because they own property or whatever, they aren't going to buck a system which benefits them. I cannot emphasize how much Gen X and Boomers prop up this broken system even if they pay lip service to changing it.
@@CERWINVEGAredRING I don't think it really matters which political party holds government. The illusion of choice is part of the scam.
One of the most underrated channels on UA-cam
Very highly rated by its viewers
Tax the ultra wealthy and close the loopholes
Gary you are awesome ❤
I gave up studying economics at A level because I thought it was boring. Now, many years later, it totally fascinates me. I have tried to explain taxation to my elderly in-laws who firmly believe everyone is paying the same taxes, and it is our duty to society to do so. They can not understand that inequality exists and will not use any means available to them to save on taxes. It does drive me mad!
the 99% organisation has some very useful explainers about macro economics. Shared them with a friend who started quoting Thatcher... we can't borrow more than we earn... we have to manage our finances like a household budget.. all nonsense of course. They are worth looking up.
I have been trying to explain this to people for years. All I received was to be shouted down and laughed at. They all knew better. Felt like the character in the Kristy MacColl sung about in her song "Free World" ( Great track, give it a listen ) . I could chat to you for hours. Glad I've found you on here.
I'm not the only one who sees it all.
Great work mate.
All the best Mo .
From a council flat in North London
Cheers for the reply . I watched that Jeremy Hunt ( Rhyming slang) Oh mate, all we're gonna get on Thursday is just gonna be their usual ideology.. Tax rises with spending cuts?? What rises N.I or VAT ? Their peak was in the 1850s . That's where it's heading.. Look forward your reaction and the countries too on Thursday...My prediction..Further decline. .
With catch ya up again.
Mo.
That wasn't me it's some sort of spam account
Just letting you know the other reply wasn't me, some kind of spam account
Got ya. Thanks for letting me know..
Keep the great work up.
Good to hear someone with a knowledge and truth.
Cheers
Mo.
If I had your shades I’d share your point of view. Totally get it verses the thinking of the rich against the poor.
Your explanations are great, but if you used a whiteboard with pictures it would be even clearer and more accessible (just a suggestion from a teacher!). ♥
Couldn't agree more as a visual
Learner this will be very helpful for me
I think the way he does it this way is that he speaks from the heart. There's a lot of UA-cam channels that use whiteboards, flowing slides but you lose the connection behind the theory. But thats just me 😊
Very good and clear Gary on demystifying things. Keep it going.
So glad this video is straight to camera and no fancy film tricks, which I hate
It's like a teacher gives a big bag of sweets to a classroom of kids and tells them to divide it amongst themselves. One of the kids thinks he's exceptional and superior to the rest who he looks down on, so he decides that he'll divide the bag up: he gives all the other kids half a sweet each - and takes the rest for himself! The parents of the kids given so little would be up in arms! Yet that's what millionaires and billionaires are effectively doing all the time- and the rest of us like docile idiots accept it!
More like makes all,the kids share half a sweet between them all, whilst he keeps most !
Some Tory piggies are more equal than other piggies. It is Orwellian.
If you want to describe the UK system, then the teacher knows what is happening but is colluding with the selfish kid and lying to the rest that it's a fair system.
We cant do any thing until we have proportional representation. Block the two party system
@Bercilak de hautdesert I am nor seeing any entrepreneurialism or craftsmanship here - just someone who has snatched the bag of sweets and thinks giving a tiny handful to everyone else counts as 'sharing'
Another wonderfully cogent video which explains in a down-to-earth way exactly how the owning class make, retain and grow ‘their’ money. I’ve shown some of your videos to my son,who has a 1st in economics and he has become a fan saying yours is the clearest explanation of what is truly going on that he has ever heard.
But "yours is the clearest explanation of what is truly going on that he has ever heard." doesn't mean that the message is clear does it, perhaps your son should get out more.
Christ this is good. If you had a company working towards these goals (lobbying for and achieving a fairer tax system and a wealth/LVT) I'd wanna work for you! Keep it up mate. This is essential
Thanks boss, the way this is growing, we will probably have to professionalise and make a company and hire some staff at some point. No time for that until I've finished writing the book though unfortunately!
@@garyseconomics pre order available?
@@robmarkworth5377 at some point I'm sure but not for a bit - it won't be out til early 24!!
@@garyseconomics Book! Book! Book! Only here to help - yourself - eh Gary?
Ha ha, while Gary was talking I was thinking that a Henry George Land Value Tax would solve most of the problems he discussed!
Excellent video as always. Your explanations are really clear. Everyone should be watching these.
Love your honesty and openness, really informative a real eye opener 👌
Your videos are brilliant and explain things so clearly. The net result is that I now feel strongly like leaving the uk. I earn a comparatively high salary and still can’t buy a house
Looking at the views, Gary's word is really spreading.
Clear, concise and easy to follow explanation. They should show this in schools. Great vid.
It's quite disheartening when politician would rather stir up hatred and devision amongst the working class rather than tax the rich...
Point also is that politicians are rich, so they do not want to tax themselves
Also they are currently waiving the immigration is the devil flag to deflect what this election should be about….the rise of inequality and reduction in living standards. Simply the parties don’t want to discuss this as it will effect their chums - bar the Greens who seem to have adopted a tax on super wealth and not earnings.
I'm on a week's ban from Twitter at the moment for using a bad word, but as soon as I can, I will share this, Gary! Excellent as usual, but incredibly depressing for us plebs too of course.
Wow that is such a clear argument for change, delivered sincerely by someone who knows what theyre talking about. Thanks for putting this out there🙏 and hope this goes some way to triggering bigger discussions!!
Thanks for this video Gary. I'll keep engaging as long as you keep making them. We've gotta get this message out and save this generation somehow.
Personally I won't be voting for another politician that doesn't have equality of taxation/wealth tax on the agenda.
Sounds like a plan!
@@garyseconomics Hello Gary, I’m planning to stand as a candidate in the next GE for a new national left wing party that’s in the process of being established. I happened upon your videos recently and have been absorbing as much as I can from them to better understand wealth inequality. I intend to make this one of the central issues in my campaign. I shall also advise the Party to make contact with you to formulate the part of their manifesto that relates to wealth inequality as the redistribution of wealth is one of their founding principles. What’s the best way for either me or the Party to make contact with you directly as I feel your input would be invaluable?
I’m extremely glad to have found your channel, pal, and give you huge credit for the work you’re doing to simplify the message and how you’re working for the benefit of others and help improve their quality of life. Keep up your excellent work, Gary. You’re dynamite, buddy! Johnno 😀
Keep going Gary..Never stop. True civilisation needs you.
Another great video explaining things clearly and concisely. Thank you, Gary.
Clearly and concisely? Are you sleep walking or just two fifths of half a crown? This is about as clear as mud.
@@LucyClaridge, if you found it that hard to understand then I'm afraid I have bad news for you. 🤣
@@dizzyrosecal Sounds to me like you hear what you want to rather than what is actually said, and then you call it clear and concise. Why? Perhaps a hearing aid for xmas? Or maybe shill out a bit Diz?
How about this part at 2:46? "Then once you see people who are earning above £200,000, what we actually see is that the rates of tax paid start to fall significantly."
As far as I am aware the highest income tax rate of 45% starts at £125,140 and rates definitely do not decrease above an income of £200,000. But perhaps the world is different in Dizzy & Gaz's caravan?
He goes on "and the reason for this is that our current tax system is very well designed for taxing working people."
But he just said that above £2000,000 the system falls apart!
Please enlighten me as to how you can describe that as "explaining things clearly and concisely".
@@LucyClaridge, whoosh! I think you completely missed the point of Dizzy's comment. They were suggesting that you were openly admitting to being thick... or was that not clear and concise enough for you?
@@peasweet6460 she then went on a hilarious rant about how she didn’t know how to use Google and instead prefers to get her information from random people in the comments. There’s no point engaging with someone so blatantly acting in bad faith. Funny to watch though 😂
This info should be available as a part of a general education . How ever can we understand the society we live in . Really good info Thanks
Thanks mate, I discovered you from Navara media. You are a legend, I hope people stand up and listen.
I would love to see more of the argument for levelling the playing field with true equal opportunity irrespective of background for the benefit of all income and wealth brackets. Decreasing inequality does not mean the wealthy get poorer, but often increasing inequality impedes wealth creation
Thanks Gary, shared.
Keep 'em coming!
The time for systemic change is now.
The solution is to remove the CAUSE of this problem: policies to get the power of big money out of politics, so they are only mere equals, who can argue their case only as equals.
Then the tax system would be easy to fix.
@@pebblepod30 There is no mechanism within the system to achieve this. Look at what happened to Corbyn, who merely tried to enact moderate change within the system. It is naïve to think that any serious redistributive policy will even be given voice or debate. The establishment prefers fascism to social democracy.
@@elpirata2685
I cannot agree - and Corbyn was the perfect example. He was unelectable bc him & his supporters expected all other voters to be far left on EVERYTHING.
Bernie Sanders even called himself a "Socialist", yet he was not "woke" or doing culture war (he was against Open Borders/Forced Entry & Settlement (FEAS) in 2016).
And he was more popular than Donald Trump. Imagine if Corbyn had chosen to focus on changing fundamental economic issues we all mostly agree on, like "money out of politics"?
@@elpirata2685
Do you really believe everyone the majority in the UK are far left wing on all things, inc culture war?
Garry thankyou for your time you are creating ripples having become self employed , recently now I earn in sat morning what it took a week to earn before , even stepping out of employee tax I pay less
Very good points. May I also add a comment concerning the super rich? Their wealth is tied up in trust funds, they invest in art treasures. Just two examples of investments. They are also non doms who flit from country to country whilst their wealth is also kept in off shore holdings. There is absolutely no comparison between us mortals and them as you point out. Many thanks for a very simple explanation of a very complicated topic.
Freedom is paramount. Know and love thy neighbor.
Hi Gary, thank you so much for the work you are doing. It is so very necessary. I have heard on some of your contributions you saying that it is possible to tax at source, which would alleviate/ avoid the current problems of tax avoidance by the big companies and other very rich entities. I think this is crucial, given that we are always told that due to globalisation there isn't that much that governments can do to address the problems of inequality. I think your arguments about taxing at source are key to addressing these issues. This is why I would like to ask you to elaborate on how exactly this idea can be applied in practice. I hope what I'm trying to say makes sense. If it doesn't, I'll be happy to try to make my point again. Thank you so much!
Subscribed. Thank you Gary. This has to be the best overview of the philosophy and current state of our Tax system i have come across. Will be going through your previous videos. Cheers
Thank you, Gary! I've been saying that we are paying for their £50blns finance Hole mishandled with fraudulent furlough the unused PPEs the Trace&Test shambles. They used taxpayers money, mishandled and now they will make us pay... as a pensioner started counting the pennies for my food shopping already
Great explanation and highlights just how the public discourse on the subject of Tax is skewed.
Good grief! What a wonderfully clear and transparent overview of a tax system which has up to this point been impenetrable for me. I knew it was wrong but couldn’t articulate how. This short video is potentially game changing if enough of us can use the knowledge to effect change.
Questions arising - how much revenue is likely to be raised by a 1% tax on wealth above £100 million? And what percentage rise would be necessary to achieve returning levels of wealth to pre covid and therefore reclaiming as Government revenue all the money paid out to finance the furlough scheme which ended up with the rich?
I am not asking about whether that is politically viable - just, for illustrative purposes, what the rough figures might be. Any chance you can answer those two Gary?
Tell Sunak to chase up the £12 billion fraud money from furlough
I've saved and shared this video. Short and concise enough for most people. Thank you, I'm now a subscriber.
Hello Gary I have been bleating about exactly this subject for what seems like for ever. It seems that our opposition parties are incapable of putting this succinctly. A researcher producing an accurate breakdown of the specifics of exactly the data to clearly support these arguments in any conversation. Mark Blythe has been very clear on a lot of these subjects, I appreciate you have not been a fan of some economists, however I think if you haven't you may appreciate his work, primarily because he is correct in the vast majority of his assertions.
"It seems that our opposition parties are incapable of putting this succinctly." They don't care. They are part of the same broken system. Keir Starmer is not going to change this.
@@archvaldor it's probably more likely that they don't think it possible to win an election proposing such policies rather than they don't care.... Being part of the system doesn't automatically result in endorsement of every aspect of it the green party certainly couldn't be considered in favour of significant portions of the status quo. Kier Starmer could well not be the best candidate for the job however he will be the most likely to have an opportunity to become prime minister and would definitely be more amenable to such a policy than an actual billionaire whose own wife availed herself of tax avoidance opportunities.... So although less than ideal lobbying the opposition parties to adopt such rhetoric and policies succinctly would seem a reasonable course of action, if the alternative is indeed ever increasingly right wing ideologically dogmatic government.
All political parties get their funding from rich people who don't want the system to change.
A very clear and informative video of our shambolic tax system.
Simple, no sidewinding bullshit, straight up, concise explanation. Really well articulated. Bless you Gary. This video for complete tax dummies & the many ill informed simple folk in general is gold! 👊
Great video, legendary. I particularly liked how you highlight how statistics are used to mislead us, e.g "being in the top 10% of earners" as if that means rich and being in top 10% of all income and wealth.
Appreciate what you're doing here Gary ✊
Every single indigenous person in this country needs to watch this! Please please share!🙁
-the tax system looks progressive because you only lcompare yourself to other like yourself'......what a nugget of knowledge.Thanks gary
Thomas Piketty wrote the book.....and we still haven't revolted.
Looks like feudal times. I'm surprised Gary's still alive.
Awesome work bloke.
Australian Greens have a proposal (ERC533) which would levy a 6% wealth tax on billionaires (both foreign (with AU assets) and domestic), which is estimated to increase the fiscal balance by $50 B AU Dollars a year, even after all the tax write offs. I reckon it's either that, or we 'eat' them (metaphorically of course......).
Switzerland taxes foreign residents eye watering amounts of tax while citizens pay modest amounts, as it should be.
@@johnwright9372 Interesting. I wonder if it's got something to do with the fact that Swiss residents can vote on everything?!
@@johnwright9372 ever wondered why so much is different in Switzerland, compared to every other country on the planet?
This is the heart of the problem. Excellent. Repost! Repost!
Very informative stuff, even here in America. 👍 Keep it up.
Thanks for putting your head above the parapet, Gary. I hope you get more and more support for what you are suggesting. I have never understood the economics of our economy where poorer people are penalised because surely if we had more money, we more than the wealthiest, would spend that money in the real economy and thus help economic growth?
Thanks for your breakdowns, they must be taxing...
He's definitely due some kind of rebate
*drum roll* lol
This video needs to be played on repeat on all news outlets until this essential truth of society sinks in
Great summary and presentation, would just changing the tax system on "income from" be enough, do we need capital controls because the black hole effect of ownership wont improve without working people on lower incomes having more access to disposable funds to acquire capital/wealth which is also kept at rates that become more and more inaccessible to working people..
Excellent video - thank you!
legend - first saw Gary on Novara Media being interviewed by Aaron Bastani (another legend). Now i’m watching Gary’s channel and really enjoy the bite size style of video. thanks mate.
Important to also note that taxes do not fund spending, spending comes first (money is spent into existence by the state) and then tax destroys money - money is a tax credit (you can pay tax with your tax credit pounds instead of having to give actual goods and gold coins etc to the state)
This is the best channel on UA-cam. The way Gary explains this is so clear, it's amazing. Unfortunately, I think we need some sort of uprising to bring about significant change in this country. That could happen, as it's the minority holding all the wealth. It's actually shocking that this has been allowed to happen.
The Duke of Westminster example is beyond belief. Apparently, years of "careful planning" went into his avoiding paying inheritance tax!
Gary, the solution is to renove the CAUSE of this problem: policies to get the power of big money out of politics, so they are only mere equals, who can argue their case only as equals.
If we do this, changing the tax system would be easy.
An important point to make clear is that you do not own a property if you have a mortgage on it. This really annoys me when I see BBC etc commenting on the housing housing market and they interview "property owners". Nonsense. The houses are at least in part owned by a bank. It's all part of the con - making people believe they own a house when they clearly don't. And more encouragement for people to own their own property by getting a fantastical and increasing amount of debt behind them. Cons like help to buy.
Agreed. Think you own that house? Try missing a few mortgage payments...
These are both good points and are especially relevant since the size of mortgages has grown enormously over the last 20/30 years. I've been thinking of doing a video on debt, in general, in fact, and I'm sure I will do one when I'm back
@@garyseconomics I definitely think this is a good idea and especially to call out mainstream media on how they label ppl who pay mortgages. Their current descriptor ("homeowners") is both inaccurate and misleading and perpetuates the con. Gov policies over the years have created increasing debt via the property market as a means of maintaining so called economic growth. It's the biggest con ever. Now they are talking lifelong mortgages. And while commentators keep going on about the price of food, that perpetuates the con, deflecting the narrative away from the property issue. It is the price of property (rent, mortgage) that is the biggest pressure on household spend. In the meantime the relative price of food has gone down down down. And the cheap price of food is threatening the future for small farms and has driven environmental degradation. River health, soil, nature loss, ammonia emissions, etc. Eg chicken farming in Wye catchment. This is my subject btw. @suesustainable on Twitter.
What really struck me is what you said about national insurance.
I live and work in Spain.
All self-employed, irrespective of what they earn, pay 300 flat rate every month.
Some will pay 20%vat
15%income tax
300 flat rate NI
2000monthly gross=
1000net!
That's a 50% rate of tax on 24k/yr.
It's feudal.
Always suspected it's to pay off the deficit created by the 2008 crisis.
Now imagine working self employed for a delivery service. €600/month. They still take 300! It's brutal.
It would be great if you could explain precisely why there’s no political will for a wealth tax.
Because the politicians are either super rich, or are candour favour with the super rich for jobs after politics.
Hi GaryEconomics, this has of course been a topic of interest to me for quite a while!, from the day I started work nearly sixty years ago it was clear that some of my income would go in taxes, in addition I was expected to pay National insurance contributions which are also a tax on income, but this is only part of the story! there was when I was young an established system of purchase taxes most of which got rolled into VAT. This was applied to almost everything that one dad to spend money on, the few basic essentials for life that were exempted still incurred some taxation inside the supply chain, this means that effectively every commercial transaction would be taxed at least twice, the only way to avoid paying tax twice was to put the money aside, called savings, this takes that money out of the system and could be thought to reduce inflation but otherwise simply starves the system of that currency.
There is one other significant factor and that is that those who manage to get hold of enough cash to purchase outright all the property and consumer durables that they need no longer have to pay any tax on the money they don't have to spend, poorer people on the other hand are constantly paying as they go in rents and payments for everything over and over again out of taxed earnings.
There is at least one other way of finding the funds needed to pay for essential infrastructure, we could apply turnover tax, so that absolutely every financial transaction incurs exactly the same levy, it would of course be a very small percentage of the total in order to generate the same total revenue, it would apply in exactly the same way to income and expenditure, the whole thing could be completely automated through the banking system, it would create a completely level playing field but would have a dramatic effect on the productivity found by vertical integration, any primary producer who so chose could start by manufacturing the raw materials, processing them, transporting the fully finished products direct to the customers!, in doing so only pay the tax once.
In total contrast the current business model where one business, say a farmer, produces the crops which they sell to a merchant who then sells it to a wholesaler who then passes it on to a processor then to a transport company, on and on and on until in the end a customer has to go to a shop to buy it, everyone of them at the moment only pays tax on their profits my way all of them would have to pay some tax at every step, the same farmer is producing the same crops and the same customers are eating the same food, the only differences are in the supply chain infrastructure!, you tell me which one is easier to regulate and control.
Cheers, Richard.
You need to be on tv more getting the message out so the Tory’s can’t hide from it.
not a tory.but applies to all party,s.all pissing in the same pot.interesting to see what the next government(which ever flag they fly under,)do.
Remember to share Gary's content on social media. You wouldn't believe how much that helps get the message out.
@@archvaldor Already done it
@@Thegreyreaperuk Nice!
People should be on the streets to protest about taxes not palestina!
Yes, indeed, UK tax system is a "class system" derivative. Heavy progressive tax for those who actually works, and optional or no tax for the oligarchy.
@ Everyone reading
Let's assist Gary make this common knowledge.
@GarysEconomics
I've come across this new book " The Capital Order" by Clara E Mattei
I thought you would have enlightening conversations with author.
I saw an interview were she talked about what the purpose of austerity is.
Another great video! Spot on as always...I spent 20 years in the City, and I can't fault a single word.
Glad you enjoyed it!
They call it INTEREST, we call it USURY!
Great video, helping us to see how we are all getting shafted by the ruling elite.
Brilliant exposé. I am 60, and when I talk to the generation above me, I find that back in the day they lived in really nice bits of London, but that would just be a dream these days now for ordinary people. You couldn’t possibly afford to live in central London, unless you’re a banker you’ve got a massive amount of money or you come from overseas. This is how the middle class has been squeezed out of society since the Thatcher era. You are now condemned to be rich if you want a nice life. That didn’t used to be true.
I hope thatcher is being tortured in her grave for the hell she created for those after her.
People actually hate when this is brought up and totally ignore it in favor of "trickle down economics" type arguments. Im gonna have to do entire classes on capitalism and free market economy before having any chance of explaining all this
I was talking to a coworker the other day who put forth the argument that Sunak is too rich to need to steal, whereas all the other politicians want to get in power to steal and give to their mates. Somehow the fact that Sunak wants to continue the status quo that keeps him rich hasn't gotten through. Or how really out of touch with the rest of us the top rich are, so the idea that they want to help is preposterous.
@@bogdiworksV2 Too rich to steal is such a bizarre concept... I just work off of a harsh realist perspective and idk why it's not the default expectation. Sociopaths are inevitably going to rise above and exploit all weakness regardless, they'll even justify their behavior as a moral good. Instead of crippling them like communists, Capitalism anticipates and exploits ultra wealthy people. Of course now the gov. is friendly with them and our singular line of defense is broken. Seems like conservatives think loving billionaires=Pro capitalism and having any issue with huge wealth transfers is somehow pro-socialist
This could be changed by
1) all property must be owned by a UK individual or company
2) abolish council tax and make it a percentage based on the property value
3) make all sources of income the same level of income tax e.g. dividends, capital gains etc.
4) put an exit tax in place so that any individual who plans to move their wealth from the UK has to pay a penalty
5) remove non Dom statuses
6) make it illegal and with heavy fines if a company or individual is found to hide assets and money
7) remove trust fund structures
8) ban politicians from 2nd jobs and have jail time for lobbying
@MoneyApe, It's easy to get caught up in this very one-sided and incomplete view of things. #2, yes abolish council tax, but no, the replacement should "not" be based on the value of the property (bought with after tax money!), but should be based on your ability to pay instead, which means a local income/sales tax instead.
The less you earn the less you pay, the more you earn the more you pay.
If you are retired, council tax can become a real burden especially if you are only just above the benefits threshold. People £10 a week worse off than you who are claiming benefits can suddenly be £200 a month better off simply by not paying council tax.
Plus, for working people, are you taking mortgages or other financing in to account? If you have (say) a 95% mortgage and need to pay 1% tax on the entire property value, you are effectively paying a 20% tax on your net assets.
There are surely better alternatives.
Taxes need to be seen as a membership fee for living in a country (or at least having it as your tax residence).
Every person should be looking at their tax bill every year and deciding whether it makes sense to continue to be part of the club or should they move to another club that offers better value for money.
The wealthier you are the more likely you will have better options and therefore you are more likely to move to a club that better suits your needs if your existing club puts its membership fee up too high.
Im not hugely wealthy but realised many years ago that the club that I was born into provided me very little in return for the large tax bill I paid.
I have since moved to a better value club and have been far better off for doing so.
There is a legal principle called the law against perpetuities which for over a century has recognised that inherited wealth from one generation to the next ad infinitum is terrible for an economy and general population because it results in permanent alienation of wealth from the majority and stifles opportunity and merit. That rule, however, has been avoided by the device of the Trust, which is how the estates of the likes of the Duke of Westminster pay little or no heritance tax.
Change could not soon enough, certainly over due
the right is trying to make 'wealth tax' a toxic term (to somebody who doesn't understand the whole system, this might suggest just chipping away at their mountain of rightfully owned 'stuff') do you think it would help if we tried to position it as 'proper income tax' instead - as in seeking to 'tax income from wealth (as well)' ?
A very god point. "Tax the rich" just sounds vindictive. A fairer "income tax" would be much easier to sell.
Totally agree. A wealth tax is the way forward. Also, whilst I agree that “tax the rich” sounds toxic, you could add “because they currently don’t pay their equal share” to the end.
Selling it as balancing the tax system seems like a good idea to me. Taxing wealth whilst reducing tax for PAYE would be even easier to sell.
It used to be referred to as ‘unearned income’ taxes, which I think is the most accurate. You should pay less tax on money you EARN and more on money you just receive for owning assets.
Don't worry. The right will just raise VAT and simply call it a wealth tax. That's the Tory way. Just like they renamed the minimum wage, the living wage. Tories lie repeatedly but they're not afraid to split the opposition by stealing their terminology wherever they can.
In america its literally called "unearned income".
You're doing a really good thing, thanks.
Good work Gary, I've recommended your channel to many people. Ordinary people must take a coordinated fight to the ruling elite. Don't Pay UK and the Enough is Enough Campaign are gaining some traction. Would love to know your thoughts on these movements and if you have any practical ideas on how you would go about it. #wealthinequality #taxtherich
Hi Gary, another great video. A wealth tax to address some of the inequality is practically essential, however, if we look for a tax on net assets, that can always be avoided through the rich increasing leverage in order to avoid earning more income - never actually earning income but getting debt to finance their lives on the back of capital growth. If they never sell their assets, surely the only way around this is just closing loopholes around Inheritance tax?
Gary, I would love to know what you think a taxation system would look like, what an economic structure would look like, if it was broadly accepted that people shouldn't be earning money just because they own something. This is something I've been wracking my brain about for years, and I lack the understanding necessary to come up with a structure that would work, but am sure that such a structure must be possible and produce a better economy and better outcomes for people living as a part of it. If you find yourself with some time to do so, I'd love to see what you come up with.
Well done Gary love your work ! and yet again the poor get the shitty end of the stick.
Very useful content here Gary. Thanks for this
Greetings family eye just want to say that brother Gary is the absolute truth ! He has an economic consciousness like none else, when have we as a human race EVER seen economic transparency taught to us in such a way ? Some of us may just simply think that although what he’s teaching is true, what’s the point of making an effort to apply any kind of remedy when the problem seems to be so insurmountable, however eye say suppose we all turned away from everything that initially looked unfixable , would we have made any of the progress that we as an human family have made this far ……..??? 🤷🏾♂️
Brother Garry eye wish you all the peace , love and prosperity in the universe !!! 💙🌍🤲🏾
This is completely true. But I always think….what can we do about it? You hold the ‘wealth’ you probably hold the power, because you are in a position where a government will rely on the wealth you control.
I also always laugh when people claim we have a progressive tax….just work from the top down and not the bottom up and we could solve this.
Great video though mate 👍
Great explanation.
Interesting video as usual Gary. What are your thoughts on a land value tax as a means of actually taxing real wealth rather than taxing the income of working people?
Whilst most of what He says has some validation, its not entirely true . Example.. saying thr Duke of Westminster paid no Inheritence tax..
In fact;
When the third Duke of Westminster died in 1953, the estimated value of his estate was between £40 million and £60 million. This attracted an inheritance tax liability of £11 million which at the time was the largest death duty liability ever paid to HMRC.
In the US it’s Medicare and social security. It’s only on employment income and it’s capped, so is only applied to the first 150-200k, after that it drops off. Also long term capital gains/dividends, is taxed at 0% on the first 94k, has no social security tax or Medicare added.
In the US it’s Medicare and social security. It’s only on employment income and it’s capped, so is only applied to the first 150-200k, after that it drops off.
As you suggested Gary, I'm thinking about my Dad's home... He has worked hard ALL of his adult life, paying his taxes, saving hard and has never had to "Take Out" of the system ... He's now 89yrs old and requiring 24/7 care. His care is costing him £2.400 per week... He is determined to stay in his own home.. He says " I would rather die now in my own home, than live in a council run care home" !! It's actually quite difficult to find a bed in a care home now... many homes closing down because they can't afford energy prices and so many are massively under staffed, so a high risk of falls and neglect ... Because he has saved hard and still (Just) has savings and owns his own home, he's not entitled to any "Help" so he must pay for his care himself.. If we did find him a very nice care home that did have a vacant bed... He would be required to pay the "Top Up" fees... So owning your own home, is NO longer about passing it on to your children, but so you can pay for your care! The dilemma we have now is, Will he OUTLAST his savings ??!!! It's truly heart-breaking ... What will become of him... Will we be forced to move him (and I'm not sure we're legally allowed to actually force him to leave his home against his wishes) into a "Good" care home , if we can find one, so that we can either sell or rent out his home to cover the "Top Up" fees.... What are people supposed to do who don't own their own home?? They will be forced into poorly run, understaffed council run homes ....... Sorry Gary, but you did say... think about your parents home !! Many thanks for all you're doing...It helps on so many levels having someone explain clearly and concisely 🙂
SunnhSue, I think you maybe meant 2,400 per month?, but even so - and I often wonder about this - why don't you work as your dad's carer for say 1500 a month, and you all maybe be the better for it? (unless if, of course, there are medical technicalities to the care needs).
Landlords do pay tax on rental income, and mortgage payments on those properties are no longer tax deductible. Enjoyed the video nonetheless ✌🏻
Gary for PM!!!
Great video. Great explanation. Thank you
Great job well done! I recommend being on the mailing list of the Taxpayers Alliance and WeOwnIt etc
Gary about truss’s tax plan, I want to say we really dodged a bullet there. It would have worsened inequality a lot and we got it revoked thanks to the financial markets!
Then consider for working people that have paid into the system for decades and have just about managed to pay of their mortgage in the hopes of passing this on to their kids. Then they are hit with illness and have to sell most or all of their home/assets to afford the worst possible 'care' in a 'care' home.