Screw the Bankers - let’s tax them 98% I'm no lover of banks, but when I see the witch hunt going on in the media regarding the bankers bonuses and bankers in general I despair. This is a McCarthy- style witch hunt, lead by the media (as always), whipping up anger, hatred and jealousy.  It's sickening to see. The worst culprits of the supposedly respectable press, the BBC, (that utter idiot Preston, who speaks as if his audience are five years old) and just about all UK media are jumping on the bandwagon. Hey everyone’s doing it so ‘let’s bash the bankers’. The press and media in general is one of the worst aspects of living in the UK. If it’s not focussed on fatuous, infantile ‘celebrity’ of non-entities, it specialises in scandal and jealousy, and loves bashing not only those that are successful, but any high profile ‘star’. The UK media, almost without exception, is wholly negative, specialising in reporting nothing but bad news, half of it made up. The so-called respectable press is as bad as any. And when you see the government milking this situation, with populist laws brought in on a whim because ‘the masses demand it’.  Jesus, what sort of place is this country? I never thought I'd live to see 98% taxes imposed on anyone in this country, but that’s what is now imposed on bankers. No it’s not the 50% ‘bonus tax’ you thought it was. It’s a lot, lot more. Check this out; Example: A bonus of £200,000 made to an individual, would incur the following deductions: This represents a 98% tax burden on the net payment of £200,000 to the employee. (From both the employee and employer, but nonetheless is £195k tax paid on a £200k bonus.) A high flyer in any other industry, who was bringing in millions worth of business (and quite a lot of salesmen can earn bonuses like this) then £200k bonus is not unreasonable.  But oh no, if you’re a banker (and the definition by the government is now so wide that means anyone in the financial industry) how dare you reward success - and we the government will have it ALL back. But of course the press don’t report that. Because then the people might wake up and realise ‘oops, perhaps we’ve gone a bit far’ on this bash-the-bankers jolly. Message from UK government to bankers and banks:  You really, really don’t want to operate in this country. And since London is the largest financial centre in the world, this has to be one of the most effective ways to destroy that business.  I’m sure some people might think ‘screw the bankers’, but like it or not the financial industry, mostly in London, generates a huge proportion of the wealth of this country. A web log, a test of my web design software, stories about the absurd, the dumb & interesting stuff. Labels All Android Evil Google Google Chrome Gmail Apple / iPhone / iPad Stephen Fry Optical Illusions Bad Press Science & Engineering Electric Cars Bankers Web Fonts Source of tax    Tax payable 50% special levy payable by the company (£200,000 - £25,000)  £87,500 12.8% Employer’s National Insurance £25,600 Employee’s 40% income tax on £200,000 £80,000 1% Employee’s additional National Insurance  £2,000 Total tax burden  £195,100 Source: http://www.uploadlibrary.com/KleinwortBenson/prebudgetrespose200912.html