refnation
Is it fair that a full-time worker on less than double the minimum wage can pay 40% income tax?
EconomyEnded 1 Nov

Is it fair that a full-time worker on less than double the minimum wage can pay 40% income tax?

Yes 30%No 70%2,003 votes cast

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland the 40% rate applies to income above £50,270 (the £12,570 personal allowance plus the £37,700 basic-rate band), and only the slice above that is taxed at 40%. The National Living Wage is £12.71 an hour and rises to £13.21 from April 2027, as confirmed in the 28 October Budget. At £13.21, a 40-hour week comes to about £27,500 a year, so the 40% threshold is reached on roughly 1.8 times a full-time minimum wage salary, or about £24 an hour. Thresholds have been frozen since 2022 and the Budget kept the freeze until April 2031. The OBR says this will lift the share of taxpayers paying higher or additional rates from 15% in 2021-22 to 24% by 2030-31. Scotland sets its own income tax bands.

Jump to opinions· 66

Even the most-respected Yes argument agreed with the winners about the freeze. No won overwhelmingly, yet the Yes voter who topped their side wrote that tax thresholds “should not be frozen; they should rise with inflation every year”, defending only where the 40% line sits.

The most-respected No cases were about the freeze, three of them level. One said it “discourages workers to do overtime or apply for promotion”. Another called it “a stealth tax rise, and a very significant one.” The third was angrier, accusing politicians of “systematically raping & gaslighting us”.

The rest of Yes leaned on arithmetic. Several argued that only earnings above the threshold face 40%, so a rise to £53,000 is taxed lightly on the extra slice. Another Yes voter thought the minimum-wage multiple was “a weird way to think of this”, and one said the real issue was rich people not paying. No voters met the arithmetic by saying it does not make fiscal drag fair, and some echoed the tax-the-wealthy line while rejecting the freeze, calling it cowardly.

This is the fiscal-drag argument in miniature: thresholds frozen until 2031, more taxpayers pulled into higher rates. Voters on both sides wanted reform; they split on whether £50,000 is comfortable or middle income, and one No voter put it plainly: “£50K is a middle income.”

On the winning side the complaint was less about the rate than about a line that never moves.

“I voted Yes, but only because I think the 40% rate is set at the right threshold. However, tax thresholds should not be frozen; they should rise with inflation every year. The minimum wage should also rise with inflation….NOT above it.”

YES case · Concerned_Citizen1 · 4 respects

“All tax allowances need to rise with inflation each year. Freezing them discourages workers to do overtime or apply for promotion knowing that doing so will incur extra tax.”

NO case · AndyDevon · 7 respects

70%
No
majority
30% Yes
Votes2,003
Skipped31
You—

% voting yes, by leaning

60% yes among H. Left voters, 89 of them
43% yes among Left voters, 223 of them
42% yes among C. Left voters, 212 of them
22% yes among Centre voters, 232 of them
21% yes among C. Right voters, 294 of them
13% yes among Right voters, 765 of them
9% yes among H. Right voters, 203 of them
H. Left
Left
C. Left
Centre
C. Right
Right
H. Right
Cite this result

refnation referendum, closed 31 October 2026: “Is it fair that a full-time worker on less than double the minimum wage can pay 40% income tax?” — No 70%, weighted by political leaning (2,003 votes).

Free to quote with a link to this page — Copy includes it.

Download the counts (CSV) — the votes behind this result, by leaning, party, region and age.

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Debate

66 Opinions

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AlisonSeed· 224
The Care-and-Conservation Counterweight
Voted noCentre lean

Freezing the tax bands has got middle income households very hard. Disproportionately so in my opinion. It’s a stealth tax rise, and a very significant one.

AndyDevon· 382
The Hearth-and-Payslip Conservative
Voted noRight lean

All tax allowances need to rise with inflation each year. Freezing them discourages workers to do overtime or apply for promotion knowing that doing so will incur extra tax.

JohnnyBoy· 671
The Hard-Right Contrarian Patriot
Voted noH. Right lean

A person earning c.£45K in 80s would have to earn £175K today to enjoy same standard of living. Our Policians are systematically raping & gaslighting us. They trash the economy creat inflation pointless rules & regulations, look after themselves & shockingly then try and argue that somebody on c. £50K is wealthy and they should pay their ‘fair’ share. We are poor & getting poorer but relentless MSM messaging & incessant hectoring from the feral Left says otherwise. We know.

Lizard· 85
The Economical Conservative
Voted noRight lean

The minimum wage has been pushed up far too high. I own and manage a manufacturing SME so I know from everyday experience how it works. You don't make people richer in the end by forcing the minimum wage up. All you do is force wages up across the board, which forces people like me to increase our prices, which generates inflation, which makes everyone poorer again

FairVoice55· 317
The Stalwart
Voted noC. Right lean

It won't be long before most of us are paying 40% tax. All part of the plan to make citizens reliant on The State, other than our over paid legislature, judiciary and politicians (local AND national).

Concerned_Citizen1· 326
The Constitutional Hardliner
Voted yesRight lean

I voted Yes, but only because I think the 40% rate is set at the right threshold. However, tax thresholds should not be frozen; they should rise with inflation every year. The minimum wage should also rise with inflation….NOT above it.

Devon_Pedro· 390
The Universal Floor Campaigner
Voted noLeft lean

Question is wrong and badly worded. People's understanding of the tax system is bad. But also out tax loopholes for the elite is abhorrent and should be closed first.

Glasses· 904
The Command-and-Control Right
Voted noRight lean

Because you are successful and earn more doesn't mean you should pay more. Unless you earn more than say £200 grand a year should pay same tax up to that

hjm_1· 422
The Fair-Shares Pragmatist
Voted noLeft lean

No, but the whole tax system is a major mess & the tax bands & thresholds need a total overhaul! The threshold to start paying tax needs unfreezing and raising, allowing low earners to benefit from the extra income (as would we all) & the level at which 40% tax applies needs raising! £50k today isn't a huge income! The loss in revenue could be offset by raising the rate for unearned income (except pensions!)

Spocky· 235
The Orderly Traditionalist
Voted noRight lean

The tax system needs a fundamental overhaul as it’s currently overly complicated and unfair at all levels