should the rich pay more tax?

I would prefer it if the tax % was the same for all earners. That way the rich still get taxed more but not by a ridiculous amount. Just seems counter-intuitive. You work hard and then get about 40% of your salary taken away.

That again comes down to how you define working hard. Yes a nurse works hard and her job is probably more "worth while". But I doubt a nurse works as hard as a banker. And by banker I mean the guys earning loads of money. They work crazy hours.

Well ideally we would be able to split the rich into two disctinct groups: those who earned their money, fairly, squarely, within the rules, with honour and honesty, and without exploiting others, and those who earned their money through means other than this.

We would tax the latter, and the former would be able to enjoy their rightly acquired wealth without the taxman paying visited uninvited.

We should be taxing bankers, we should be taxing sportsmen, we should be taxing those whose wealth in inherited, and we should be taxing anybody whose entire precedent for making their money with the cash of the taxpayer.

That would put footballers, bankers, politicians, etc WAY below the wages of, say, scientists, engineers, medical researchers, etc.

Except bankers and politicians work at least as hard in fields as complex as scientists or engineers and provide services of arguably similar value. Scientists and engineers work may be more valuable in a "contribution to human knowledge" sense, but bankers and politicians are nessecary also.

As others have said, why should the rich pay for others to not work. The VAST majority of rich people (this is a fact, don't try and dispute it) have worked for their money through spending hours and hours working and developing their businesses. It's totally unfair for these people to be expected to pay for other people who have never done any work.

In my opinion, money earned by footballers is not earned 'fairly'.

I'm a meritocrat, and think people's salaries should be proportion to the complexity and profoundness of their work.

That would put footballers, bankers, politicians, etc WAY below the wages of, say, scientists, engineers, medical researchers, etc.

There is no doubting that football is popular, but popularity should not equate to wealth. Hard work, determination, pursuit of useful trades, etc, should pay off. I want to see a world where a young bright chap at the age of 13 doesn't stand to be be more wealthy by learning to play a GAME than he would be sticking in at science, technology and engineering, and becoming a world-renowned research in those fields.

Anybody who thinks that Wayne Rooney's yearly income should the same as what about 500 medical/scientific/engineering researchers should get is quite frankly missing something in their brain.

Even 9 out of 10 football fans believe that footballers are obscenely overpaid.

And yes, my opinion extends to most entertainers. I don't like the idea of musicians, comedians, etc, making money by selling products. I like they idea of them working for their money by touring, working every single night, etc. Thanks to the advent of downloading, this is quickly becoming the case, and for this, I am pleased.

I think it's about right as it is.

My father being the largest contributor to that figure, and due to his earnings he is absolutely crippled with tax so when a mortgage is paid for, household bills, and tax is taken away there is next to nothing left.

No, they pay more than enough to the undeserving poor, let alone to the deserving poor.

I've always found it amusing that the "poor" will complain about the "rich", classicism works both ways. Why should the rich pay more tax for people who are quite happy to sponge off the state?

It's totally unfair for these people to be expected to pay for other people who have never done any work.

The big bosses should stop taking such big pay rises and bonus and distribute it to the employes instead, then it would be relatively ok.