'Should married couples get a tax break?' poll discussion

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  • adwat
    adwat Posts: 255
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    sar011279 wrote: »
    Council tax maybe? - HMRC have records of your address that can be matched, Tax Credits poss, mortgage/rent docs, joint bank accounts, census info - basically i'm sure they could tell if they wanted to.

    Births / Deaths / Marriages are recorded events in most societies. Therefore, can be used to allocate a tax break for couples.

    How do you propose to record co-habitation? Do you really suggest that HM Government should be legally informed of every persons whereabouts in the country as a whole? In this way addresses could be cross checked for co-habitation as you suggest. Also, imagine the opportunity for fraud. All the means of "proof" you suggest are completely open to fraud.

    Don't get me wrong, I think that couples co-habiting should get a tax break as well, as me and my wife did for years, but they should have to enter into a formally recognised civil partnership to qualify, otherwise anybody claiming to be a couple can defraud the system.
    MFi3T2 #98 - Mortgage Free 15/12/2011
  • poppyoscar_3
    poppyoscar_3 Posts: 1,566
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    Single people have one income and pay the mortgage and bills on their own. they probably work as hard as married people. why should they be penalised (or not rewarded?)
    :D2010 MFW Challenge No. 112 Mortgage paid in full 27/08/10 I was MF!!!:D
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  • Many of the comments emphasise the belief that unmarried people have all CHOSEN not to marry. I was married until my ex left me and kids and remarried. Presumably under conservative policy he, as part of a two income couple, is entitled to tax breaks but I, as a single person with children, am not. Is that fair?

    Surely tax incentives should be used to benefit those most in need regardless of their marital status.
  • Tiggergirl
    Tiggergirl Posts: 147 Forumite
    I don't think people should be rewarded simply for getting married. However I think if people are being assessed as a couple for benefits and tax credits, they ought to be for income tax.

    For example if one partner is working and the other is staying at home to bring up children, they should be able to transfer their personal tax allowance to the other partner to enable both their allowances to be used in working out their tax as a family.

    Currently, partners who both work get the benefit of 2 lots of personal allowance so the above would just bring things in line for couples who decide that one of them will stay at home to raise children.
  • meher
    meher Posts: 15,910
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    qetu1357 wrote: »
    So it isn't meant to be a criticism of those who choose not to marry but society and goverment should encourage parents to be married for the benefit of the children, the parents and society.
    True but that's disregarding that correlation does not infer causation. What's actually said here is to find a comfort zone based on traditions, and what's actually happening is that for many it's no longer desirable - it's when we promote otherwise that single parents, gay relationships become stigmatised or undermined. Also to think of it, we'll have a lot of benefits if we had slavery, I didn't say so, Oscar Wilde said so:
    The fact is, that civilization requires slaves. The Greeks were quite right there. Unless there are slaves to do the ugly, horrible, uninteresting work, culture, and contemplation become almost impossible.
    Just for a little bit of perspective really.
  • JimmyTheWig
    JimmyTheWig Posts: 12,199
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    Tiggergirl wrote: »
    I don't think people should be rewarded simply for getting married. However I think if people are being assessed as a couple for benefits and tax credits, they ought to be for income tax.
    Hit the nail on the head.
    Not sure what option in the poll this represents, though, so haven't voted.
  • I think it's very important to remember that for benefits you're assessed as a HOUSEHOLD, while for tax you're assessed as an INDIVIDUAL.

    Therein lies the unfairness at the root of the whole problem with the system.
  • I lived with my partner for five years, and THEN got married, because he wanted to. I used to think that it was exactly the same, and was surprised at how different I felt after getting married - having been through a public ceremony where I made a legal commitment to him. Other people took our relationship much more seriously too.

    Now, I look in bewilderment at people who buy houses together, have children together, but can't bear to spend half an hour in a registry office to make a public declaration of their commitment to each other (part of which is a legal document).

    I know I'm going to get stick for this - but I'll say it anyway. Whenever I talk to people who declare that their living together is the same as marriage, very often an attitude of "no-one is going to tell ME what to do!" comes in, the tone of which reminds me of what I hear from my friends' teenage kids. (Sorry).

    Marriage IS different because it's a legal contract and brings with it all kinds of legal responsibilities as well as rewards.

    Bringing back the married tax allowance will make a difference to a lot of families where one parent may be able to give up work, or work part-time (where they now work full-time) taking some of the pressure off the family as a whole. And the partners being married will enable the system to work more efficiently.

    If it comes back and you want it, then get married.

    If you don't want to get married (for whatever reason), then don't moan because you don't get the benefits of it.

    (Off to hide from the flying missiles ... )


    PS I'm talking of straight relationships here; if gay people commit to each other in legal civil partnerships, I don't see why they shouldn't get the same allowance as for marriage.
  • smala01
    smala01 Posts: 154 Forumite
    edited 6 January 2010 at 10:51AM
    What utter rubbish...

    Im not married, sensible and have sacrificed "now" to make provisions for the future.

    I have savings (Little risk of paying me benefits)
    Heath-care insurance (Reduced NHS costs)
    Pension (Little risk of top-up benefits in retirement)

    I have a house that is modest and chosen not to have kids until I can financial afford them.

    Why should I have to subsidise the married and fec.kless? As a society we shouldn`t undertake anything we cannot afford, and hence you shouldn`t need "Tax breaks"

    I can see it now "Oh if we get married we can afford the big house because we will pay less tax". Hardly a basis for a happy marriage is it?

    Everyone should pay the same tax.

    Smala01
  • qetu1357
    qetu1357 Posts: 1,013
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    meher wrote: »
    True but that's disregarding that correlation does not infer causation. What's actually said here is to find a comfort zone based on traditions, and what's actually happening is that for many it's no longer desirable - it's when we promote otherwise that single parents, gay relationships become stigmatised or undermined. Also to think of it, we'll have a lot of benefits if we had slavery, I didn't say so, Oscar Wilde said so:Just for a little bit of perspective really.

    Sorry, just don't get it.

    Where's Oscar Wilde's (who lived over 100 years ago) published research to support his theory?

    There is loads of published research to show marriage is of benefit to society.
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