Emergency Budget: tax credit cuts for millions

AnxiousMum

mitchaa wrote: »

Surestart maternity grant.

£500 each time you have a child. This will now only be payable once.

£190 Healthy eating grant, from January 2011.

Well, I guess that alot of the things you purchase with the maternity grant - crib, stroller etc. can be used for more than one child!

jellyhead

On the bright side, at least VAT doesn't increase until after christmas

[Deleted User]

asandwhen wrote: »

I work in the public sector so will be getting a pay freeze

I have a child and have a family income of £48k so will loose child tax credits.

I have a baby on the way so will lose out on the extra money in the first year.

Im alive so will lose out with VAT increase.

BUT..... I think I am happy with this budget and beleive this will get our coutry back on track. :j

I'm in the same boat (almost) but they have said they are increasing the personal allowance by £1000 next April.

Not great, but not as bad as I thought it would be to be honest.

jellyhead

Sorry if it's already been answered, but when are they stopping the baby element of tax credits? just wondering for a friend.

Littlesusie_2

from what they were saying on the BBC then the rate of child tax credits for families earning over £40,000 will be reduced from April 2011, not stopped altogether. I don't know when it tapers off at the moment but my renewal pack said I didn't have to tell them of any pay rises unless our joint income rises above £37,000. So I assume that is where the amount starts to taper off.

SMGonly for the 1st child is a good move. If a family can't afford to feed a pregnant women a good diet then you have to question how they are going to support a 2nd child.

asandwhen

jellyhead wrote: »

Sorry if it's already been answered, but when are they stopping the baby element of tax credits? just wondering for a friend.

April - our baby is due in August so will get some

DaiJoA

Agree with Sure Start being for first child only - know one girl who has had three children in five years and claimed it each time, the first two times sold both new prams and the third time kept the grant totally for herself.

Don't agree with them not means testing child benefit - think there should be a threshold of say £40-50k and it should only be on the first two children. Freeze is acceptable though.

Excellent that HB is being capped - although rents will need to fall in order to reflect this to stop landlords raking it in from the council and/or artificially pushing up rents for the private payers.

Not sure about the VAT hike - how much will petrol be then?! I cannot see how petrol can be classed as anything other than a necessity now; the money that the Government make out of it is disgusting and even if you try to cut down on how much you use your car, you get nobbled by high public transport costs.

The 'additonal support for families in poverty' seems a bit of a circle-of-dominoes situation given the benefits trap that many families, especially single parent families, are in. This emergency budget was billed as a follow up to the election promise of getting people off of benefits but nothing really seems to stand out as this being the case, other than perhaps the 'Sure Start' shake-up. It seems like they are coming down hard on people on benefits however if they're just going to give them it back in child tax credits then really nothing has been acheived at all.

sinstar

mitchaa wrote: »

I suppose it's how you read it.

Reduce eligibility. I.e you're either eligible or your not.

If it is as you say, that is a half hearted attempt then. You can still get some form of TC payment upto around £50k then:eek:

Better than now when you can get some kind of payment up to around £60k.

asandwhen

_shel wrote: »

I'm in the same boat (almost) but they have said they are increasing the personal allowance by £1000 next April.

Not great, but not as bad as I thought it would be to be honest.

I agree - we have 2 incomes so will work out £2000 which is about £500 per year extra for us so pays for some of the lost child tax credits

asandwhen

DaiJoA wrote: »

Not sure about the VAT hike - how much will petrol be then?! I cannot see how petrol can be classed as anything other than a necessity now; the money that the Government make out of it is disgusting and even if you try to cut down on how much you use your car, you get nobbled by high public transport costs.

I am hoping that this is going to be looked at in the autum (before the hike) he did say that he was going to look at how to stabilise the price at the pumps - we shall see