MSE News: Higher rate tax payers to lose child benefit

commutergirl

I agree with picardy girl and thrifty girl. Why not use the same system as tax credits where it is based on household income. Both could be combined so only one claim necessary and it is reviewed each year if income changes.

liz-paul

My husband is a higher rate tax earner & I earn nothing looking after our children. We are certainly not 'Rich' & have to budget for everything. We are going to struggle to replace the child benefit we will lose in 3 years time & one of the things that it currently pays for is payments into the kids CTFs which will probably have to stop. This is highly unfair imo; we have both worked hard & continue to work hard to have what we have & constantly we are being given the message that the harder you work for things you more you will have taken away from you. If my husband moved out & moved in with his mother then we would be so much better off financially. Isn't that the kind of message the government is trying to change?

buzz_kangaroo

I agree i expect most parents who need a little extra financial help complete the tax credits form to see if they qualify why can the information from this also be used to calculate child benefit based on joint income.

The other thing to point out is that at the moment i am full time mum and because the child benefit is paid to me i get national insurance credits to enable me to get full state pension. if i do as George Osbourne wants and stop claiming child benefit then i will lose my NI credits. So do i keep claiming, maintain my NI credits and recieve monthly child benefit only to have to repay annually in a lump sum when it is clawed back through the tax system - how will this work!??!!!

verloren

I made a point on another thread recently that politicians like to talk about taxes as being 'fair', when in reality most taxes are neither fair nor unfair, they're just a way to raise money that people and politicians find acceptable.

It's ironic, then, that this tax is being described as 'fair' when it really isn't - as many have already pointed out, it's not based on the income of the child's parents, but the child's better-off parent, which is foolish.

Time for a letter to my new MP, I think...

(For the record I will lose the benefit because of this, and I'm entirely fine with that; I just don't think it should be done this way).

DaisyFlower

It should either be scrapped for all or be given to everyone.

Why penalise those that work hard to gain a decent salary yet hand out multiple payments for those that have children and dont actually work to support them?

dazza.mk

Ignoring the fairness of the cut, I do like the incompetence of Osborne to advise Higher Rate tax payers to stop claiming......

Avoids the fact that in households where 1 parent is a full time housewife/househusband that by stopping claiming they'll lose Home Resonsibilities Protection / State Pension Credits for looking after the children!

surfbabe10

We fall into the band where we will lose our child benefit, I really rely on it. To get into this band my husband does 16 hour shifts daily, he has not had a day off for 2 months. We have 2 kids, a 3 bedroom house that we own, we only just manage and dont have luxuries once the bills, mortgage and food are bought there isnt much left. Yet I know people who work less than we do and have benefits thrown at them. Like the lady above wrote I would be better off if my husband moved out, and even better off if I lived in rented accommodation as I would have my rent paid for. I know some one who has dropped his hours to 16 per week as he is better off by £30 per week because of the benefits he receives. How is that fair. I have a friend who is a single parent, she earns almost £20.000 a year, gets around £200 a month housing benefit, even more in tax credits and £200 from CSA. Thats not including child benefit. The whole benefits system should of been looked at first or like other people have mentioned in this thread that their benefits taken into account and classed as earnings when calculating things like child benefit.

tawny4768

Surely if you are simply paying the child benefit into the CTF you won't miss it? OK, so the fund will not grow so quickly - but the benefit is meant to pay for food and clothing, not investments!

liz-paul wrote: »

My husband is a higher rate tax earner & I earn nothing looking after our children. We are certainly not 'Rich' & have to budget for everything. We are going to struggle to replace the child benefit we will lose in 3 years time & one of the things that it currently pays for is payments into the kids CTFs which will probably have to stop. This is highly unfair imo; we have both worked hard & continue to work hard to have what we have & constantly we are being given the message that the harder you work for things you more you will have taken away from you. If my husband moved out & moved in with his mother then we would be so much better off financially. Isn't that the kind of message the government is trying to change?

ellie43

My gross income is about £9k pa (a mixture of an ill health pension and IB) My husband is a postman and so doesn't earn much either. Income of 44k is something we can only dream of. I can't see how it can be justified in the current economic climate that the tax that we pay goes in part for child benefit for higher rate taxpayers.

The threshold that the govt has set for child benefit is in fact very high compared to other benefits. It would be nice if the same threshold was set when my IB is fully means tested (it is already capped because of my pension), but it is likely that because my husband works my IB/ESA will be stopped completely.

We have been repeatedly told that we will all have to pay, but the loss of £2,000 per annum has a much greater impact on a family earning £20k, than it does on a family earning 50k.

Indie_Kid

hermanmunster wrote: »

Have 2 kids and pay loadsa tax. Nice to get SOMETHING back from the treasury. about 3.9% of what I pay in - but it is the thought that counts.

But why should you get something because you have kids, yet someone who can't have kids, won't? Children are a lifestyle choice.

we only just manage and dont have luxuries once the bills, mortgage and food are bought there isnt much left.

Er, downsize then? A big mortgage is a choice.