Child benefit to go in 2013?

zagfles

jgcfmt wrote: »

Thanks that is a helpful link.

I wonder about the charitable contributions though. As it stands, each year I donate about £3800 via gift aid to various organisations. If I change into the higher rate tax band is there money that i can claim back?
JGC

Yes. If you use gift aid and are a higher rate taxpayer you can claim tax back.

What they do is extend your basic rate tax band by the amount of your gross contributions, which gives you 25% of your contribution back, or if you are on the borderline could eliminate any liability to higher rate tax.

See http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/individuals/giving/gift-aid.htm

zagfles

pipscot wrote: »

A family with 2 x 21K incomes would also be better off due to the 2 personal tax allowances but that's another discussion....:)

To be honest, I think a lot of the issue here about the people losing child benefit is not whether they can afford to do so (that obviously depends on their individual circumstances) but about the fairness of the policy. It's clearly unfair and discriminatory to families with single earners or where 1 partner earns much more than the other.

The government said they wanted to support families but clearly they want to support some families more than others

I'm wondering if it's a ploy by the Tories to get a "married tax allowance" through. The unfairness of the proposed change could be mitigated by allowing transferrable tax allowances if the family have a child under 5, which I guess is the majority of families with a SAHM and so with only one earner, who get shafted most by the CB change.

zagfles

melly1980 wrote: »

If it was tapered away from me in a gradual manner I would have no issue. My only issue is with there being a definate boundary where if you earn 100 quid a year more you can lose thousands of pounds and make you worse off than people who earn less than you. It doesnt take an awful lot of common sense to see that is wrong.

I really can't believe it'll be cliff edge - it'll almost certainly be tapered in some way. After all as they're doing it via the tax system tapering it will be easy.

Poppiesrarara

Poppiesrarara wrote: »

does this start in the 2012 tak year (April 2012) or 2013?

Can anyone answer this bit for me please

Thanks in advance

pipscot

zagfles wrote: »

I'm wondering if it's a ploy by the Tories to get a "married tax allowance" through. The unfairness of the proposed change could be mitigated by allowing transferrable tax allowances if the family have a child under 5, which I guess is the majority of families with a SAHM and so with only one earner, who get shafted most by the CB change.

I think transferable tax allowances would be very helpful to many families with small children with SAHMs and I fully support that.

It's not just families with very small children though that are hit by the child benefit issue. Many women work part-time while children are school age (childcare is still needed until children are 12-13) and it is very difficult to find suitable before and after school care to allow full-time work. A family with husband earning £42K and wife earning £5K (thus using part of her tax allowance) will be hit by the withdrawal of child benefit but a family where both partners earn £40K will still be able to claim child benefit. This just isn't fair.

zagfles

Poppiesrarara wrote: »

Can anyone answer this bit for me please

Thanks in advance

They said Jan 2013. How this will work in relation to tax years I don't know - I guess you'd only have to declare CB paid after Jan 2013.

yummymummy222

pipscot wrote: »

I think transferable tax allowances would be very helpful to many families with small children with SAHMs and I fully support that.

It's not just families with very small children though that are hit by the child benefit issue. Many women work part-time while children are school age (childcare is still needed until children are 12-13) and it is very difficult to find suitable before and after school care to allow full-time work. A family with husband earning £42K and wife earning £5K (thus using part of her tax allowance) will be hit by the withdrawal of child benefit but a family where both partners earn £40K will still be able to claim child benefit. This just isn't fair.

I agree it isn't fair Ive recently had my 2nd child and im currently on maternity leave. I would love to go back to my job but I will be paying more out on childcare then what I will earn even though im on a good salary. More people could work if the goverment made childcare cheaper. It angers me that people are better off on benefits then working!!

melly1980

zagfles wrote: »

I really can't believe it'll be cliff edge - it'll almost certainly be tapered in some way. .

Im not so sure. I dont think they care if it is fair or not. To me it is a political statement to towel the people that are percieved as rich so that they can get away with giving a massive rogering to the lower earners when the universal credit comes in.

zagfles

melly1980 wrote: »

Im not so sure. I dont think they care if it is fair or not. To me it is a political statement to towel the people that are percieved as rich so that they can get away with giving a massive rogering to the lower earners when the universal credit comes in.

UC won't be too bad for lower earners, except those who have savings.

I reckon the child benefit thing is a political game. I'd be willing to place a bet that it won't go ahead as planned - it's not only unfair but technically/legally difficult due to independant taxation, and would be quite easy to dodge unless they introduced loads of costly checks/rules etc.

Quite an easy u-turn would be to say higher rate tax payers who claim CB will get it withdrawn but not if their partner gets it, maybe with an exception for single parents, so it'd basically only apply where both parents pay higher rate tax, coupled with a reduction in the threshold for the higher rate to make up some of the loss.

melly1980

zagfles wrote: »

UC won't be too bad for lower earners, except those who have savings.
.

I dunno. It depends on what your calling low earners. With taper rates allegedly going to hit 0.6p in the pound (from 41p) then those whose combined incomes are in the region of 20 - 30K are in for a right doing. TBH I can only see those within a few K of the salary where the taper starts being ok. (or have I got this wrong??)